Professional Practices and General Policies
For Our Prospective Clients/Clients’ Families or Teams
This information is designed to inform you about our background and our policies and to ensure that you understand the scope and boundaries of our professional relationship.
WHAT IS BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS
“Applied Behavior Analysis is a science based on using learning principles to improve lives. The practice of ABA focuses on assessing the environmental influences on behavior, assessment-based intervention, and data-based decision-making. ABA has been used to address the behavioral needs of consumers in multiple areas, including general and special education, organizational management and safety, gerontology, and many more. ABA is best known as being the leading evidence-based treatment approach for autism and other developmental disabilities.” 2
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
The BCBAs at Innovation Behavior Services specialize in treating children and adults with Developmental and Neurological Disabilities. Individual BCBAs may have additional competency areas, such as Organizational Behavior Management, ABA-based interventions for other populations and diagnoses, or other licenses/certifications.
PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIP, LIMITATIONS, AND RISKS
Our job as Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) is to work with the behavior you want to change. With your input, we can help you discover why that behavior occurs, devise an alternative behavior that serves the same purpose, and then set up a plan to teach those behaviors. We will work with you to help you teach that alternative behavior. We’ll also show you preventative strategies and ways to respond to the problem behavior when it occurs. Sometimes, we will conduct training for family members and other significant people in the client’s life; sometimes, we will review data for progress and make treatment changes needed to ensure continued progress.
HOW WE WORK:
A Board Certified Behavior Analyst, or BCBA/ BCBA-D, is a Master's or Doctoral level clinician specially trained in using the science of behavior. We are certified by a National Board (Behavior Analyst Certification Board or BACB). Many states also require licensing for a BCBA to treat other people. A BCaBA is a Bachelor’s level clinician certified by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board and supervised by a BCBA or BCBA-D, much like a Physician Assistant or Nurse Practitioner supervised by an MD or DO. An RBT is a technician who has received special training to implement the treatment plans developed by a BCBA-D, BCBA, or BCaBA and has passed an examination to become an RBT. All levels of practice are held to a high ethical standard. Our ethics codes can be found at https://www.bacb.com/ethics-information/ethics-codes/
ETHICAL CODE
We assure you that our services will be rendered professionally and ethically, consistent with accepted ethical standards. I am required to adhere to the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts from the Behavior Analyst Certification Board® (BACB). Copies of the Ethics Code will be made available to you upon request. Alternatively, you can go directly to the BACB website to view or download a copy of the Ethics Codes: https://www.bacb.com/ethics-information/ethics-codes/
Although our relationship involves very personal interactions and discussions, we need you to realize that we have a professional relationship rather than a social one.
According to our professional code of ethics, it is inappropriate for us to accept gifts.
It is inappropriate for our staff to be involved with your family’s activities, such as birthday parties or family outings, without a clinical need for a professional to be present. Please don’t take this personally, but understand that we must adhere to the Ethical Code to maintain our ability to provide services.
CONFIDENTIALITY/PRIVACY PRACTICES
Clients and their therapists have a confidential and privileged relationship. I do not disclose any information observed, discussed, or related to clients. In addition, I limit the information recorded in your file to protect your privacy. I need you to be aware that confidentiality has limitations as stipulated by law and may require me to override the general confidentiality in certain situations and circumstances, including the following:
● We have your written consent to release information.
● You verbally instructed us to share information with someone else.
● We determine that there is a danger to yourself or others.
● We have reasonable grounds to suspect abuse or neglect of a child, disabled person, or older adult.
● A judge orders us to disclose information.
● To obtain payment (ex: insurance company).
● To another member of the treatment team (ex., a physician or speech therapist) if, in our professional opinion, it will support treatment or is in the client's best interests.
EMERGENCIES
If you experience an emergency, please call 911 or your community’s mental health crisis response team.
Emergency or urgent cancelations (less than 24 hours notice):
For emergency session cancellations less than 24 hours in advance, please email your BCBA to advise them of the cancellation as soon as it is safe for you to do so.
CONTACTING US
Our office staff and clinicians respond to emails and phone calls between 9 AM and 5 PM, Monday through Friday, except for company-recognized holidays, weather-related closures, or vacations. If we are unavailable to take your call, please leave a message or send an email; we will return your call when we are in the office.
BCBAs are therapy providers responsible for a caseload that includes your family members or clients as well as other clients. We may not immediately respond to emails or phone calls. Please allow one working day for a response. Our office staff or BCBAs may not receive messages outside business hours until the next business day.
Schedule Changes
Schedule changes should include the scheduling department and may be made via phone call (833-521-5230) or email at scheduling@innovationaba.com Plese let us know as soon as possible after you know about the need to change the appointment.
Texting
Texting of Protected Health Information (PHI) is not permitted due to Federal Privacy Laws (HIPAA), as a result, any texting outside of an encrypted, secure platform is strongly discouraged.
THE CLINICIAN WILL:
● Gather information about how you and the client interact to understand strengths and challenges.
● Speak directly with the client, family/guardian, and team about the identified strengths and challenges.
● Administer assessments that help us determine the appropriate course of treatment.
● Score the assessments and review documentation, data, and interview notes.
● Work with you to develop an appropriate treatment plan and make appropriate updates.
● Educate and coach you as you implement the plan.
● Continue to track data and make recommendations or changes to the treatment plan as appropriate.
