APTA and Inteleos Partner to Elevate Musculoskeletal Ultrasound Imaging Standards and Certification Across Care Teams
June 29, 2026
The American Physical Therapy Association and Inteleos are working together to establish a trusted home for musculoskeletal ultrasound education, training, and certification — giving physical therapists a clear standard to achieve and a credential that carries real weight with patients, colleagues, and health systems.
Proficient use of ultrasound imaging should provide consistent, high-quality image acquisition and interpretation at the point of care. This helps clinicians refine differential diagnoses in real time, guide targeted interventions, monitor tissue change, and make better decisions about when to continue, escalate, or redirect care. For rehabilitation professionals, these skills strengthen patient education, support safer and more precise care, and help validate clinical findings through real-time imaging.
Inteleos certifications provide clinicians with an objective way to demonstrate their ultrasound imaging knowledge and skills meet rigorous, practice-relevant standards. For patients, it means more consistent, higher-quality care. For employers and health systems, it means greater confidence in the clinicians they hire. For the profession, it means a shared benchmark that advances physical therapy’s standing as a leader in MSK imaging.
“Inteleos has built validated assessment frameworks that clinicians and health systems trust across multiple specialties,” says Inteleos Chief Business Development Officer Pamela Ruiz. “Bringing that rigor to MSK ultrasound certification — in partnership with APTA — means physical therapists will have a meaningful credential that reflects real-world competence. This is the kind of standard that moves an entire profession forward.”
“At APTA, we’re focused on ensuring that innovation in practice is matched by clear, credible standards,” says APTA Vice President of Strategic Affairs Drew Contreras, PT, DPT. “This partnership with Inteleos helps provide physical therapists with a meaningful way to demonstrate their competency in MSK ultrasound and elevates the profession’s commitment to high-quality care.”
Note: A physical therapist’s authority to perform and/or order imaging studies for patients is governed by individual state laws or regulations. For more information, see APTA’s resource “State Advocacy for Imaging Orders by Physical Therapist.” APTA Orthopedics and APTA Clinical Electro & Wound Management offer additional resources on imaging in PT practice.
Clinicians ready to pursue certification can get started at pocus.org/apta/.
About APTA
The American Physical Therapy Association represents 100,000 physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, and physical therapy students nationwide. Visit the APTA website to learn more.
About Inteleos
Inteleos fuels the global health community to ensure equitable access to quality care. Guided by the strategic policy to bridge healthcare ecosystems through trusted data, validation, and continuous learning, Inteleos is a mission-driven nonprofit organization that mobilizes and equips a network of individuals and entities to create value in the areas of learning and certification, communities of practice, global infrastructure development, and data and technology, which collectively fuel the realization of equitable access to quality healthcare worldwide. It oversees the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography, or ARDMS, the Alliance for Physician Certification & Advancement, or APCA, and the Point-of-Care Ultrasound Certification Academy, or PCA, collectively representing 150,000 certified medical professionals worldwide. The Inteleos Foundation manages the organization’s philanthropic initiatives. For more information, visit inteleos.org.
