November 7, 2010

Greetings,

My first meeting of the Representative Assembly as your Representative starts on Monday, November 8th and runs through the 19th.   Given this is my first time using the on-line meeting process I apologize for being a bit behind in getting information out to all of you!!!  I hope that you will take time to review the meeting agenda, the issues that we will be discussing and give me your feedback so that it can be represented during the meeting.   You can view the items that will be discussed at the meeting and follow along with the discussions through the AOTA Website.   The meeting agenda and items is posted under the Governance Section of the website.   You can also get more information and follow along using OT Connections.   AOTA Members have access to the discussions that take part of this meeting but cannot post during the meeting.   I encourage you to check out the various activities that will take place over the 2 week period.

Fall RA 2010 Meeting information is posted at  http://www.aota.org/Governance/RA/FallOnline.aspx (you will need to sign into your AOTA Account to access this information)

Representative Assembly Fall 2010 Meeting discussion and activities can be followed on OT Connections. (You will need to sign up for that group)

There are a series of action items that will require a vote during the meeting and I would love to hear your input/feedback as I deliberate on your behalf.   The item by the Commission on Practice and The Commission on Education relate to the same issue so are combined in my description but will be acted upon separately.  The items that are up on the agenda for action include:

1) Approval of Societal Statement on Obesity Revision -  The Representative Assembly Coordinating Council (RACC) recently undertook the task of reviewing all of AOTA’s Societal Statements and are recommending the changes in this statement to be consistent with the current AOTA guidelines for societal statements.   (A copy of this paper is available on the RA Meeting Webpage at:  http://www.aota.org/Governance/RA/Online.aspx (AOTA Logon required to access))

2) Approval of “Practice Advisory: Services Provided by Students in Fieldwork Level II Settings” - Commission on Education and the Commission on Practice have an action item to approve this new document that addresses issues related to students providing services in various setting, specifically skilled care whereby there have been issues associated with Medicare reimbursement.  (A copy of this paper is available on the RA Meeting Webpage at:  http://www.aota.org/Governance/RA/Online.aspx (AOTA Logon required to access))   The paper proposed for approval addresses the following:

  • specifies supervision guidelines to follow for providing appropriate
  • supervision to students during fieldwork, in particular as they relate to OTA fieldwork in skilled nursing facilities;
  • establishes supervision requirements and responsibilities for occupational therapy assistant students during the delivery of occupational therapy services;
  • clarifies AOTA’s position that Level II Fieldwork students are providing the skilled occupational therapy intervention, when adhering to the supervisory principles stated and with other regulatory and payer requirements;
  • clarifies that those services should be reimbursable by Medicare when the student is appropriately supervised

3)    Bylaws, Policies and Procedures Committee has 8 motions for action.  (The documents associated with these motions are available on the RA Meeting Webpage at:  http://www.aota.org/Governance/RA/Online.aspx (AOTA Logon required to access))   They included:

a. Adopt document:  Levels and Process for Review of Official Representative Assembly Documents of the RACC SOP

b.    Adopt revised:  AOTA Awards Descriptions, Information, Requirements & General Procedures of the Recognitions SOP

c.    Adopt the revised:  Vice Speaker Job Description

d. Adopt the revised:  Nomination form that is part of the Representative and Alternative Representative Job Description

e. Adopt the revised:  Glossary of Terms

f.     Adopt the revised:  Administrative Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)

g.    Adopt the document:  Basics of Managing Motions which is part of the Administrative SOP

h.    Rescind the document:  Parliamentary Management of Motions which is part of the Administrative SOP

i.      Rescind the document:  Internal Document Evaluation Checklist which is part of the Administrative SOP

Please feel free to give me feedback on any of these action items as well as any of the other reports which are part of the Fall 20110 Representative Meeting.  I welcome your input!!  There is a survey document whereby you can provide feedback on the various action items on-line at:  http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22BBFNXBZFX or you can send me an email directly at [email protected].  Feel free to call me as well!

Robin Jones, MPA, COTA/L, ROH

Illinois Representative to the Representative Assembly

312-208-0754 (Cell phone)

[email protected]