APTA, the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) have issued guidelines to help therapists recognize appropriate opportunities for cotreatment. Cotreatment may be appropriate when practitioners from different professional disciplines can effectively address their treatment goals while the patient is engaged in a single therapy session. For example, a patient may address cognitive goals for sequencing as part of a speech-language pathology treatment session while the physical therapist (PT) is training the patient to use a wheelchair. Or, a patient may address activities of daily living goals for increasing independence as part of an occupational therapist treatment session while the PT addresses balance retraining with the patient to increase independence with mobility. 

The guidelines contain information on proper documentation for cotreatment sessions and 3 clinical examples of 2 disciplines providing interventions during 1 treatment session. APTA has provided the document to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as the agency had requested guidance on cotreatment therapy sessions from the 3 associations.  

APTA will continue to work with CMS to develop additional resources for therapists, specifically in the skilled nursing facility setting, to ensure a thorough understanding of therapy coverage requirements.