A New Opportunity for Occupational Therapists to Open Cases in Home Health

Abstract

As of January 1, 2022, licensed occupational therapists have the permanent ability to open home health cases for the first time since 1999. This ability creates opportunities for occupational therapists to case-manage in the home health setting and showcase the benefits of occupation-based interventions for their clients. Further, occupation-based interventions create opportunities to establish aging-in-place and other cost-saving strategies. Occupational therapists will need to inform their home health agencies about this new ability, emphasizing the benefits of a more substantial presence in home health episodes of care. They will also need to develop new skills in the admission process or hone previous ones to maximize this opportunity. This article aims to provoke thought and conversation regarding the new option for occupational therapy to admit home health clients and the profession's future in this setting.