OT reimbursement from traditional models is on the decline, while the need for OT services on the rises Thus, entering into private practice is an important avenue for OTs to consider. But, with this comes all kinds of legal considerations. In the first part of this two part series, we talked about choosing a legal entity, working with your full scope of practice as laid out by your licensure laws, and navigating Medicare covered services. Now in part two, we are getting int...

Unfortunately, rates of cancer have been on the rise for young adults in multiple cancer types—including breast, pancreatic, and gastric cancers. Cancer rehab for these individuals introduces multiple special considerations given their age and life stage. In this one hour webinar, we will use our clinical decision support page to walk through assessment, goal-setting and treatment for adolescents and young adults with cancer. We’ll be hearing from Vanessa Monique Yanez, PhD, MSOT, OTR/L...

While many therapists dream of private practice, the risk of hitting a legal landmine holds many back. In this episode, we are going to zoom in on one OT who is looking to partner with a doctor who is providing concierge dementia services. We’ll use this as a case example to talk through what legal considerations OTs need to make when starting a practice: from choosing the right legal entity, to partnering with a specific provider, to navigating Medicare, to understanding anti-tru...

Here’s a question I can’t stop thinking about: Is “sense of purpose” the true secret ingredient that makes occupational therapy unique and effective? I ran a survey of my OT peers earlier this year, and I was shocked that 17% of respondents selected “sense of purpose” as the main treatment area they address—second only to “daily activities,” which is what I traditionally think of as our bread and butter. This tells me that, on the ground, a surprising number of therapists se...

You know that sinking feeling you get before walking into a patient room, when you suddenly think: “Wait.. what exactly am I going to do with this patient?” Creating a treatment plan entails a complex synthesis of the patient’s needs, the available evidence, and your expertise. It’s no wonder it can be hard to pull all this information together on the spot. So, it’s easy to see why therapists are starting to utilize AI tools as a brainstorming assist for treatment planning.&...

Far too often, people are not referred to occupational therapy until their disease course has progressed to a level of high complexity. But, what if we could start seeing our clients sooner? Ideally, we receive the referral at the first sign of trouble. In some cases, we could prevent the full expression of a condition. In other cases, we could work with the client so their condition presents in a less severe way. These services are low cost and high impact. While it feels obvious...

Stroke rehab is an area where we have some of the most abundant research to draw on as occupational therapists. But, this can also make it feel difficult to synthesize it all into the right actions steps for your clients. In this Ask Me Anything style episode, we will be answering your questions on chronic stroke assessment, goal-setting and treatment. We’ll have a full clinical decision support for you reference during the episode, and then plan to keep it up to date. Our g...

Between 20-30% of typically developing children experience sleep difficulty in childhood. The percentage of neurodiverse children with considerable sleep problems is even more staggering at 40-80%. On one hand, it is sobering to consider the impacts of sleep difficulties on children and adolescents. As you’ll hear in this week's article review: Sleep difficulties are linked with everything from poorer health, education outcomes and social outcomes. They can also exacerbate ...

While many OTs work in a fee for service model, the reality is that we are undergoing a seismic shift towards value based care. In fact it's estimated that 238.8 million Americans receive healthcare in a value-based care model. These already large numbers are expected to grow significantly in the coming years. OTs has tremendous potential in value-based care models. But, the reality is we are missing the boat. That’s because becoming involved in a value based care model inv...

Nearly one third of people experience sleep disturbances. And, about 23% of adults experience mental health illness. These high percentages mean that both sleep and mental health are global, public health challenges in their own right. However, emerging research suggests we should not think of these challenges separately. They are more intertwined than we realize. Sleep difficulties aren’t just a sign of mental health challenges, sleep problems can contribute to mental healt...

Starting a side hustle private practice is one of the best ways to safeguard your career, pursue a niche interest, and meet some of the many unmet needs in your community. But, let’s be honest: the process of getting going can be daunting. In this Ask Me Anything (AMA), we are welcoming Carline Reaume, OTD, OTR/L, DipACLM, PMH-C, PCES back to the podcast. Carlin has steadily grown her private practice over the course of several years, and has experienced the ups and downs of priva...

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome affects quality of life in 1-5% of people. The first step in treatment of carpal tunnel should be non-surgical treatment, which includes education, often a steroid injection, and therapy. But what should that therapy look like? In this live webinar, we will discuss carpal tunnel education, assessment and treatment with Rachel Egan, OTR/L, MS, CHT, COMT-UE. Rachel is a Certified Hand Therapist, a Certified Orthopedic Manual Therapist, and currentl...

Childhood feeding problems are one of the most common complaints raised during primary care visits. Which is not surprising, given that the prevalence of pediatric feeding disorder is around 1 in 37 children under age 5. Feeding disorders overall are common in the pediatric population, with a prevalence of 25% of children in the general population and of up to 80% of children with developmental disabilities. Unfortunately, many feeding problems are too often normalized, and parents...

However you think about group strength it probably is not broadly enough. Grip strength is NOT just about hand strength. It is NOT just an indicator of upper body strength. It is NOT just about overall strength. Grip strength is associated with: mortalitypsychological healthfunctional disabilitieshospitalizationmorbidityThe article we are reviewing today, is seeking to convince you that grip strength should be considered as a vital sign, as it is an overall indicator ...

We’ve all known for a while that the current fee-for-service models that most occupational therapists operate under are bad for patients and bad for healthcare. Why? Because it incentives volume of services over quality of services. If you’re like me, you may feel like you’ve been waiting for years for value based care to really take hold in the United States. But, this new future has felt like a distant reality. Our guest today, Dana Strauss, PT, DPT, sees things from a d...

Through OT Potential, we’ve released over 94 episodes all exploring new influential OT research. As we enter 2025, it’s time to reflect on the research and ask: What trends are we seeing in OT? How is new research enriching how we think about our practice? In this 1 hour-episode, we’ll talk about new trends, with a particular focus on what commonalities we see leaders in our field doing in their occupational therapy process. We’ll culminate our discussion by exploring how people des...

Artificial intelligence is ushering a new era of healthcare tools. These range from ambient listening to streamlined practice management. But, the AI-supported that I believe will truly transform occupational therapy is: Clinical Decision Support. To be honest, it often feels like we have more clinical decision barriers than we have support. Our EMRs currently give us a set number of checkboxes, which massively pigeonhole our services, and often DO NOT reflect the kinds of best prac...

The Epley maneuver is a 💎 rare gem 💎 in the OT toolkit.A patient can walk into our treatment room, and they can walk out cured.They can walk out with instant relief.(Yes, there is nuance to this. Sometimes the maneuver needs to be repeated. Sometimes it simply doesn’t work. There are important contraindications.) But, the other thing that makes this a GEM is that more so than any other condition we treat there are clear clinical guidelines for treatment of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo...

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common cause of non-traumatic disability in people aged 18-65 years. As rehab professionals, we know that exercise is one of the mainstays of treatment for these clients. Though not definitively established, exercise has the most potential promise to be disease modifying if started early in the course of disease. But, alongside exercise there are other important interventions to consider like fatigue management and education. In today’s artic...

As occupational therapists, many of us have witnessed the wonder of motor learning in neuro rehab. Yet despite years of research attempting to identify the most effective post-stroke interventions, the reality is that our understanding of how to improve recovery of function remains incomplete. The article we are reviewing today serves as an update on the state of the science in how new theories of motor control and learning can be incorporated into practice. The authors put par...