Assembling an effective Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy team involves navigating a variety of factors, from therapist qualifications and commute time to matching availability. Each factor plays a crucial role in ensuring the best match between a therapist and a patient. In this article, we delve into the most important factors, providing insights on how to manage them efficiently and effectively.

Factor 1: Appopriate Experience & Qualifications

Pie chart showing the number of companies that take ABA companies into staffing decisions

The perfect match between an ABA therapist and a child goes beyond just availability; it’s also about the therapist having the right experience and qualifications. We like to categorize these requirements into ‘Must Haves’ and ‘Nice to Haves’. The ‘Must Haves’ are non-negotiable and include factors such as the therapist’s language proficiency and any necessary certifications mandated by insurance companies. In addition, if a child displays severe maladaptive behaviors, such as aggression or self-injury, experience in managing these specific behaviors is also a ‘Must Have’. This ensures that the therapist has the required competencies to provide quality care.

‘Nice to Haves’ are experience factors such as a therapist’s familiarity with a specific care setting or age range. Missing one these factors doesn’t necessarily preclude an effective therapeutic relationship, but clearly a therapist with this experience is preferred. The impact of these ‘Nice to Haves’ experience may vary, and it depends on factors like the severity of the child’s behavior and other relevant experience the behavior technician brings to the table. The experience and skills of the assigned Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) also play a crucial role in this evaluation.

It’s essential to remember that every child and situation is unique, and these considerations should be used as guiding factors rather than strict rules. For this reason, we recommend discussing these points with your clinical leadership team. Their experience and understanding of the specific circumstances can help ensure the most effective pairing and maintain the quality of care. This collaborative and flexible approach is something that an optimal scheduling tool like Teamwork supports, allowing for customized, case-by-case adjustments.

Factor 2: Securing Therapist Buy-in

Securing buy-in from your therapy team is a crucial, yet often overlooked aspect in creating an effective ABA therapy team. Ensuring that therapists are fully aware of what is expected of them before they commit to working with a child is of paramount importance. Transparency about commute times and the specifics of a child’s behavior can dramatically reduce therapist burnout and significantly increase the continuity of care – a key determinant of therapy success.

This is where technological solutions like Teamwork Scheduling can prove invaluable. Organizations have the option to activate a provider portal where therapists can browse potential cases they qualified to work with. They can then understand the specifics of each case and indicate their interest in working with certain patients. While schedulers retain final decision-making power, having this insight into therapist interest greatly simplifies the process. In fact, when surveyed we found 91% of Behavior Technicians preferred this transparent, user-friendly approach to traditional case-assignment methods methods. Thus, incorporating therapist interest into your scheduling strategy not only contributes to better team matches but also fosters a more engaged, satisfied workforce.

Factor 3: Minimizing Commute Time

Teamwork ABA software shows commute time by public transit and driving

An obvious factor to consider is the commute time between the therapist and the client’s care location. Depending on your location, this commute time might be by public transit or by driving. You must also factor in the time of day the appointment is scheduled, so you can account for typical traffic conditions for the area.

Many companies check this manually with Google Maps. However, this is tedious work and can quickly take up huge amounts of time for larger companies. However, if you use a scheduling tool like Teamwork, this information is automatically taken into account. Teamwork not only automates the process of calculating commute time but also contextualizes it, taking into account the therapist’s existing schedule and typical traffic conditions for the area at the time of the appointment. In the event of a last-minute cancellation, Teamwork can swiftly find a suitable replacement therapist who is located nearby, minimizing the potential disruption to the client’s therapy schedule.

Factor 4: Ensuring Sufficient Availability

Teamwork ABA software compares availability between therapists and clients

Matching availability between therapists and clients might initially seem straightforward, but the reality is often more complex. Clinical assessments often dictate minimum and maximum durations. The challenge is compounded by the frequent changes in the schedules of parents and therapists. It is critical that schedulers have a single, continually updated source of truth that everyone can refer to.

In order to keep this information accurate and up-to-date, you should develop a process of regular outreach to parents and therapists asking them to confirm their availability. We find this not only helps keep availability information up-to-date, but serves as a useful tool to engage parents while they are on the waitlist.

Managing all these elements may seem daunting, but this is where a platform like Teamwork truly shines. Teamwork streamlines this complex process by sending automated notifications at regular intervals to parents and therapists. They can easily log in and update their availability if needed. Any changes are automatically flagged to schedulers, who are able to see the latest changes and the last time availability was confirmed as accurate. Teamwork also lets you easily compare availability of multiple therapists against a client, letting you quickly piece together a schedule for an entire therapy team.

Conclusion

Creating an effective ABA therapy team involves a complex interplay of factors such as experience, qualifications, commute times, and availability. Balancing these factors can be challenging but is critical for ensuring effective and quality therapy. By leveraging innovative solutions like Teamwork Scheduling, the process becomes significantly less daunting, allowing for greater focus on the delivery of quality care.

With Teamwork, you can automate and optimize the scheduling process, allowing for a more personalized and efficient approach to forming therapy teams. To witness firsthand how Teamwork can revolutionize your scheduling process and save you valuable time, don’t hesitate to book a demo of our scheduling technology today.

Interested in Teamwork? Schedule a Demo!

At Teamwork,we pride ourselves on being different from our competition. Teamwork is built specifically for ABA providers with a focus on clinical quality. We automate manual work associated with scheduling (e.g. calculating commute times) so your team can focus on what’s important: delivering quality care to your patients.

Interested? Fill out the form below to sign-up for a demo of our tool!

Lessons Learned: Talking to 60 ABA Companies About Staffing Practices

by Calvin | Jan 23, 2023 | Staffing

When we started our ABA practice in 2019, scheduling was easy. We only had 15 clients and our clinical director knew all of our therapists, their schedules, and preferences. However, as we grew, our processes broke down and became unmanageable. We demoed all of the...

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Building an Effective ABA Therapy Team: Important Factors to Consider

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