Increasingly more SLP, OT, PT and feeding therapists are using teletherapy to provide quality therapy sessions. Whether you are new or have experience with providing teletherapy as a mode of treatment, there may be times that you have questions and challenges.
One of the things that sets therapists apart from other professions is the ability to problem solve. PTs, OTs, SLPs and Feeding Therapists are great at connecting with others and have an innate desire to help others through challenging times.
Nobody is expecting perfection from you. You also don’t need to have all the answers, be the most creative or have perfectly planned treatment sessions.
Here at Ambiki we strive to help you have all the tools that you need for you to succeed in your teletherapy sessions.
What is Teletherapy?
Teletherapy is the online delivery of speech, occupational, physical, and feeding therapy.
Teletherapy is an innovative, cost-effective solution that extends quality clinical SLP, OT, PT and feeding services to remote, rural, and underserved populations. Often there are times when a client or patient cannot attend an in-person therapy session. Teletherapy can provide the platform for needed services and alleviate missed therapy sessions.
During a teletherapy session, the therapist and the client/patient can see, hear, and interact with one another in real time.
What is the evidence to support teletherapy?
Teletherapy has been used successfully since the late 1990s for a vast number of sessions across the United States. It is and has been an effective delivery mode based on 20 years of research by over 40 academic published studies.
The first landmark paper by the Mayo Clinic in 1997 stated, “Telemedicine [teletherapy] evaluations can be reliable, beneficial, and acceptable to patients with a variety of acquired speech and language disorders, both in rural settings and within large multidisciplinary medical settings.”
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) "supports telepractice [teletherapy] because it gives people more ways to get audiology or speech-language pathology services.”
ASHA gave its endorsement in 2005: “Based on the strong body of peer-reviewed research supporting telepractice … ASHA recognizes telepractice [teletherapy] as a valid means of service delivery for audiologists and speech-language pathologists.”
Do I need special equipment?
You need a computer or laptop with a camera, microphone, and speakers. Most computers have a built-in camera, speakers, and a microphone. The setup for teletherapy sessions is simple and takes just a few seconds after the initial setup process.
How do I prepare for my first teletherapy session?
Ensure Your Platform is HIPAA Compliant with a BAA agreement.
As a healthcare provider, you must comply with all HIPAA laws to protect your patients’ medical information. This includes ensuring that the technology platform you use for teletherapy is HIPAA compliant.
Best practice
- Have a quiet space without distractions.
- Have the client/patient use a desktop or laptop when possible.
- Close any unnecessary tabs, especially those that use your camera, such as Zoom, Facetime, etc.
- Avoid any additional streaming in home during session.
- Work in a spot close to the Wi-Fi router.
How can I set myself up for success in my Ambiki teletherapy session?
- Check your internet speed: https://speed.measurementlab.net/#/
- Test your equipment: https://www.mysidekicktherapy.com/ready
- Test & update your browser: https://www.whatismybrowser.com/
- Test your webcam, microphone, and headset: https://webcammictest.com/
- Ambiki teletherapy minimum browser support: https://ambiki.com/help/faqs/how-do-i-test-my-equipment-prior-to-a-teletherapy-session
When that is not working:
- Refresh the session webpage, have client refresh the webpage, wait at least 10 seconds.
- Uncover the microphone and camera (especially on mobile, the patient's hand may be covering the microphone of the mobile device).
- Try opening the link in a different web browser (Chrome tends to work the best).
- Reboot the machine.
- Exit and reopen link to session, have the client do the same.
- Switch devices, from phone to tablet to laptop.
Why choose Ambiki as my platform for my teletherapy clients/patients?
It may seem challenging to produce resources or activities that work well in teletherapy with a client/patient. Are you looking for home program ideas?
Ambiki’s Resource Library has over 900 materials that can be used directly in teletherapy whiteboard. You can also download materials or upload your own material for personal use or share with others. Your resources can be kept private (just for you) or you can make them public.
Ambiki has over 1000 activity lists to explore or create sequencing and role-playing activities, social stories, word lists (and more) to add novelty to your sessions or complement therapy materials.
Ambiki also has a monthly themed resource planning calendar to help you easily plan your sessions based on the time of year and your desired theme.
Ambiki is here for you. Let us help you with your dream of providing quality teletherapy sessions, decreasing your time planning your sessions, providing treatment to all clients/patients, and having a HIPAA compliant platform with integrated documentation. Let’s all get back to having fun and helping all our clients/patients have the skills to be their best selves! Isn’t that why we are all therapists?
Join us at Ambiki for a free 1-month free trial: https://ambiki.com/teletherapy
Works Cited:
Duffy, J. R., Werven, G. W., & Aronson, A. E. (1997). Telemedicine and the diagnosis of speech and language disorders. Mayo Clinic proceedings, 72(12), 1116-1122. https://doi.org/10.4065/72.12.1116
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Telepractice for Speech and Hearing Services (asha.org)
ASHA gave its endorsement in 2005 Telepractice (asha.org)
