EPP for physiotherapists 2026: professional practice evaluation, a practical guide
EPP is the least known type of DPC activity among physiotherapists, and yet the most strategic: it is often what completes the three-yearly obligation, it is the only activity that carries an allowance in e-learning in 2026, and it remains available even once the three-yearly cap on hours has been reached. Official definition, methods, allowance and how to put it into practice.
📝 In brief
- EPP (évaluation des pratiques professionnelles, professional practice evaluation) is one of the three types of DPC activity, alongside continuing education and risk management: drawing on the methods of the French national health authority (HAS), it lets you question your own practice, compare it with a reference standard and carry out improvement work agencedpc.fr.
- Your three-yearly obligation requires at least 2 activities of 2 different types over 3 years agencedpc.fr: an EPP is the natural complement to a continuing education course.
- In 2026, EPP carries an allowance of 38 €/h on site and in the virtual classroom and 19 €/h by e-learning, whereas continuing education by e-learning carries no allowance at all agencedpc.fr.
- Reached your three-yearly cap on hours? You can still enrol in EPP, risk management or integrated programme activities agencedpc.fr.
📜 Official sources used
- DPC activities (definition of the three types), agencedpc.fr: agencedpc.fr/les-actions-de-dpc
- DPC tools, methods and formats, agencedpc.fr: agencedpc.fr/les-methodes-de-dpc
- The DPC in practice (three-yearly obligation), agencedpc.fr: agencedpc.fr/le-dpc-en-pratique
- 2026 DPC allowances for physiotherapists, agencedpc.fr: Forfaits_masseurs_kinesitherapeutes_2026.pdf
- Funding arrangements, agencedpc.fr: agencedpc.fr/Le-DPC/Les-modalités-de-prise-en-charge
Contents
🎯 What exactly is EPP?
DPC activities are programmes of three types: continuing education, professional practice evaluation (EPP) or risk management (GdR) agencedpc.fr. The official definition of each:
| Type of activity | What it is |
|---|---|
| Continuing education | Cognitive in nature: updating or deepening knowledge agencedpc.fr |
| EPP | Drawing on the HAS methods: questioning your own professional practice, comparing it with a reference standard and carrying out improvement work agencedpc.fr |
| Risk management | Identifying, prioritising, preventing, correcting and evaluating the risks attached to care activities agencedpc.fr |
In concrete terms: where a course brings you new knowledge, an EPP starts from your own patients and your own records to measure the gap between your actual practice and the guidelines, then close it.
🧭 Why your 2026-2028 three-year cycle needs an EPP
Every health professional must, over each 3-year period, follow a DPC pathway combining training and/or EPP and/or risk management, with a minimum of 2 activities of 2 different types agencedpc.fr. In other words: two continuing education courses in a row do not meet the obligation: you have to vary the types, and EPP is the most natural complement.
Two further reasons to consider it:
- The three-yearly cap: once you reach your three-yearly cap on hours, you can only enrol in EPP, risk management or integrated programme activities agencedpc.fr.
- Traceability: your activities are recorded in the Agency’s traceability document, which lets you account for your obligation to the body that checks it: the professional body for physiotherapists agencedpc.fr.
🛠️ EPP methods: clinical audit, SCT, clinical vignettes…
An EPP activity draws on the methods approved by the French national health authority (HAS) agencedpc.fr. Among the methods and formats documented by the Agency (method sheets and dedicated webinars) agencedpc.fr :
- Clinical audit: comparing your practice (real patient records) with a reference standard, measuring the gaps, correcting them, measuring again;
- Script concordance tests (SCT): comparing your clinical reasoning with that of an expert panel on situations of uncertainty;
- The clinical vignette: evaluating your decisions on structured clinical cases;
- Simulation in healthcare: practising and assessing yourself in a reconstructed situation;
- Morbidity and mortality review and the multidisciplinary team meeting, used more often in coordinated practice or in institutions.
💶 2026 allowance: the EPP advantage
| Format | Continuing education | EPP / Risk management |
|---|---|---|
| On site / virtual classroom | 38.00 € / h agencedpc.fr | 38.00 € / h agencedpc.fr |
| E-learning (not on site) | No allowance agencedpc.fr | 19.00 € / h agencedpc.fr |
And with nothing to pay up front: within your annual entitlement of 14 h, the ANDPC pays the course fees directly to the provider: up to 68.40 €/h for an on-site EPP agencedpc.fr. All the details in our DPC guide for physiotherapists 2026.
🖱️ EPP in practice for a physiotherapist
- Spot the type on mondpc.fr: every activity shows its type (« Évaluation des pratiques professionnelles », « Formation continue », « Programme intégré »…) on its detail page: the enrolment process is the same as for a course (see our step-by-step guide).
- Choose a topic where you want hard evidence about your practice: an EPP is all the more valuable when it bears on your actual caseload.
- Combine it with a continuing education course on the same theme: you meet the two-types requirement agencedpc.fr while closing the loop of learning, evaluating and improving.
❓ FAQ: EPP for physiotherapists
What is EPP in physiotherapy?
Professional practice evaluation is one of the three types of DPC activity. Drawing on the methods of the French national health authority, it lets the professional question their own practice, compare it with a reference standard and carry out improvement work agencedpc.fr.
Is EPP compulsory for a physiotherapist?
Not as such, but the three-yearly obligation requires a minimum of 2 activities of 2 different types (continuing education, EPP, risk management) agencedpc.fr: in practice, an EPP (or a risk management activity, or an integrated programme) is needed alongside continuing education.
Does EPP carry an allowance in 2026?
Yes: 38.00 €/h on site and in the virtual classroom, and 19.00 €/h by e-learning: it is the only type of activity carrying an allowance remotely for physiotherapists in 2026 agencedpc.fr.
What are the EPP methods?
EPP activities draw on the HAS methods; among those documented by the ANDPC: clinical audit, script concordance tests, the clinical vignette, simulation in healthcare, morbidity and mortality review and the multidisciplinary team meeting agencedpc.fr.
What can I do once my three-yearly DPC cap is reached?
Once the three-yearly cap on hours is reached, you can still enrol in EPP, risk management or integrated programme activities agencedpc.fr.
🎓 Completing your 2026-2028 cycle with Physio Learning
Physio Learning is a registered DPC provider (no. 99GX): browse our DPC courses for physiotherapists, and to choose your funding route, see our guides DPC 2026 and DPC or FIFPL.
For an overview of continuing education for physiotherapists, see our pillar page physiotherapy courses.
Information given for guidance only, always refer to the official text in force.
Behind this article
An author who explains, a reviewer who checks.
How we write and check our content
Physiotherapist · co-founder of Physio Learning
Marked for life by his first four-hour lecture without a single image, he took a master’s in instructional design so that it would never happen to anyone again. He hunts down publication bias and unreadable slides with the same intransigence.
Head of scientific content
Physiotherapist specialising in neuro-musculoskeletal practice and holder of a master’s in public health. He checks the methodological rigour of every article: primary sources, levels of evidence, no exceptions.