OT Potential Podcast | Occupational Therapy CEUs

Why does therapy often feel undervalued by the systems we serve? To change the future of our professions, we must first understand the forces that shape today’s Medicare and private payer models—and ultimately, your reimbursement.

In this session, we sit down with DPT and policy expert Dana Strauss to pull back the curtain on the reimbursement landscape. Together, we’ll explore why the current system prioritizes procedures over longitudinal care and, more importantly, identify the strategic levers we can pull to shift the needle.

You’ll leave this course with a clear un...

While the landscape of healthcare is shifting beneath our feet, the most tangible change in daily practice since the arrival of AI has been our documentation.

Over the past two years, we have moved beyond the initial excitement of AI scribes and chat interfaces. As we look ahead to Therapy Documentation in 2026, the conversation is shifting from “how do we save time?” to “how can data and analytics help us in real-time?” We are entering an era where documentation is no longer a static record of the past, but a dynamic tool that augments our clinical...

There is a foundational skillset essential to occupational therapy that often isn't covered in school: The ability to design a 60-minute session that is both clinically transformative and operationally sound.

Bridging the gap between high-level evidence-like task-specific practice for stroke recovery-and the realities of billing codes and patient engagement is no small feat. It is this specific ability to structure "best practice" into a seamless, hour-long experience that separates the master clinician from the novice.

In this 1 hour course, we sit down with Rachel Egan, OTR/L, CHT, COMT, a master clinician and rehab manager...

Occupational therapy in the NICU is one of the most specialized and sensitive practice areas in our profession. The transition from traditional clinical settings to the high-stakes, high-tech environment of neonatal care requires a fundamental shift in how we approach both assessment and intervention.

Whether you are an OT looking to move into the NICU or a pediatric therapist wanting to better understand the early medical history of the infants on your caseload, this course will walk you through essential neuroprotective strategies that optimize long-term outcomes.

You’ll leave more confident in navigating the complexities of...

Are you fully using the critical window of opportunity after stroke to support neuro-recovery during your OT sessions—or are you unintentionally devoting valuable rehab time to compensation?

In today’s episode, we’re joined by Henry Hoffman to explore why prioritizing recovery—when possible—matters, and how occupational therapy professionals can more intentionally drive neuroplastic change after stroke.

Together, we break down core principles that support recovery-oriented practice, including:

We also...

Mental health is one of occupational therapy’s smallest practice areas.

Because relatively few OTs work in traditional mental health settings, it can feel like an enigma:

At the same time, there may be no better home for occupational therapy’s core values than mental health practice.

In this course, Intro to Mental Health OT, we zoom out to ground you in the...

Through OT Potential, we’ve released more than 124 podcast episodes exploring the research, ideas, and conversations shaping occupational therapy. Each year, we pause to step back and ask a foundational question:

What is occupational therapy—and how is it evolving?

In this special episode to kick off 2026, we expand the conversation beyond research alone to include advocacy, technology, and the forces shaping OT practice and public perception.

Joining us for this milestone conversation are two of the profession’s most influential leaders:

Research suggests that anywhere from 46% to 84% of autistic children experience selective eating. 

And the downstream risks are substantial: selective eating is linked with nutritional deficiencies, psychosocial impairment, and increased risk of developmental and psychiatric comorbidities, with severity tied to how persistent and restrictive the eating patterns become.

In this OT Potential course, Britt St. John, PhD, MPH, OTR/L, joins us to break down what occupational therapy professionals need to understand—and do—when supporting autistic children with selective eating. We’ll begin with Britt’s story and key terminology (picky eating vs. selective...

AI is going to reshape OT education—rapidly and profoundly. The real question is: How do we harness its strengths for good? How do we protect the parts of learning that are best done without it, while also leveraging AI in areas where our profession has historically struggled?

One promising area is scenario-based learning, where AI can create realistic, dynamic situations that help learners practice clinical reasoning in a safe, supportive environment.

In today’s one-hour webinar, we’re hosting a round-table conversation featuring:

For many of us, payer negotiations feel distant—something handled “somewhere up the chain,” far removed from the day-to-day work of helping patients. But here’s the truth: nothing shapes our practice more than the reimbursement rates and contracts negotiated on our behalf.

Reimbursement determines who we can serve, how much time we can spend with them, what services we can sustainably provide, and ultimately whether our practice can survive/thrive. And while therapists may assume this is a job for billing or leadership, every OT and PT needs a foundational understanding of how payer negotiations work.

In...

We, at OT Potential, keep hearing stories of more and more OTs teaming up with optometrists to provide vision remediation interventions. 

(Vision remediation focuses on retraining the eye and brain connection. This is in contrast to low vision therapy, which focuses on compensation and adapting the environment to  maximize remaining vision.)

The need is clear: occupational therapy can provide needed interventions for those with diagnosed visual inefficiencies from such things as acquired brain injury, or even developmentally — but the number of OTs with this training is not keeping pace with the need. 

But, what...

OTs and PTs compete in many ways. We can be found competing over:

But, as looming outside forces like AI and decreasing reimbursement rates threaten our professions, it is critical to change our postures toward interprofessional collaboration. 

And, there is no PT I would rather talk about this with than Rebeca Segraves. Rebeca has hard won insight as she has sought to embed our professions more fully into maternal healthcare. 