The BCBA will complete many of these tasks via telehealth. Some work, such as assessment scoring and report writing, is done in the office without your presence (indirect services). A phone with video capabilities and a strong Wi-Fi or cell signal should be sufficient for telehealth coaching. Occasionally, we ask you to share recordings via a secure transmission for further analysis or, with your input, determine that an in-person visit is necessary.
As BCBAs, we do not make value judgments about behavior (“good” vs. “bad”). Instead, we try to understand behavior as an adaptive response (a way of coping) and suggest adjusting and modifying behaviors to reduce pain and suffering and increase personal happiness and effectiveness.
We will ask about possible goals, explain our assessment and its results, describe the plan for intervention or treatment, and ask for your approval. If at any point you want to terminate our relationship, we will cooperate fully.
Please know that it is impossible to guarantee specific results regarding your goals. However, we will work together to achieve the best possible results. If our consultation has become ineffective, I will discuss terminating it and provide referral information as needed.
A signed treatment plan specifies our agreed-upon treatment goal for the authorization period (usually 6 months to one year, depending on the payor’s policies). If you are concerned that any aspect of treatment is not a good fit for you or your family, please discuss this with your BCBA to discuss changes or other alternatives.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITES:
We can only work with clients who fully inform us of their concerns. To understand the various problematic behaviors, we will need your full cooperation. We will ask many questions and make a few suggestions. We need you to be honest with us at all times. We will share data with you as part of the ongoing evaluation of treatment and expect that you will pay attention to the data and give us your genuine appraisal.
One of the most unique aspects of behavior analysis as a form of treatment is that decisions are made based on objective data collected regularly. We will need to obtain baseline data first to determine the nature and extent of the behavior problem we are dealing with. We will devise an intervention or treatment plan and continue obtaining data to determine its effectiveness. We will show you this data and make changes in treatment based on it. We may also ask you or other caregivers to collect data as part of the treatment plan or as necessary.
Data collection is necessary to address specific behavior and skill acquisition concerns. We can only develop a treatment for a problem if we use data to make effective decisions.
Under our codes of ethical conduct, we may not work with you in any other capacity except as your behavior therapist or consultant.
We will need a list of any prescribed or over-the-counter medications and supplements and any medical or mental health conditions. We need to be updated when medication, supplements, treatments, or health conditions change. This information is kept confidential.
A signed treatment plan is our agreed-upon plan for the authorization period. If you are concerned that the dosage or schedule is not a good fit for you or your family, please discuss this with your BCBA.
Problem Resolution
Please let us know as soon as possible if you are dissatisfied with our professional relationship at any time and for any reason. If we cannot resolve your concerns internally, you may report your concerns by filing a complaint with your state's licensing board (if applicable) and:
Behavior Analyst Certification Board
8051 Shaffer Parkway
Littleton, CO 80127
APPOINTMENTS AND FEES
We will coordinate with you to develop a treatment schedule. Please discuss any desired changes to the service schedule with your BCBA. We do not guarantee that we can accommodate all requests for changes.
If you cannot keep an appointment due to an emergency or urgent situation, call our office at 833-521-5230 or email scheduling@innovationaba.com as soon as possible to advise of the change. We will wait 10 minutes after the scheduled start of any session for you to join before disconnecting.
We will make reasonable attempts to bill your insurance company and secondary insurance if applicable. We also request your assistance speaking with your insurer(s) if they have denied a claim. Any charges for unreimbursed services, including but not limited to co-pays, co-insurance, deductibles, requested services outside of those authorized by the payor but within our professional scope, consultation with your attorney, court appearances, or specialized reports for legal proceedings, are the responsibility of the client or the parent/legal guardian requesting the unreimbursed service. These conditions do not apply where and when prohibited by law or contract with the payor.
Billing units are 15-60 minutes long, depending on the payor’s requirements. Our uninsured/uncovered (aka: private pay) service rate for a BCBA is $45 per 15-minute unit. Payment is due within 30 days of the billing date. BCBA billing applies to all planning, assessment, clinical oversight, caregiver training, and meeting activities.
TERMINATION OF SERVICES:
Innovation Behavior Services may terminate services when: (1) the client has met all behavior-change goals, (2) the client is not benefiting from the service, (3) our employees or contractos are exposed to potentially harmful conditions that cannot be or have not been reasonably resolved, (4) the client, guardian, and/or relevant stakeholder requests discontinuation, (5) barriers to ethical and appropriate treatment cannot be resolved despite documented appropriate efforts to address barriers, (6) services are no longer funded, the account is more than 30 days in arrears or payment agreements are not being adhered to, (8) we are unable to provide the services you are requesting.
If we have completed our assessment of the individual before termination, we will provide you with a written plan for discontinuing services, document acknowledgment of the plan, review the plan throughout the discharge process, and document all steps taken during the discharge. We can not make recommendations for individuals we have not had the opportunity to assess appropriately.
FEES FOR COPIES:
The cost for “hard” or paper copies of records is $0 .50 per page for the first 10 pages, $0.25 per page for pages 11+ plus shipping charges—electronically delivered copies are $0.35 per page for the first 10 pages and $0.18 for pages 11+. Records requested by your insurer for eligibility determination are provided directly to the insurer at no charge.
BACB, BCBA, BCBA-D, BCaBA, and RBT are all registered trademarks of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board.
References:
- Declaration of Professional Practices and Procedures for Behavior Analysts By Dr. Jon Bailey, PhD, BCBA
- BCBA Fact Sheet, Behavior Analyst Certification Board Retrieved 5/20/24
- Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts https://www.bacb.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Ethics-Code-for-Behavior-Analysts-240201-a.pdf