As used in this subpart:

1. (1) “Act” means the Arkansas Occupational Therapy Practice Act, Arkansas Code § 17-88-101 et seq.;

2. (2) “Direct supervision of aides”.

   1. (A) The occupational therapy aide, as defined in Arkansas Code § 17-88-102(3), means a person who aids a licensed occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant in the practice of occupational therapy and whose activities require an understanding of occupational therapy but do not require professional or advanced training in the basic anatomical, biological, psychological, and social sciences involved in the practice of occupational therapy.

   2. (B)

      1. (i) The aide functions with supervision appropriate to the task as determined by the supervisor.
      2. (ii) This supervision is provided by the occupational therapist or the occupational therapy assistant.
      3. (iii) The aide is not trained to make professional judgments or to perform tasks that require the clinical reasoning of an occupational therapy practitioner.

      4. (iv) The role of the aide is strictly to support the occupational therapist or the occupational therapy assistant with specific nonclient-related tasks, such as:

         1. (a) (a) Clerical and maintenance activities;
         2. (b) (b) Preparation of a work area or equipment; or
      5. (c) (c) With routine client-related aspects of the intervention session.

   3. (C)

      1. (i) Any duties assigned to an occupational therapy aide must be determined and appropriately supervised on-site, in-sight daily by a licensed occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant, and must not exceed the level of training, knowledge, skill, and competence of the individual being supervised.
      2. (ii) Direct client-related duties shall require continuous visual supervision by the occupational therapist or the occupational therapy assistant.
      3. (iii) The Arkansas State Medical Board holds the supervising occupational therapist professionally responsible for the acts or actions performed by any occupational therapy aide supervised by the therapist in the occupational therapy setting.

   4. (D) Duties or functions which occupational therapy aides shall not perform include the following:

      1. (i) Interpreting referrals or prescriptions for occupational therapy services;
      2. (ii) Performing evaluative procedures;
      3. (iii) Developing, planning, adjusting, or modifying treatment procedures;
      4. (iv) Preparing written documentation of patient treatment or progress for the patient’s record; and
      5. (v) Acting independently or without on-site, in-sight supervision of a licensed occupational therapist during patient therapy sessions.
   5. (E) Direct client-related services provided solely by an occupational therapy aide/tech without on-site, in-sight continuous visual supervision by a licensed occupational therapist or an occupational therapy assistant cannot be billed as occupational therapy services.
   6. (F) Failure of a licensee to supervise an aide as described herein will be considered as unprofessional conduct and may result in punishment by the Arkansas State Medical Board; and

3. (3) “Frequent and regular supervision”.

   1. (A) As specified in Arkansas Code § 17-88-102(4) of the Arkansas Occupational Therapy Practice Act, an "occupational therapy assistant" means a person licensed to assist in the practice of occupational therapy under the frequent and regular supervision by or in consultation with an occupational therapist whose license is in good standing.

   2. (B) "Frequent" and "regular" are defined by the Arkansas State Occupational Therapy Examining Committee as consisting of the following elements:

      1. (i) The supervising occupational therapist shall have a legal and ethical responsibility to provide supervision, and the supervisee shall have a legal and ethical responsibility to obtain supervision regarding the patients seen by the occupational therapy assistant;
      2. (ii) Supervision by the occupational therapist of the supervisee’s occupational therapy services shall always be required, even when the supervisee is experienced and highly skilled in a particular area;

      3. (iii) Frequent/regular supervision of an occupational therapy assistant by the occupational therapist is as follows:

         1. (a) (a) The supervising occupational therapist shall meet with the occupational therapy assistant for on-site, face-to-face supervision a minimum of one (1) hour per forty (40) occupational therapy work hours performed by the occupational therapy assistant to review each patient’s progress and objectives;
         2. (b) (b) The supervising occupational therapist shall meet with each patient and the occupational therapy assistant providing services on a monthly basis to review patient progress and objectives; and
      4. (c)
4. (1) (c)(1) Supervision log.
5. (2) (2) It is the responsibility of the occupational therapy assistant to maintain on file signed documentation reflecting supervision activities.

6. (3) (3) This supervision documentation shall contain the following:

   1. (A) (A) Date of supervision;
   2. (B) (B) Time (start to finish);
   3. (C) (C) Means of communication;
   4. (D) (D) Information discussed;
   5. (E) (E) Number of patients; and
   6. (F) (F) Outcomes of the interaction.
7. (4) (4) Both the supervising occupational therapist and the occupational therapy assistant must sign each entry.

8. (5) (5) Each occupational therapy assistant will maintain for a period of three (3) years proof of a supervision log, should it be requested by the Arkansas State Medical Board for audit purposes; and

   1. (iv)

      1. (a) (a) The occupational therapists shall assign, and the occupational therapy assistant shall accept, only those duties and responsibilities for which the occupational therapy assistant has been specifically trained and is qualified to perform, pursuant to the judgment of the occupational therapist.

         1. (b) (b) Assessment/reassessment.
9. (1) (1) Patient evaluation is the responsibility of the occupational therapists.
10. (2) (2) The occupational therapy assistant may contribute to the evaluation process by gathering data and reporting observations.

11. (3) (3) The occupational therapy assistant may not evaluate independently or initiate treatment prior to the occupational therapist’s evaluation.

    1. (c) (c) Treatment planning/intervention.
12. (1) (1) The occupational therapy assistant may contribute to treatment planning as directed by the occupational therapist.

13. (2) (2) The occupational therapist shall advise the patient/client as to which level of practitioner will carry out the treatment plan.

    1. (d) (d) Discontinuation of intervention.
14. (1) (1) The occupational therapy assistant may contribute to the discharge process as directed by the occupational therapist.

15. (2) (2) The occupational therapist shall be responsible for the final evaluation session and discharge documentation.

    1. (e)
16. (1) (e)(1) Before an occupational therapy assistant can assist in the practice of occupational therapy, he or she must file with the Arkansas State Medical Board a signed, current statement of supervision of the licensed occupational therapist or therapists who will supervise the occupational therapy assistant.

17. (2) (2) Change in supervision shall require a new status report to be filed with the Arkansas State Medical Board prior to starting work and when supervision ends.

    1. (f)
18. (1) (f)(1) In extenuating circumstances, when the occupational therapy assistant is without supervision, the occupational therapy assistant may carry out established programs for up to thirty (30) calendar days while appropriate occupational therapy supervision is sought.

19. (2) (2) It shall be the responsibility of the occupational therapy assistant to notify the Arkansas State Medical Board of these circumstances.

    1. (g) (g) Failure to comply with the above will be considered unprofessional conduct and may result in punishment by the Arkansas State Medical Board.