Support the OT Compact

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Contact your Legislators about the Licensure Compact

Iowa House Human Resources Com­mit­tee Jan­u­ary 122022

Iowa State Capitol

1007 E. Grand Ave. 

Des Moines, IA 50319

Dear Rep­re­sen­ta­tive,

On behalf of the Iowa Occu­pa­tion­al Ther­a­py Asso­ci­a­tion (IOTA), we thank you for your sup­port last ses­sion ofSen­ate File 463, the Iowa Occu­pa­tion­al Ther­a­py Com­pact leg­is­la­tion. This bill came over from the Sen­ate unan­i­mous­ly and then passed the House Human Resources Com­mit­tee unan­i­mous­ly as well. How­ev­er, time didn’t allow it to get to the Governor’s desk for her sig­na­ture last ses­sion. We look for­ward to work­ing with you to move this bill for­ward as it is an impor­tant piece of leg­is­la­tion that will improve the access of OT ser­vices across the state of Iowa, espe­cial­ly to those liv­ing in rur­al areas.

Occu­pa­tion­al ther­a­py ser­vices are pro­vid­ed in a vari­ety of set­tings, includ­ing hos­pi­tals, clin­ics, schools, nurs­ing homes, and home health set­tings, to indi­vid­u­als of all ages and capa­bil­i­ties. OTs are exten­sive­ly trained to address phys­i­cal, psy­cho­log­i­cal, and cog­ni­tive aspects of a patient’s well-being. Over­all, they eval­u­ate an individual’s abil­i­ties and envi­ron­ments, cre­ate cus­tomized goals and inter­ven­tion, rec­om­mend equip­ment, and deliv­er train­ing for adap­ta­tion, and pro­vide guid­ance and edu­ca­tion for fam­i­ly mem­bers and care­givers. These func­tions of OT ser­vices reduce long-term costs to our health care sys­tem. OT ser­vices have been iden­ti­fied as the only hos­pi­tal spend­ing cat­e­go­ry to reduce readmissions. 

The inter­state licens­ing com­pact would:

  • Allow licensed occu­pa­tion­al ther­a­pists and occu­pa­tion­al ther­a­py assis­tants to prac­tice across state lines (e.g., telehealth);
  • Improve con­sumer access to occu­pa­tion­al therapy;
  • Enhance mobil­i­ty of occu­pa­tion­al ther­a­py prac­ti­tion­ers (e.g., spous­es of relo­cat­ing mil­i­tary fam­i­lies, staff of trav­el ther­a­py companies);
  • Improve con­ti­nu­ity of care;
  • Address com­pe­ti­tion issues raised by the Fed­er­al Trade Com­mis­sion and oth­ers; and
  • Enhance the exchange of licen­sure, inves­ti­ga­to­ry, and dis­ci­pli­nary infor­ma­tion between mem­ber states.

IOTA asks for your con­tin­ued sup­port of SF 463 in hopes of pass­ing it through the Iowa House dur­ing the 2022 Ses­sion. Your sup­port of this bill will go a long way to ensure bet­ter acces­si­bil­i­ty to occu­pa­tion­al ther­a­py ser­vices across the state and reduce hos­pi­tal readmissions. 

We look for­ward to work­ing with you this ses­sion! Please con­tact our lob­by­ing team if you have any ques­tions. Threase Harms and her team can be reached at threase@​advocayiowa.​com or by phone at 515.975.5299. We wish you a pro­duc­tive session! 

Sin­cere­ly,

Steve Bowen, IOTA President

(402) 889.0816 steveotd13@​gmail.​com

Denise Behrends, IOTA Leg­isla­tive Chair 

(515) 699.5999 ext. 24204 Denise.​Behrends@​va.​gov