As the behavioral therapy industry evolves, innovative technology is increasingly important in delivering services. Virtual autism assessments and evaluations are becoming more common, offering increased accessibility and convenience for autistic children and their families.
However, introducing virtual ABA services presents unique challenges, from selecting the right platform and collecting data to complex coding changes and billing systems.
This blog will give you the tools, strategies, and best practices to ensure your practice is streamlined to focus on patient care in an increasingly virtual world.
Why your practice needs to adapt to virtual ABA services
ABA therapy is highly individualized and one of the most essential behavioral health services for autistic children. Early diagnosis allows for early intervention, which is the best-case scenario for preparing autistic children for a successful future.
Not all families have access to in-person ABA practices. Telehealth services allow Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) to conduct a virtual autism diagnosis for children who may not have access to care due to geographical or logistical barriers.
It can also offer a more comfortable environment for children with sensory sensitivities or anxiety. The fact that they can stay at home for their sessions might provide a simpler and less traumatic experience for them and their caregivers.
Despite its convenience, virtual autism evaluation and treatment requires careful planning, thoughtful use of technology, and collaboration between therapists, caregivers, children, and insurance providers.
Choosing the right platform
Several platforms are available for virtual ABA therapy services, and choosing the right one is essential for success. Of course, all video-conferencing platforms must comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Select a secure and user-friendly platform that offers innovative features like screen sharing, high-definition video, and the ability to record sessions for review and analysis (with consent).
Some of the most popular platforms that meet these requirements include:
- Zoom for Healthcare
- Doxy.me
- TheraNest
- SimplePractice
Keeping children engaged
Keeping young children’s attention and focus throughout a virtual ABA therapy session can be challenging. Here are some of the strategies you can use to increase and keep engagement during sessions:
- Use interactive tools: Online platforms that allow screen sharing can be useful for incorporating games, videos, and interactive activities into the session. These tools can help maintain the child’s attention and provide opportunities to assess their responses more naturally.
- Involve caregivers: It is essential to engage caregivers in virtual ABA therapy assessments. Caregivers can help manage the child’s environment, prompt the child to stay focused, and provide insights into the child’s behavior in the home setting. They can also assist with setting up the environment to ensure it’s distraction-free, which can significantly improve the accuracy of the assessment.
- Shorter, frequent sessions: Virtual assessments may benefit from being broken into shorter sessions over multiple days rather than trying to assess the child in one long sitting. This can help keep the child engaged and reduce fatigue or frustration, leading to more accurate data collection.
- Incorporate play: Play-based assessments are often more engaging for young children. Virtual sessions can include toys or familiar objects from the child’s home, allowing the therapist to observe the child’s natural behaviors while interacting with their environment.
Collaborating with and involving caregivers
It’s essential to involve caregivers in any assessment sessions to give an autism diagnosis online and following treatment sessions. Caregivers can help keep children engaged and provide important context around their daily behaviors, strengths, and challenges that will help therapists tailor their sessions. You also give caregivers a glimpse into how you interact with their child and teach them important skills to reinforce once the session ends.
Accurate data collection
Collecting accurate data in a virtual environment can be difficult due to potential distractions, technology issues, or limitations in what the therapist can observe. Unlike in-person assessments, a BCBA can’t directly observe a child in various settings and rely on what they can see through a screen. This means there’s a chance of behaviors going unnoticed. While it’s still simple enough to collect treatment data, patient data, and other more straightforward data, you should enlist the help of caregivers to record any behaviors you might have missed and schedule shorter sessions at different times and in different contexts to observe various behavior patterns. The combination of caregiver-reported data and direct observation data will be more accurate.
Technological issues
Technical issues will inevitably arise occasionally, whether through poor internet connection, software malfunctions, or equipment problems. It’s important to have a contingency plan in place, test the technology before each session, and provide families with troubleshooting guides or technical advice to minimize interruptions.
Outsource your billing to Missing Piece
Virtual ABA sessions have made an already complicated billing system even more complex. Telehealth and virtual assessments, evaluations, and treatment have different billing codes and modifications to the usual claims process.
One of the best things you can do to handle the additional complexities is to outsource your billing needs to an expert behavioral health billing solutions provider. Missing Piece’s professional team ensures that all the complicated billing processes are meticulously taken care of so that you can spend time where it matters most — providing the best care for your clients.
Contact us today for more information on our services and a free billing analysis.