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So,what exactly is a COTA?
COTAs play a vital role in many occupational therapy settings. In fact, they may be the occupational professionals who you spend the bulk of your time with. As a client, it can be helpful to understand your COTAs training, their scope of practice, and the perks of seeing a COTA so you can advocate for the best care possible.
What a COTA Can Do
Your occupational therapist is ultimately responsible for the delivery of OT services. For example, an OT must direct the evaluation, but the COTA may be delegated certain assessments in the evaluation process. Your OT must create an intervention plan, but your COTA may collaborate in the process and provide valuable input.
Here are some specific examples of tasks a COTA may perform:
Qualifications
Supervision
Most states have regulations about the minimum standard for supervision. For example, Nebraska’soccupational therapy licensure regulationsays that a COTA who has more than one year of satisfactory work experience must have four hours of onsite supervision per month.
Benefits
Occupational therapists often have more administrative tasks on their plate, while a COTA often spends the majority of the day seeing patients. COTAs therefore, quickly gain hands-on experience. The amount of time they spend with patients can also give them unique insight into how the plan of care is progressing.
Specialty Certifications and Continuing Education
A COTA’s license and national registration often require continuing education, which means for every year in practice your COTA will likely have acquired additional training and knowledge.
There are also many specialty certifications available to a COTA. Specialty certifications often indicate that your COTA has received continuing education in a particular area and passed a certification exam. There is a chance that your COTA will have more training in a particular area than his supervising therapist.
4 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Occupational Therapy Association.Occupational therapy scope of practice.Am J Occup Ther. 2021;75(Supplement_3):7513410020. doi:10.5014/ajot.2021.75S3005Bureau of Labor Statistics.Occupational therapy assistants and aides.American Occupational Therapy Association.Guidelines for supervision, roles, and responsibilities during the delivery of occupational therapy services.Am J Occup Ther. 2020;74(Supplement_3):7413410020p1-7413410020p6. doi:10.5014/ajot.2020.74S3004Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.Medicare benefit policy manual chapter 7 - home health services.
4 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Occupational Therapy Association.Occupational therapy scope of practice.Am J Occup Ther. 2021;75(Supplement_3):7513410020. doi:10.5014/ajot.2021.75S3005Bureau of Labor Statistics.Occupational therapy assistants and aides.American Occupational Therapy Association.Guidelines for supervision, roles, and responsibilities during the delivery of occupational therapy services.Am J Occup Ther. 2020;74(Supplement_3):7413410020p1-7413410020p6. doi:10.5014/ajot.2020.74S3004Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.Medicare benefit policy manual chapter 7 - home health services.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
American Occupational Therapy Association.Occupational therapy scope of practice.Am J Occup Ther. 2021;75(Supplement_3):7513410020. doi:10.5014/ajot.2021.75S3005Bureau of Labor Statistics.Occupational therapy assistants and aides.American Occupational Therapy Association.Guidelines for supervision, roles, and responsibilities during the delivery of occupational therapy services.Am J Occup Ther. 2020;74(Supplement_3):7413410020p1-7413410020p6. doi:10.5014/ajot.2020.74S3004Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.Medicare benefit policy manual chapter 7 - home health services.
American Occupational Therapy Association.Occupational therapy scope of practice.Am J Occup Ther. 2021;75(Supplement_3):7513410020. doi:10.5014/ajot.2021.75S3005
Bureau of Labor Statistics.Occupational therapy assistants and aides.
American Occupational Therapy Association.Guidelines for supervision, roles, and responsibilities during the delivery of occupational therapy services.Am J Occup Ther. 2020;74(Supplement_3):7413410020p1-7413410020p6. doi:10.5014/ajot.2020.74S3004
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.Medicare benefit policy manual chapter 7 - home health services.
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