In this one hour webinar, we’ll talk about the l...

One year ago, we released an OT Potential Podcast episode exploring what AI could conceptually mean for clinical decision support.

Fast forward to today—and AI chats have become a regular part of the decision-making process for many healthcare providers. In fact, OpenEvidence now reports that 40% of U.S. physicians use their platform daily.

At OT Potential, we recently launched our own AI chat and learned a great deal in the process.

The world of knowledge translation is changing at an incredible pace. It feels more important than ever to pause and ask: Wh...

Occupational therapy assistants are the bedrock of treatment provision in many OT departments throughout the country.

In fact, In large rural SNFs, around  58% of OT staffing minutes are by OTAs.

And, in rural and underserved communities, about 48% of all Medicare outpatient therapy services are provided by OTAs.

But, not enough continuing education has been geared towards the unique challenges and opportunities within this profession. That’s why I’m so thankful to begin a new annual series on Hot Topics for OTAs, with our first guest, Amy Mahle Ed.D., COTA/L, ROH. 

A...

Heart disease is the most common serious chronic condition among adults. 

In fact per the latest report staggering 1 in 3 US adults received care for a cardiovascular risk factor or condition in 2020. 

The same report projects that annual inflation-adjusted health care costs attributable to cardiovascular conditions will nearly quadruple from $393 billion in 2020 to $1,490 billion by 2050.

Truly astounding numbers. 

Heart disease is an umbrella term that encompasses coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular disease, arrhythmias, congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathies, and other structural or functional heart disorders.

But, despite this complexity, there is...

Hot take: I loved working in a Skilled Nursing Facility. 

Skilled nursing facilities are one of the highest paid settings for occupational therapy professionals. And about one-fifth of us work in one. 

But, work in one can have a bad rap. 

In today’s intro to SNF OT course, we’ll walk through the common challenges, and immense opportunities of working in a SNF. We’ll cover the specific things you need to know, from payment models to common assessments. 

And, we’ll paint a picture of how you as an OT can reall...

It’s no secret that I believe occupation therapy is entering its prevention era. 

We are starting to leverage our skillset not after a terrible health incident has occurred, but at the first sign of trouble. 

As I imagine this not-too-distant reality, there is one deeply personal area that I am so eager to see us shift our energy toward: 

Cancer prevention. 

Across the healthcare community, we are learning more and more about the specific lifestyle and environmental factors that put people at a higher risk for cancer. Case in poi...

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming healthcare—and pediatric occupational therapy is no exception.

This course aims to spark your imagination about AI’s potential to strengthen how we support child development. From enhancing your assessments with rich data to making interventions more accessible, AI holds promise for both clinicians and families. This course offers insights into how these innovations are beginning to reshape early childhood developmental support.

In this OT Potential Podcast episode, we welcome Mati Kochavi, founder of Korro AI, to explore the opportunities and challenges of applying AI to your therapy prac...

School-based OTs is one of occupational therapy’s most distinct practice areas. The style of practice and the systems you work within, all take a mindset shift. 

Whether you just landed your first school OT job or are a seasoned professional looking to refine how you manage your days, this course will walk you through essential day to day considerations. 

You’ll leave more confident about organizing your time, and delivering high-quality care to your students. 

Joining us will be returning guest, Bryden Giving. Bryden successfully survived  the shift from outpatient OT to school b...

When you adjust for inflation, OT and PT reimbursement is down around 40% since 2002 on our key CPT codes. 

Now the 2026 Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule has ANOTHER cut to OT written in pencil. We simply cannot sustain continued cuts to the value of our services. 

So, we clearly need to reconsider our advocacy approach and identify key opportunities to help influence meaningful change.. 

At OT Potential we are equipping YOU to raise your voice. We are going to spend an hour diving deep into the relevant parts of the new proposed rule, so you...

OT reimbursement from traditional models is on the decline, while the need for OT services on the rises

Thus, entering into private practice is an important avenue for OTs to consider. 

But, with this comes all kinds of legal considerations. 

In the first part of this two part series, we talked about choosing a legal entity, working with your full scope of practice as laid out by your licensure laws, and navigating Medicare covered services. 

Now in part two, we are getting into more considerations from navigating anti-trust, Stark Law, anti-kickback, to...

Unfortunately, rates of cancer have been on the rise for young adults in multiple cancer types—including breast, pancreatic, and gastric cancers.

Cancer rehab for these individuals introduces multiple special considerations given their age and life stage. 

In this one hour webinar, we will use our clinical decision support page to walk through assessment, goal-setting and treatment for adolescents and young adults with cancer.

We’ll be hearing from Vanessa Monique Yanez, PhD, MSOT, OTR/L. Vanessa is  an occupational therapist specializing in cancer rehabilitation—she is also herself a cancer survivor.

While many therapists dream of private practice, the risk of hitting a legal landmine holds many back. 

In this episode, we are going to zoom in on one OT who is looking to partner with a doctor who is providing concierge dementia services. 

We’ll use this as a case example to talk through what legal considerations OTs need to make when starting a practice: from choosing the right legal entity, to partnering with a specific provider, to navigating Medicare, to understanding anti-trust and anti-kick back laws. 

Yes. We are getting in the weeds...