OCTH 650. Occupational Therapy Leadership and Management
                                    
                                    Credit Hours: 4
                                    
                                    Prerequisite:  Successful completion of OCTH 640, 642, 644 and 646 or permission of
                                       the Chair.
                                    
                                    Surveys leadership theories, types and skills, and provides opportunities for interaction
                                       with occupational therapy leaders.  Explores legal and ethical issues that affect
                                       occupational therapy practice today. Describes the primary roles of the occupational
                                       therapy manager within an organizational system, and develops entry-level competencies
                                       in administrative and management functions.
                                    
                                     
                                    
                                    Detailed Description of Content of the Course
                                    
                                    Topics include:
                                    
                                    
                                       
                                       - The occupational therapist as manager and leader
 
                                       
                                       - Leadership theories, types and styles
 
                                       
                                       - Legal issues affecting occupational therapy practice
 
                                       
                                       - Foundations of medical ethics and systems for resolving ethical dilemmas
 
                                       
                                       - Health-care policy issues and the occupational therapist as advocate
 
                                       
                                       - Strategic planning
 
                                       
                                       - Designing and equipping an occupational therapy clinic
 
                                       
                                       - Reimbursement systems and budgeting
 
                                       
                                       - Administrative documentation
 
                                       
                                       - Marketing and communications
 
                                       
                                       - Organizational effectiveness
 
                                       
                                       - Personnel management and team building (including collaborating with and supervising
                                          the occupational therapy assistant)
 
                                       
                                       - Program evaluation and quality improvement
 
                                       
                                       - Accreditation of health care programs
 
                                       
                                       - The occupational therapist as case manager
 
                                       
                                       - The occupational therapy consultant
 
                                       
                                       - Starting a private practice
 
                                       
                                    
                                     
                                    
                                    Detailed Description of Conduct of Course
                                    
                                    Readings, lectures and discussions will be supplemented by guest presentations by
                                       occupational therapy leaders and managers.  Students may assess their own leadership
                                       styles, design a multimedia presentation which promotes/advocates for the profession,
                                       develop a plan for a new occupational therapy program, and work in teams to analyze
                                       legal/ethical dilemmas. 
                                    
                                     
                                    
                                    Goals and Objectives of the Course
                                    
                                    At completion of this course, students will be able to:
                                    
                                    
                                       
                                       - Discuss the importance of leadership and management skills in an environment of change;
 
                                       
                                       - Discuss current health-care policy issues that influence the practice of occupational
                                          therapy, and the practitioner's role in policy development;
 
                                       
                                       - Articulate the occupational therapist's responsibility to address changes in the health
                                          care system and to identify opportunities for the provision of services in new practice
                                          areas;
 
                                       
                                       - Describe strategies to assist the consumer in gaining access to occupational therapy
                                          services;
 
                                       
                                       - Explain how various practice settings affect the delivery of occupational therapy
                                          services;
 
                                       
                                       - Describe and discuss the impact of contextual factors on the management of occupational
                                          therapy services;
 
                                       
                                       - Describe the systems and structures that create federal and state legislation and
                                          regulation, and their implications and effects on practice;
 
                                       
                                       - Discuss legal issues affecting the practice of occupational therapy (e.g., liability
                                          and professional malpractice, patient confidentiality, patient safety, Medicare fraud
                                          and abuse, providing services under contract);
 
                                       
                                       - Discuss the ethical context in which humans choose and engage in occupations;
 
                                       
                                       - Articulate the moral principles that are central to biomedical ethics and the practice
                                          of health care;
 
                                       
                                       - Explain informal and formal ethical dispute-resolution systems that have jurisdiction
                                          over occupational therapy practice;
 
                                       
                                       - Explain strategies for analyzing issues and making decisions to resolve personal and
                                          organizational ethical conflicts;
 
                                       
                                       - Use AOTA standards and guidelines as guides for ethical decision-making;
 
                                       
                                       - Discuss and justify the roles of the occupational therapist as a consultant and entrepreneur;
 
                                       
                                       - Demonstrate the ability to plan, develop, organize and market an occupational therapy
                                          program or service;
 
                                       
                                       - Articulate to audiences outside of occupational therapy the unique nature of occupation
                                          as viewed by the profession, and the value of occupation for clients;
 
                                       
                                       - Apply the principles of the teaching-learning process to design an educational presentation
                                          for other health-care providers and the public;
 
                                       
                                       - Demonstrate competence in the use of presentation software (e.g., Power Point);
 
                                       
                                       - Describe the mechanisms, systems and techniques needed to properly maintain, organize
                                          and prioritize equipment/supply inventories and staff workloads;
 
                                       
                                       - Discuss strategies for effective, competency-based legal and ethical supervision of
                                          occupational therapy and non-occupational therapy personnel;
 
                                       
                                       - Compare and contrast the roles of the occupational therapist and occupational therapy
                                          assistant, and discuss the importance of and rationale for supervision and collaborative
                                          work between them;
 
                                       
                                       - Identify and role-play techniques for supervising and collaborating with occupational
                                          therapy assistants on therapeutic interventions;
 
                                       
                                       - Demonstrate knowledge of various reimbursement systems (federal, state, third-party,
                                          private-payer), appeals mechanisms, and documentation requirements that affect the
                                          practice of occupational therapy;
 
                                       
                                       - Prepare documentation related to administrative tasks (e.g., incident reports, appeal
                                          letters, policies and procedures) which meets facility, local, state, federal and
                                          reimbursement standards;
 
                                       
                                       - Given a program scenario, design processes for quality improvement;
 
                                       
                                       - Describe the role of the occupational therapist in care coordination and case management;
 
                                       
                                       - Understand when and how to use the consultative process with groups, programs, organizations
                                          or communities.
 
                                       
                                    
                                     
                                    
                                    Assessment Measures
                                    
                                    Participation in team activities, tests, and graded projects such as a business plan
                                       and marketing project may be used to assess the outcomes of the course.
                                    
                                     
                                    
                                    Other Course Information
                                    
                                     
                                    
                                    Review and Approval
                                    
                                    February, 2009