Telerehabilitation Policy Report: Interprofessional Policy Principles and Priorities

Authors

  • Evelyn Abrahante Terrell Nicklaus Children’s Health System, Miami, Florida, USA
  • Andy Bopp American Occupational Therapy Association, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
  • Josh Krantz American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Rockville, Maryland, USA
  • Kim Karr American Occupational Therapy Association, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
  • Steve Kline American Physical Therapy Association, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
  • Kristen Neville American Occupational Therapy Association, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
  • Tammy Richmond Go 2 Care, Los Angeles, California, USA
  • Kyle Zebley American Telemedicine Association, Arlington, Virginia, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/ijt.2024.6687

Keywords:

Advocacy, Audiology, Public Health Emergency, Occupational therapy, Physical therapy, Policy, Telehealth, Telepractice, Speech therapy

Abstract

While the public health emergency is over, telehealth and telepractice will continue to play a pivotal role in supporting health equity for diverse and vulnerable individuals in underserved communities. The American Occupational Therapy Association, the American Physical Therapy Association, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and the American Telemedicine Association are professional associations representing the interests of more than 564,000 rehabilitation services professionals in the United States. These organizations have shared priorities including legislative, regulatory, and state-based advocacy efforts. Continued advocacy and promotion by professional organizations, providers and patients alike is necessary to ensure that all rehabilitation providers are included in any telehealth lists of federally and state approved providers. In addition, key health care industry stakeholders want telehealth to be a permanent option for care delivery and ensure that telehealth will remain widely available to support health equity and access to critical rehabilitation services for all.

  

References

American Occupational Therapy Association (2023a). AOTA, along with coalition partners, issues statement to fight for continuation of Medicare telehealth services after PHE ends. https://www.aota.org/advocacy/issues/telehealth-advocacy/aota-coalition-partners-join-forces-to-fight-for-medicare-telehealth-services-after-phe

American Occupational Therapy Association. (2023b). Congressional therapy champions reintroduce bill to make occupational therapy practitioners permanent telehealth providers. https://www.aota.org/advocacy/advocacy-news/2023/therapy-champions-reintroduce-permanent-telehealth-provider-legislation

American Physical Therapy Association (2023). Position Paper: Expanded Telehealth Act of 2023. https://www.apta.org/advocacy/issues/telehealth/expanded-telehealth-access-act

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2023). Medicare issues guidance for telehealth services provided by facilities. https://www.asha.org/news/2023/medicare-fails-to-issue-guidance-for-telehealth-services-provided-by-facilities/

American Telemedicine Association (2022a). ATA Action's Federal Telehealth Legislative Tracker. https://www.americantelemed.org/policies/atas-federal-telehealth-legislative-tracker/

American Telemedicine Association (2022b). Avoiding the telehealth cliff ATA Action federal policy priorities in 2022. https://www.americantelemed.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ATA-Actions-2022-Legislative-Priorities-11.1.pdf

Bican, R., Christensen, C., Fallieras, K., Sagester, G., O'Rourke, S., Byars, M., & Tanner, K. (2021). Rapid implementation of telerehabilitation for pediatric patients during COVID-19. International Journal of Telerehabilitation, 13(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5195/ijt.2021.6371

Krasovsky, T., Silberg, T., Barak, S., Eisenstein, E., Erez, N., Feldman, I., Guttman, D., Liber, P., Patael, S. Z., & Sarna, H. (2021). Transition to multidisciplinary pediatric telerehabilitation during the COVID-19 pandemic: Strategy development and implementation. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(4), 1484. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041484

Little, L. M., Pickett, K. A., Proffitt, R., & Cason, J. (2021). Keeping PACE with 21st century healthcare: A framework for telehealth research, practice, and program evaluation in occupational therapy. International Journal of Telerehabilitation, 13(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5195/ijt.2021.6379

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Published

2025-01-15

How to Cite

Terrell, E. A., Bopp, A., Krantz, J., Karr, K., Kline, S., Neville, K., Richmond, T., & Zebley, K. (2025). Telerehabilitation Policy Report: Interprofessional Policy Principles and Priorities. International Journal of Telerehabilitation, 16(2). https://doi.org/10.5195/ijt.2024.6687

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 2 (2024)

Section

Policy

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Evelyn Abrahante Terrell, Andy Bopp, Josh Krantz, Kim Karr, Steve Kline, Kristen Neville, Tammy Richmond, Kyle Zebley

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