Telepractice

The American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) defines telepractice (the act of providing Telehealth services) as “the application of telecommunications technology to delivery of professional services at a distance by linking clinician to client, or clinician to clinician, for assessment, intervention, and or consultation”. This means that we are able to provide speech and language therapy services through digital meetings. The therapist and the child join a computer-based session at the designated therapy time and work on similar materials as in the clinic. We term this “teletherapy”. It is important to know that this service delivery model is supported through the Virginia licensing board, the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) and is payable by most insurance carriers per the Telehealth Enhancement Act of 2013 H.R.3306, 113th Congress. This mode of service delivery, when implemented correctly, is noted to have equal outcomes to face-to-face interventions for many but not all clients.

Teletherapy is offered as a service delivery model thru both CSLS offices. As quality of services is paramount, each client interested in this model would need to be assessed by a CSLS speech pathologist to determine if teletherapy is appropriate for them. It is the family’s responsibility to check with their insurance company to see it telehealth is a covered service in their insurance plan.