Starting an OT Practice in 2026

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

Course Description

The landscape of private practice changed forever this year. With Amazon officially adding physical therapy to its marketplace, accessing rehabilitation services is now as easy as ordering a pair of shoes. This shift signifies a massive rise in public awareness of therapy services—but it also brings a new set of challenges for the independent practitioner.

How do you compete with a global giant? How do you meet the “one-click” expectations of modern clients?

In our 2026 “Starting an OT Practice” course, we dive into the complexities of launching and sustaining a practice in this high-tech, high-convenience era. We’ll discuss why easy onboarding is no longer optional, how to leverage the latest AI tools to provide world-class care while run a lean and professional business, and how to position your clinical expertise as a high-value alternative to corporate healthcare.

We are joined by Christopher Gaskins PhD, OTR/L, CSRS, who recently made the leap from “side-hustle” to full-time practice owner. Chris shares his raw, first-hand experience of navigating the ups and downs of launching in this current market, offering a roadmap for OTs who are ready to bet on themselves.

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OT Potential courses are presented as live webinars, then released on-demand video and audio via the OT Potential Podcast. Attendance in the live webinar will be indicated on your certificate. Learn more about how our courses help meet live webinar requirements, and OT CEU requirements overall.

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Learning Objectives

1. You will be able to recognize how solo entrepreneurs can implement integrated systems and technology to facilitate the delivery of high-value, occupation-based evaluations and assessments.
2. You will identify how solo entrepreneurs can utilize streamlined workflows to support the consistent delivery of evidence-based, world-class occupational therapy interventions.

Agenda

Intro (5 minutes)

Discussion (40 minutes)

1. Tell me your entrepreneurship story.
2. I’ve compiled an entrepreneurship checklist—can I read it to you and get your feedback on anything I’m missing?
3. On that checklist, what are the most common places where people get stuck?
4. What systems have you set up that feel key to getting people in the door?
5. What systems have you set up that feel critical to delivering high-value care?
6. What factors do you think keep people coming back to you?
7. What have been your biggest challenges in starting a practice?
8. What have been the largest rewards of starting a private practice?

Live Q&A (10 min)

Closing (5 min)

Supporting Research and Journal Articles

• A Scoping Review on Artificial Intelligence in Occupational Therapy
• Occupational Therapists’ Perspectives for Promoting Fieldwork Experiences in Private Practice
• Preparing for the Future: A Practice-Based Approach for Entrepreneurship Education in Health Professions

Target Audience/Educational Level

Our target audience is occupational therapy practitioners who are looking to learn about starting an OT practice. 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

Christopher Gaskins, PhD, OTR/L, CSRS

Christopher has over 13 years of experience working as an occupational therapist (OT). He developed a passion for neurorehabilitation while working at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center from 2011-2017. As his love for neurorehabilitation deepened, he noticed there was a shortage of neurorehabilitation specialists. To address this issue, he created Neurosuite in 2019, neurorehabilitation company that provides neurorehabilitation, health technology consultation and neurorehabilitation education and research services.

Christopher earned his B.S. in Exercise Science from the University of South Carolina in 2007, M.S. in Occupational Therapy from Howard University in 2010 and PhD in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science from the University of Maryland-College Park.  Christopher is currently CEO of Neurosuite and adjunct professor at various educational institutions.

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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