In medical notes, uppercase PT means physical therapy or physical therapist, and lowercase pt means patient. Other common ones: Fx is fracture, FWW is front-wheeled walker, SPT is student physical therapist, OOB is out of bed, WBAT is weight bearing as tolerated, WFL is within functional limits and N/T is numbness and tingling or not tested.

Use the quick table below, the searchable lookup or the category tables. Because the same abbreviation can mean different things in different settings, a note should use only abbreviations your facility has approved, and never those on the Joint Commission Do Not Use list.

Most searched PT medical abbreviations

Note: CPT is not a clinical abbreviation, but many people search for it alongside PT terms. It refers to the code set used to bill services.

What does PT mean in medical terms?

PT in uppercase usually stands for physical therapy or physical therapist. Lowercase pt, or Pt at the start of a sentence, means patient. In some settings PT also stands for prothrombin time (a blood test) or part-time, so check the context. To avoid mix-ups, many clinics write “patient” in full in the subjective section and reserve PT for the therapist. For the full PT note structure, see our SOAP note guide.

Search the A-Z list of physical therapy abbreviations

Type an abbreviation or a meaning, or filter by category. The full list is below the search box, so you can also scroll it.

Abbreviations vary by facility and payer, so check your employer's approved list. This list is based on common clinical usage and cross-checked against published lists from WebPT, Clinicient and PT Progress.

Weight-bearing status abbreviations

Weight-bearing orders come from the surgeon or physician and tell you how much load a limb can take. Document the order exactly as written and write out any percentage.

TTWB and TDWB are sometimes used interchangeably. If the order is unclear, ask the prescriber and document the clarification.

Assist-level and mobility abbreviations

Facilities and rating systems define the percentage of effort behind Min, Mod and Max differently, so follow your setting's scale and state it in the note when it affects billing or discharge decisions.

Assistive device abbreviations

Range of motion and movement abbreviations

Joint measurements are recorded in degrees. See our musculoskeletal SOAP notes guide for examples of how ROM is documented, and CPT 95852 for range of motion testing of the hand.

Joint Commission Do Not Use list

The Joint Commission's official Do Not Use list applies to all orders and medication-related documentation, whether handwritten or typed as free text. It is a safety rule, not a billing rule.

Trailing zeros may be used where precision is required, such as lab results, imaging studies and catheter or tube sizes, but never in medication orders.

PT abbreviations that are easy to confuse

How to use abbreviations in PT documentation

• Use your facility's approved list. Payers and accreditors expect notes that other clinicians can read. Do not invent personal shorthand.
• Write out anything ambiguous. When in doubt, spell it out, especially for diagnoses, medications and weight-bearing orders.
• Be consistent. Use the same form every time (for example, always “WBAT”).
• Pair abbreviations with measurements. “Pt ambulated 150 ft with FWW and CGA” is clearer than “pt ambulated with device”.
• Keep medical necessity visible. Abbreviations should shorten a note, not hide the clinical reasoning that supports your plan of care.

A worked example: Pt s/p R TKA, WBAT. AROM R knee 5 to 95 degrees. Ambulated 150 ft with FWW and CGA. STG: ambulate 300 ft with LRAD and S in 2 wks. That one note uses seven abbreviations from the tables above.

More examples: musculoskeletal SOAP notes, neurological SOAP notes and pediatric SOAP notes. Speech therapists can see our SLP abbreviations list. For codes, browse our ICD-10 codes and CPT codes libraries, including ICD-10 codes for low back pain and right hip fracture.

Documenting faster with an EMR

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Frequently asked questions

What does PT mean in medical terms?

Uppercase PT means physical therapy or physical therapist. Lowercase pt means patient. Context decides, and many clinics write “patient” in full to avoid confusion.

What is the full form of PT in medical notes?

Physical therapy (the treatment) or physical therapist (the clinician). In lowercase it is short for patient.

What does Fx mean in medical terms?

Fx is short for fracture, for example “s/p Fx R tibia” means after a right tibia fracture.

What does FWW mean in physical therapy?

FWW means front-wheeled walker, a walker with wheels on the front legs that rolls forward without lifting.

What does SPT stand for in physical therapy?

SPT means student physical therapist: a DPT student treating patients on clinical rotation under a licensed therapist's supervision. Notes written by an SPT are typically co-signed by the supervising PT.

What does OOB mean?

OOB means out of bed, used to document mobility such as “OOB to chair”.

What does WBAT mean?

WBAT means weight bearing as tolerated: the patient may put as much weight on the limb as comfort allows.

What does WFL mean?

WFL means within functional limits. It is used when a finding is not perfectly normal but allows normal function, unlike WNL (within normal limits).

What does N/T mean in physical therapy?

N/T can mean numbness and tingling or not tested. Check the context, or write the phrase out.

What does LRAD mean in physical therapy?

LRAD means least restrictive assistive device, for example a goal to walk 300 ft with the least restrictive assistive device.

What is the difference between NWB and PWB?

NWB means non-weight bearing (no weight on the limb). PWB means partial weight bearing, with a limited amount of weight allowed, often specified as a percentage or in pounds.

Which abbreviations should never be used?

The Joint Commission's Do Not Use list includes U, IU, QD, QOD, trailing zeros, missing leading zeros, MSO4 and MgSO4 in orders and medication-related documentation.

Does CMS approve a list of PT abbreviations?

Individual facilities set their own approved abbreviation lists, so check your facility's policy rather than relying on a so-called CMS-approved list. Payers expect clear, supportable documentation, so write out anything ambiguous.