Inside Behavior Analysis
Volume 2 | 2010 | Number 1 | On-line ISSN: 2151-4704
ABAI Practice Board
By Mike Dorsey
The ABAI Practice Board has been very active over the past six months. We have expanded the membership and the focus of the Board. This was done to address issues ABAI members have identified as critical to their support needs in the practice of applied behavior analysis. Included in this expansion of the Board are the following:
Chair: Michael F. Dorsey, Ph.D., BCBA
Committees and respective chairs:
- Practitioner Hotline: Jon Bailey, Ph.D., BCBA
- Insurance Billing: Wayne Fisher, Ph.D., BCBA and Travis Thompson, Ph.D.
- Administrators: Rita Gardner, MPH, BCBA and Bob Littleton, Ph.D., BCBA
- Insurance: Doreen Granpeesheh, Ph.D., BCBA
- Education: Doug Greer, Ph.D.
- Student Practitioners: Josh Pritchard, MS, BCBA
- Licensing: Michael Weinberg, Ph.D., BCBA
- Governmental Affairs: Thomas Zane, Ph.D., BCBA
- Science to Practice: Jennifer Zarcone, Ph.D., BCBA
Members of the Board have attended or are scheduled to attend a number of ABAI state conferences this year:
- Autism New Jersey
- Behavior Analysis Association of Michigan
- The Berkshire Association for Behavior Analysis
- Four Corners ABA
- Minnesota Northland ABA
- Missouri ABA
- New Jersey ABA
- Pennsylvania ABA
- Tennessee ABA
- Texas ABA
Board members are available to present at state conferences on subjects related to practice or to consult with chapters on issues such as the development of state licensing laws or third party insurance billing. Recently, Thomas Zane, Michael Weinberg, and Michael Dorsey were invited to meet with the Board of Directors of New Jersey ABA and consult on the potential development of a state licensing law. The Practice Board also sponsored Chapter Leadership Training at the 2010 ABAI Autism Conference and is sponsoring a track at the annual convention. Please contact the ABAI office to request an appearance or meeting with Practice Board members.
Member Survey
In 2009, the Practice Board conducted an International Strategic Development Survey. ABAI distributed 16,052 surveys to its members and affiliated chapters. The goal was to seek input regarding future directions in support of practicing applied behavior analysts. The results show that 71.5% of respondents consider themselves to be practicing behavior analysts, while 28.5% do not. Also, 48% said they are certified behavior analysts as compared to 52% who said they are not. A large majority (76%) of respondents indicated that they would see moderate to substantial professional benefit from the licensure of behavior analysts. When asked to identify the most important legislative efforts for ABAI to support, participants identified licensing as the most important (24%), followed by insurance coverage (17%).
Based on these results, the Practice Board has focused its efforts on the issues of licensing and insurance reimbursement for applied behavior analysis services.
Billing Committee Update
The Billing Committee of the Practice Board is preparing to submit a request to the American Medical Association for creating specific billing codes (called CPT Level I and HCPCS Level II codes) for applied behavior analysis autism services. We have assembled a multidisciplinary committee from a cross-section of interest groups including practicing behavior analysts, representatives from the health insurance industry, provider organizations, physicians, advocacy, and academic behavior analysts to assist in our effort. We have surveyed billing codes currently used in the states that are now providing insurance coverage for some autism applied behavior analysis early intervention services. This review will provide useful background information, as well as information about qualifications of individuals requesting reimbursement in those states. We are optimistic that a well researched and prepared application will be successful in garnering new billing codes for the profession, which will benefit many more children with autism spectrum disorders as well as practitioners. The application for new CPT codes will be submitted in advance of the ABAI convention in San Antonio. One of the convention sessions will include a discussion of the status of this process.
