Telehealth ABA Therapy

What is telehealth?

Telehealth (also known as telemedicine, telepsychiatry, or telepsychology) is an amazing service that allows patients to get the professional care they need from their own homes. Intercare Therapy is proud to offer telehealth solutions and you can talk to your Intercare provider if you have questions or would like help managing your child and developing or modifying their autism therapy without traveling to the clinic.

What are the benefits of telehealth?

Telehealth is recognized by professional organizations such as the American Psychiatric Association (APA) as a vital and effective way for therapists to interact with their patients. In addition to receiving the same high-quality care, telehealth may help lower the cost of therapy. Telehealth is covered by most insurance companies, but it eliminates the time and expense of traveling to the clinic.

How does telehealth help with autism therapy?

Almost all of the autism therapy services Intercare Therapy provides are also available through telehealth on your computer or smartphone—and, yes, this includes applied behavior analysis (ABA).

Telehealth is a great way to increase access to care for patients who find it difficult to travel to a clinic for in-person sessions. It can be a great option for families with limited access to transportation or for parents of children with ASD who are also caregivers for other children and/or sick or elderly relatives. Telehealth can also be a more effective way for some children with ASD to complete their ABA therapy, since it allows them to conduct sessions from their own homes, in an environment they’re familiar with and comfortable in.

The Intercare team uses telehealth to:

Provide standard and functional behavioral assessments
Develop and modify behavior intervention plans
Deliver ABA treatments
Provide parent training
Coordinate care with other providers
Offer routine consultations

ABA is the foundation of all the services offered at Intercare Therapy. Using structured goals and positive reinforcement, ABA effectively teaches your child how to improve communication, socialization, self-care skills, and challenging behaviors.

Is telehealth effective in autism therapy?

The biggest question that many parents have when considering telehealth alternatives for autism therapy is: Is it effective? This is a perfectly natural concern for any parent looking to do what’s best to support their child with ASD, of course, and, thankfully, research has been conducted to find the answer to this very question.

Research published by the National Institutes of Health found that yes, telehealth is an effective method of administering ABA therapy for autism. According to the study, “research demonstrated that parents can use ABA procedures to successfully treat behavior problems associated with autism spectrum disorders regardless of whether treatment is directed by behavior consultants in person or via remote video coaching. Because ABA telehealth can achieve similar outcomes at lower cost compared with in-home therapy, geographic barriers to providing access to ABA for treating problem behavior can be minimized. These findings support the potential for using telehealth to provide research-based behavioral treatment to any family that has access to the Internet.”

Translation: If telehealth makes sense for your family’s schedule and lifestyle, it’s an effective alternative to other forms of ABA therapy.

How does telehealth work?

The first thing you need to know is that telehealth services comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which means they’re secure and private. It’s also important to know that your telehealth services are always provided by the same highly-qualified ABA providers you’d meet in person.

After you make the decision to use telehealth, the Intercare Therapy team gives you the instructions you need to schedule appointments and connect with your provider using your computer or smartphone. It’s as easy as logging in and chatting with your provider online.

If you’re interested in telehealth or you have questions about how it works, call Intercare Therapy or fill out the contact form online to learn how you can register for this convenient service.