ANNOUNCE: ABA International's Expansion of the Practice Board and Board Member Activities

The Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) Practice Board has been very active over the past six months. Membership and the focus of the Board has been expanded; this was done to address issues ABAI members have identified as critical to their support needs in the practice of applied behavior analysis...

Included in this expansion of the Practice Board membership are the following,
 
Chair: Michael  F. Dorsey, Ph.D., BCBA

Committees  and respective committee chairs:

• Governmental  Affairs: Thomas Zane,  Ph.D., BCBA
• Licensing:  Michael Weinberg, Ph.D., BCBA
• Insurance:  Doreen Granpeesheh, Ph.D., BCBA
• Insurance  Billing: Travis Thompson, Ph.D., and Wayne Fisher, Ph.D., BCBA
• Science  to Practice: Jennifer Zarcone, Ph.D., BCBA
• Education:  R. Douglas Greer, Ph.D.
• Practitioner  Hotline: Jon Bailey, Ph.D., BCBA
• Administrators:  Bob Littleton, Ed.D., and Rita Gardner, MPH, BCBA
• Student  Practitioners: Josh Pritchard, MS, BCBA
  

Members of the ABAI Practice Board have attended or are scheduled to attend a number of ABAI affiliated state chapter and related conferences this year, including:

• New Jersey ABA
• Tennessee ABA
• Missouri ABA
• Four  Corners ABA
• The  Berkshire Association for Behavior Analysis and Therapy
  
• Autism  New Jersey
• Minnesota Northland ABA
• Texas ABA
• Pennsylvania ABA
• Behavior  Analysis Association of Michigan

Practice Board members are available to present at state conferences on subjects related to practice or to consult with chapters on issues such as the development of state licensing laws or third party insurance billing. Recently, Thomas Zane, Michael Weinberg, and Michael Dorsey were invited to meet with the Board of Directors of New Jersey ABA and consult on the potential development of a state licensing law.

Please feel free to contact the ABAI office to request an appearance or meeting with Practice Board members.

Billing Committee Update

Travis Thompson, Ph.D., Co-Chair of the ABAI Practice Board’s Insurance Billing Committee reported on December 22, 2009 that his committee recently forwarded a "Letter of Intent" to submit a Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Billing Code proposal covering ABA services for children diagnosed with Autism to the American Medical Association for consideration. Dr. Thompson noted that a representative from AMA contacted him today and that they confirmed receiving our letter of intent. Further, the AMA representative commented that the AMA thought the committee appropriately involved a cross-section of constituencies and organizations, and they noted that it was a good step that the Chair of the Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (which oversees ADHD and autism) of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has offered to assist with the effort. AAP is the major professional organization for all pediatricians. Dr. Thompson noted that the ABAI proposal is anticipated to be submitted to the AMA Committee June 2010. The AMA representative noted that, if our request is acted on favorably at the June 2010 meeting, the new codes could be in place by June 2012.
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Related links

Practice Resources, ABA International

Sunday, December 20, 2009
Practitioner Issues in Behavior Analysis SIG Blog
December 2009 notes on recent activities of the ABAI Practice Board

Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Practitioner Issues in Behavior Analysis SIG Blog 
ABAI NEWSFLASH: New Practice Resources at ABA International! 

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