Billing Committee Members:
- Eric Billington (AmeriChoice)
- Co-Chair: Wayne Fisher (University of Nebraska, Monroe Center)
- Kristie Frissen (OptumHealth)
- Louis Hagopian (Kennedy Krieger Institute)
- Walter Kaufman (The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Kennedy Krieger Institute)
- Richard Meisch (University of Texas)
- Kyle Mitchell (ABC of Indiana for Autism)
- George Realmuto (University of Minnesota)
- Lori Unumb (Autism Speaks)
- David Wacker (University of Iowa)
- William Young (WellSpring)
ABAI Hotline Instituted
In an effort to stay in touch with our members and reach out to the public, the Practice Board has instituted a hotline to handle questions about practice-related issues. Routine questions are handled by the ABAI office while more complex issues are routed to Jon Bailey, who responds personally or refers to others who may be more qualified to handle the request. During the first month of operation the ABAI Hotline received about one e-mail per day. Most questions dealt with finding a qualified behavior analyst, but others were a little more unique (e.g., “How do I go about setting up an ABA clinic in India?”).
Efforts to Include Applied Behavior Analysis in H.R. 3200—America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009
A link to a petition is being circulated that addresses the current Health Care Reform Act, aimed at amending the bill to include applied behavior analysis as a billable human service. The link states: “Include Behavior Analysts in Health Care Legislation.” As of December 11, 2009, 4,228 letters and e-mails have been sent.
The petition is available at http://www.petition2congress.com/2/2642/include-behavior-analysts-in-health-care-legislation/. The petition states:
"Given the success of behavior modification (often called behavior analysis) in the last century, many states are beginning to professionally license behavior modifiers. The professional licenses in some states like Arizona and Nevada are for behavior analysts and in other states, like Pennsylvania, are for behavior specialists. However, these newly developing licensed Master’s and doctoral-level mental health professionals are ignored in the most recent health care bills. We seek reimbursement for services similar to marriage and family therapists and licensed professional counselors and we seek grant funding and career encouragement funding as listed in the bill including funds for tuition remission and reimbursement.
Behavior analysis has had considerable success as noted in numerous studies in the treatment of children with behavioral health problems such as attention deficit disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and childhood autism. In addition, behavior analysis has proven effectiveness with adult disorders ranging from anxiety and depression to schizophrenia and addictions. Finally, behavior analysis has had unprecedented success with children and adults with developmental disabilities. It has achieved this success in a variety of settings including training parents in outpatient clinics; acting in a consultative capacity to teachers at school, group home staff, and staff in skilled nursing facilities; and therapy directly to the client in outpatient clinics.
Including behavior analysis and behavior analysts in the health care bill, similar to marriage and family therapists and licensed professional counselors, will increase public access to health care services. In addition, the commitment of these Master’s level professionals to providing evidenced-based services will benefit the public and lower health care costs over the long run. The signers of this petition agree with this, and we ask for your support of this inclusion in health care legislation."
Occupational Therapists Oppose Applied Behavior Analysis Certification and Licensure
The following is from the Connecticut Occupational Therapy Association, http://www.connota.org:
“As you may have read in various AOTA publications, there has been an increasing effort on behalf of Applied Behavioral Analysts (ABA) to become certified/licensed in various states.
In the state of CT, legislation may be introduced to require that behavior analysts that work in the school systems be certified by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (http://www.bacb.com/). This initiative may be in response to an incident where someone without credentials was providing services in Connecticut.
The Connecticut Occupational Therapy Association, http://www.connota.org/ along with AOTA is working hard to protect the services we provide, and to ensure that any regulation does not limit our ability to provide services. One concern is that changes like this could lead to licensure efforts by the behavior analysts.
A recent item in AOTA’s Scope of Practice Issues Update newsletter (http://www.aota.org/Pubs/Enews/ScopeNews/07-09.aspx) addresses concerns with these initiatives.
Behavior Analysts Pursue State Licensure
The June 29 issue of OT Practice includes an article detailing a new initiative by behavioral analysts to enact state licensure laws. The licensure efforts by behavior analysts have several implications for the occupational therapy profession: (1) the envisioned scope of practice includes traditional areas of occupational therapy scope of practice; (2) occupational therapists who use applied behavior analysis in their practice may not meet licensure requirements; and (3) behavior analysis licensure laws could be interpreted in the future to restrict occupational therapy practice.
We would appreciate it very much if you would take the brief survey below to share your experience in using applied behavior analysis in your practice and to share any concerns you may have in this regard.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2bmVWmn6JeRW15aSNAZFvDg_3d_3d."