OTA Hot Topics

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

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.

• Intro

• Discussion

  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

• Closing

• 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

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.

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: Amy Mahle is the founding Program Chair of the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College. As an OTA program director she has a professional interest in OTA enrollment, which this course discusses.