Challenges for Professional Practice in the Next Decade

ABSTRACT

This article is presented in a question and answer format and shares the thoughts of the 2006 President of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), Alex Johnson, and current Executive Director of ASHA, Arlene Pietranton, regarding several regulatory issues that the professions of audiology and/or speech-language pathology are likely to have to address over the next decade. Specific topics mentioned include: trends affecting our professions; anticipated service delivery changes; public (i.e., Medicaid and Medicare) and private (i.e., health plans, consumer-driven plans) reimbursement; competing for funding dollars; pay-for-performance; the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; No Child Left Behind; and ASHA's work with various national organizations and federal agencies in the regulatory arena. Several ASHA resources for further information are listed.

KEYWORDS

Focused Initiatives - funding - reimbursement - service delivery - super trends

REFERENCES

• 1 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association .Scope of Practice in Audiology. Rockville, MD; ASHA 2004
• 2 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association .Scope of Practice in Speech-Language Pathology. Rockville, MD; ASHA 2001
• 3 ASAE .Mapping the Future of Your Association. Washington, DC; ASAE 2005
• 4 Toffler A. The Third Wave. New York; William Morrow 1980
• 5 Swigert N. Clinical documentation, coding, and billing.  Semin Speech Lang. 2006;  27 101-118
• 6 Whitmire K, Reder N, Ralabate P, White S. The Regulatory Context for Public Education.  Semin Speech Lang. 2006;  27 119-128