Licensure
The New Regulations have been published. To view the regulations, click here.
Limiting use of PAMs:
The New Jersey Occupational Therapy Association (NJOTA), which advocates in the interest of more than 2600 OT and OTA licensees in the state of New Jersey, has grave concerns regarding the new Occupational Therapy Licensure Regulations which limit the scope of practice of licensed Occupational Therapy Assistants (OTAs) in New Jersey. Occupational Therapy professionals are employed in a variety of settings, including hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, schools, outpatient facilities, home care, mental health facilities, higher education and continuing education venues.
These new regulations limit scope of practice of the Occupational Therapy Assistant related to the use of physical agent modalities (PAM). According to the new regulations, the Occupational Therapist may only delegate the use of superficial thermal agents and mechanical device modalities. The Occupational Therapy Assistant is not permitted to use advanced PAM, such as ultrasound or electrical stimulation. While the new regulations mandate advanced training for the Occupational Therapist to obtain certification in the use of Advanced PAM via OT Advisory Council approved courses, there is no such opportunity for the OTA. Also noted is that only (1) other State restricts OTA usage of advanced PAM – Nebraska.. AOTA and 48 other States allow the OTA to use PAM, with additional education and training, and consider it safe and beneficial to consumers.
NJOTA feels that this change to the regulations will have a negative impact on consumers in the state of New Jersey in the following ways:
- Limit access to necessary and appropriate care. Occupational therapy assistants are employed in a variety of settings where supervision is provided under routine and/or general parameters. This means that if a patient’s plan of care requires the use of advanced PAM to achieve functional performance goals, and the OTA is providing the intervention, care would be compromised. In this case, the patient would have to wait until an OT is present to provide the PAM. This may delay progress, or PAM may not be added to a treatment plan appropriately because an OT may not be available to provide the service as required. Each of these examples compromises the quality of healthcare for the consumer.
- Potentially increase health care costs as the patient’s progress toward functional performance goals may be slower or less than optimal. This would necessitate additional therapy visits at additional costs to patients and insurance carriers. These costs could be further shifted to the consumer in the form of increased premiums, co-pays, co-insurance, and/or the limiting of occupational therapy insurance benefits which are not a mandated benefit in the State of New Jersey.
- Possibly result in a decrease in the employment of OTA, as the cost-effectiveness of such employment is impacted by the inability of the OTA to provide comprehensive care and deliver a prescribed treatment plan.
- Healthcare agencies costs would increase as the cost of care delivered by the OT is significantly higher than that delivered by the OTA under routine or general supervision. This could result in loss of employment as the agency may no longer be able to provide services in a fiscally viable manner. Overall, this could impact access to care and the quality of care delivered.
- Possibly compromise the quality of care as productivity levels for the OT could be increased to offset increased costs.
- Contribute to the continued of shortage of OT and OTAs in New Jersey, as the scope of practice is limited and the discretion of the OT to delegate services is limited as well compared to other nearby states. Thus also potentially impacting consumers’ access to and quality of care received.
NJOTA acknowledges that it is in the best interest of the consumers, patients, occupational therapists, and occupational therapy assistants to amend these new OT Licensure regulations. NJOTA advocates, on behalf of all concerned parties, that licensed Occupational Therapy Assistants be permitted to obtain training, demonstrate competency and be certified in the appropriate use of Advanced Physical Agent Modalities under the supervision of licensed Occupational Therapists.
If you have any questions or comments regarding the above statement, please feel free to contact any of the following:
Stepanie Franklin-Cosgrove, Director of Legislation - scosgrove@alliancehpt.com
Vickie Pierman, Practice Chair - Vickie.pierman@genesishcc.com
Felicia Chew, Vice President - Felicia.chew@genesishcc.com
(posted 05/17/2009)
_________________________________
Occupational Therapy Advisory Council Meetings
Meeting dates for 2009 have been set. Go to their webpage or see below:
May 21 (previosly scheduled for May 14)
July 9
Sept 10
November 12
Licensure Information
All occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants must be licensed to work in the state of New Jersey. The New Jersey Occupational Therapy Advisory Council manages licensure:
For applications for New Jersey State OT/OTA licensure on-line, go to www.njconsumeraffairs.com/occup/otpacket.pdf
Occupational Therapy Licensure in the State of New Jersey is handled through the Department of Law and Public Safety, Division of Consumer Affairs.
The Occupational Therapy license is issued by the Occupational Therapy Advisory Council, which is made up of seven members who are appointed by the Governor. Four of the members are licensed occupational therapists with at least five years experience, one is a certified occupational therapy assistant, and two members who are "public" members.
Occupational Therapy has had a licensure act in New Jersey since 1993. All therapists were required to be licensed as of March 15, 2000
Disclaimer:
All of the information contained on this website is based on information available to Board of Directors members.
Official information is only available from:
State of New Jersey, Dept. of Law and Public Safety
Division of Consumer Affairs - Occupational Therapy Advisory Council
124 Halsey Street, 6th Floor, P. O. Box 45037
Newark, N J 07101
973-504-6570