Telehealth Tuesday

May 19, 2020:  Q&A with the CASP Telehealth Task Force

Original Webinar Date: May 19, 2020

Webinar Duration: 50 min

Short Title: Telehealth Tuesday (May 19, 2020)

CEU offered: 1.0 Learning CEU

CE Instructors:

  • Joy Pollard, PhD, BCBA-D
  • Heather O'Shea, PhD, BCBA-D
  • Michele Silcox


About Telehealth Tuesdays:  CASP's Telehealth Tuesdays provide a recurring meeting time for providers to join and ask questions about telehealth service models and billing practices. During the pandemic, CASP will hold a call every Tuesday at 11:00 PT/2:00 ET via Zoom.  Providers should submit questions by the prior Friday evening. A selection of members from the CASP Telehealth Task Force, led by Dr. Joy Pollard, will then guide the general meeting based upon prior submissions, as well as questions that come in during the webinar. 

Effective May 26, 2020 these meetings will be held every 2 weeks and include a 10-15 minute demonstration of a telehealth technology platform.  Please note: These demonstrations do not imply CASP endorsement.

Questions addressed in this presentation include:

  1. Could you please share any resources you know of regarding training RBT's to provide direct instruction services via telehealth. 
  2. If you train RBT's to do line therapy via telehealth, what are common barriers, challenges, etc. Is there anything in RBT should NOT do via telehealth?
  3. Has anyone experienced issues with payment when in-person and telehealth services occur on the same day and/or same time (e.g., 97153/97155 in clinic; 97156 via telehealth)?
  4. How is everyone handling supervision in clinic-based services?
  5. Do you know of any free or affordable platforms for use with an iPad that allow for Screen Sharing while still being able to view the participant/patient? Zoom and Microsoft Teams appear not to allow for this. This is for staff that would conduct telehealth from their company iPad.
  6. How does billing differ between parent as an extension of the RBT versus parent as a proxy? When serving as a proxy, does a BCBA need to supervise/provide adaptive behavior treatment (97155) each session and if so, how can we clearly distinguish this from family adaptive behavior treatment guidance (97156)?
  7. Are there any cost-effective and HIPAA-compliant ways to use cameras instead?
  8. For session notes, do we need to document when we use telehealth?

Instructor(s)

CMRS Michele Silcox

Michele Silcox, has a 25-year career in Accounting. For the last nine years, Michele has focused her career in ABA Therapy billing and insurance funding sources, founding ABA Therapy Billing and Insurance Services, a nationally recognized Autism Services billing, consulting, and credentialing company, supporting the provider just starting out through the large ABA agency flourishing with multiple providers, clients, and funding sources. Additionally, her software background puts her in a position to help providers maximize the use of the practice management software they have chosen. As a Certified Medical Reimbursement Specialist (CMRS) and her studies in auditing, she can provide an in-depth risk assessment for providers to support compliance and profitability of their practice. Michele is coauthor of Revenue Cycle Management for ABA Therapy.

Ph.D., BCBA-D Joy Pollard

Dr. Joy Pollard is the Co-founder and CEO of Clinical Operations at Behavior Change Institute. She earned her Ph.D. in Disability Disciplines, with a Specialization in Applied Behavior Analysis and her clinical experience has spanned across the home, clinical, school, and residential home settings. Dr. Pollard serves as Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, where she provides clinical supervision and collaborates on research focused on children with ASD and neurogenetic syndromes. Her research and clinical practice have focused extensively on practitioner capacity building initiatives and pioneering telehealth applications to increase access to medically necessary ABA treatment for individuals living in rural and geographically isolated areas. Her scholarly publications include articles on ethical considerations in the design and implementation of telehealth service delivery models and she has served as a subject matter expert for the Telehealth Guidelines by the Council for Autism Service Providers (CASP).

PhD, BCBA-D Heather O'Shea

Dr. Heather O’Shea has spent over 20 years working with families and children with special needs. She earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from California School of Professional Psychology, specializing in services with children and families in the educational, medical, and legal systems. She started her career in Applied Behavior Analysis in 2004 and enrolled in the very first BACB Course Sequence ever offered in California. She left her role as the Chief Clinical Officer at a large national organization in 2020 to join Verbal Behavior Associates (VBA) as President. She is proud to oversee an organization committed to providing evidence-based intervention and specializing in serving clients with profound needs. Her commitment to quality service delivery, ethics, training and mentorship have driven her dedication to the field. Her mission is to impact the field and leave a lasting positive impact on all of those impacted by and committed to improving the lives of those touched by autism. She is also known for creative ways to encourage community. After winning the Spirit Award (aka giant stuffed pickle) at the Autism Law Summit, she traveled the country with it, promoting autism awareness.