The Value of Acute and Postacute OT

Many of us were not taught about the economics of OT in occupational therapy school. And, part of that reason is that the research base on the economic value of our work is just emerging.

In this episode we will look at an article on the economic effects of OT in the acute and subacute setting.

The good news in this article is that there is a growing amount of research about the economic value of OT—and the initial research is promising.

The problem is that the existing research is widely varied and there simply is not enough of it. This means we have to be carefully measuring our outcomes at the individual level.

To talk about what this means for our individual practices, I’m excited to welcome to the podcast Jeffrey Kou, OTR/L. Having worked in acute rehabilitation, Jeff is passionate about helping fellow OTs provide high value care in these areas.

1. You will be able to identify OT treatment approaches that have been shown to be cost effective in the acute and post acute settings.

2. You will be able to identify the treatment approach that has been shown NOT to be cost effective in these settings.

• Intro

• Breakdown and analysis of journal article

  • Intro to OT in acute and subacute settings

  • What do we already know about the economic value of OT?

  • What was the purpose of this paper?

  • What were the methods?

  • What were their results?

  • Conclusions and discussion

  • Implications for OT practitioners

  • Takeaways for OT practitioners

• Discussion on practical implications for OTs (with Jeffrey Kou)

  1. Can you tell us about how you found OT?

  2. You have such a passion for providing high-value OT. How did that develop?

  3. My experience in OT school is that we shied away from the economics of OT. Was that your experience? If so, why do you think this is the case?

  4. Do you think about your OT services in terms of cost-effectiveness? How so?

  5. How did this article make you think differently about the value of OT?

  6. Was there anything in the lower cost-better outcome category that stood out to you and that you think would be helpful to dig deeper into?

  7. The most basic value equation is “Value= quality/cost”. In this reality we always want to be increasing our quality, but decreasing cost. How can we do this in acute and subacute care?

  8. How can OTs learn more about the economics of their setting?

  9. What would you like to see in new research about cost-effectiveness moving forward?

Primary

• Economic effects of occupational therapy services for adults in acute and Subacute Care Settings: A systematic review

Additional

• Measuring value: Cost-effectiveness analysis for occupational therapy

• Higher frequency of acute occupational therapy services is associated with reduced hospital readmissions

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OT Potential pays guest speakers an honorarium for their participation, either directly or to an institution of the speaker's choosing at their request. We invite guests whose expertise often comes from practices, programs, or building products in their field. Where a speaker has a financial interest in the subject of a course, we disclose it below so you can weigh it for yourself.

OT Potential's interest in this topic: We have no financial stake in this topic.

Speaker interests: Jeffrey Kou has no financial interest in this topic to disclose.