OTA Hot Topics

Earn 1 hour of continuing education by joining OT Potential after taking this course.

Course Description

Occupational therapy assistants are the bedrock of treatment provision in many OT departments throughout the country. 

In fact, In large rural SNFs, around  58% of OT staffing minutes are by OTAs.

And, in rural and underserved communities, about 48% of all Medicare outpatient therapy services are provided by OTAs.

But, not enough continuing education has been geared towards the unique challenges and opportunities within this profession. That’s why I’m so thankful to begin a new annual series on Hot Topics for OTAs, with our first guest, Amy Mahle Ed.D., COTA/L, ROH. 

Amy and I will discuss the hot topics that are top of mind headed into 2026:  from changing reimbursement to the OTA pipeline, to new technologies at the point of care. 

This course is perfect for both occupational therapy assistants, and occupational therapists who are curious to learn more about our closest colleagues.

Learning Objectives

1. You will recognize the recent reimbursement challenges faced by OTAs—and who is most impacted by these challenges.

2. You will be able to identify opportunities for fully utilizing the OTA scope of practice.

Agenda

Intro (5 minutes)

Discussion (40 minutes)

1. Tell me your story of how you became an OTA?
2. Where has being an OTA taken you in your career- and how did it help set you up for career growth?
3. It feels like OTAs are still not as well-understood as they should be. What do people need to know about OTAs. 
4. From the last measures I have seen, OTA are especially critical to care provision in rural communities—why is their care provision so important in these areas? 
5. How have you seen the CMS 15% reduction to OTA/PTA reimbursement impacted the field? How do we change it?
6. What factors do you think have influenced the drop in OTA enrollment over the past decade? 
7. How can we more fully use the OTA scope of practice, and how do you see it being underutilized?
8. What are the biggest opportunities you currently see for OTAs to grow their careers?

Live Q&A (10 min)

Closing (5 min)

Supporting Research and Journal Articles

• Occupational Therapist and Occupational Therapy Assistant: We are Proud of These Titles 
• Explicit and implicit disability attitudes of occupational and physical therapy assistants
• Occupational Therapy Education and Entry-Level Practice: A Systematic Review

Target Audience/Educational Level

Our target audience is occupational therapy practitioners who are looking to learn about OT and Heart Disease.  The educational level is introductory.

Financial and Non-financial Disclosures

It is the policy of OT Potential to disclose any financial and non-financial interest the provider or instructor may have in a product or service mentioned during an activity. This is to ensure that the audience is made aware of any bias of the speaker.

We here at OT Potential have no financial stake in this topic.

Speakers

Amy Mahle Ed.D., COTA/L, ROH

Amy Mahle is a servant leader, educator, collaborator, and author who values and experiences joy by investing in people, uniting others, and inspiring them to take action towards meaningful projects and issues. She is driven by innovation, community engagement, creating a team-oriented culture, and a model of continuous improvement. She earned her EdD in Community College Leadership from NC State. Amy is currently the founding Program Chair of the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College in Salisbury, NC. She has worked in higher education for 16 years, and prior roles include owning a small business and working clinically as an occupational therapy assistant. She has held various volunteer leadership roles at state and national levels.

Sarah Lyon, OTR/L

Sarah’s passion is helping fellow OT practitioners translate evidence into daily practice. Sarah earned her BA in religion from St. Olaf College, then earned her master’s degree in occupational therapy from New York University in 2011.

Since then, she’s worked in numerous facilities, including a critical access hospital, an acute trauma hospital, and a state inpatient psychiatric hospital. Sarah is the founder/owner of OT Potential. Read more about OT Potential here.

This course was designed to meet your continuing education requirements

We designed the courses in the Club to meet the requirements for “online” and “independent/self-study” courses. To verify the requirements from your specific state (within the US), check out our post, OT Continuing Education Requirements. If you are outside of the United States and have questions, please contact us.

We are proud to be an AOTA Approved Provider and to meet the requirements for your NBCOT renewal.

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