The Job Board on the GOTA website is now public! Take advantage of your free membership job posting now - anyone who visits the GOTA website can access your job posting!
We are now able to upload pictures and full advertisements to the online Virtual Exhibitor page! This is a wonderful opportunity to advertise on the GOTA website!
Post a Job or Virtual Exhibit Now!
Welcome to the Georgia Occupational Therapy Association's website! Thank you for visiting and take your time browsing around. We update the website frequently to keep our viewers informed about the latest news, events, and happenings regarding OT in the state of Georgia. Please visit often for the most up-to-date information!
The GOTA is a corporation organized under the non-profit laws of Georgia. The objectives of the GOTA are to advance the practice of occupational therapy in order to enhance the health of the public in its medical, community, and educational environments through research, education, action, service and maintenance of standards. The GOTA will also engage in other activities to further disseminate knowledge of the practice of occupational therapy.
GOTA 2013 Conference Call for Papers
Georgia Occupational Therapy Association
2013 Annual Conference & Professional Meeting
September 20-22, 2013
The Armstrong Center
13040 Abercorn Street, Savannah, Georgia 31419
Call for Papers (Deadline- June 14, 2013)
Conference Focus: "Embracing Change"
Have you conducted research or performance improvement projects that would inform practice? So you have expertise in clinical practice topics that might enhance clinical skills of others? Do you have experience regarding searching for evidence to support our practice? Have you been implementing occupation-based practice in a way that might give others ideas how to do this in the context of the “medical model”?
Are you doing clinical or quality improvement research that might enhance our basis for practice? Do you have solutions or new ideas to deal with clinical administrative aspects of OT practice that have proven true in your practice? Do you have questions or the answers to questions about the effectiveness of OT treatments?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, we invite proposals for presentations focused on practice, education and research. Typically, participants want to gain knowledge that can be used for improved service delivery. Successful proposals will:
Presidential Update
Mary Shotwell, PhD, OT/L
April marked an important month for us as it was OT month. Hopefully, you participated in some activity within your organization to celebrate your profession. Whether having a party, doing an “inservice” or hosting an information booth, telling people about your profession can be self-affirming.
I’m sure that many of you feel as blessed as I do to have a job that you love and where you feel like you make a difference in the lives of the clients you serve. While it’s important for us to go to annual OT meetings at the regional, state, and national levels, it’s also important for us to interact with other disciplines and community organizations, as it also helps us affirm our uniqueness as a profession.
In the past few months, I have had the pleasure of meeting with the Presidents of both Physical Therapy Association of Georgia (PTAG) and Georgia Speech and Hearing Association (GSHA). During theses meetings, we celebrated each of our uniqueness and discussed ideas where we might collaborate and support each other’s profession as we anticipate the ongoing changes in the healthcare environment. Together, GOTA, GSHA & PTAG, successfully negotiated a compromise with PeachState, (a care management organization CMO) administering Medicaid funding in the state of Georgia.
The three organizations are also in the process of planning a seminar on health care changes where we come together to face our challenges. So not only during OT month, but all year long, celebrate yourselves, and remember to thank those professionals with whom we work so closely, because together we are all stronger!
Trialliance Update - April 26, 2013
GOTA representatives have been involved in meetings with Wellcare and TNGA and have developed the following information for providers to share with legislators:
Concerns regarding transition to Therapy Network of Georgia (TNGA)
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For several years, children with disabilities, their parents, and providers of pediatric physical therapy (PT), speech therapy, and occupational therapy (OT) have struggled with changes in the Medicaid Children's Intervention Services (CIS) in large part related to the Department of Community Health’s (DCH) contracting with three care management organizations. Problems include denial and delay in services to which patients are entitled and need for their development.
Despite the passage of legislation and ongoing dialogue between the the Georgia Therapy Trialliance (consisting of pediatric OTs, PTs, and Speech-Language Pathologists) the three CMOs (WellCare, PeachState, and Amerigroup) and DCH, lingering problems persist and new issues arise. These issues became painfully evident, and reached a culmination in early 2013, when a company with which one of the CMOs subcontracted to provide children’s therapy services experienced financial difficulty and eventually declared bankruptcy.
Now in the wake of this situation, WellCare, which is the CMO with which pediatric therapists have experienced the most success in working to assure the best possible outcomes for children with disabilities, has decided to subcontract with the Therapy Network of Georgia (TNGA). At WellCare's suggestion, the Trialliance met with TNGA. Based upon Trialliance discussions with TNGA, therapists’ experience with its related company in Florida, and a close look at sample practice data and how the TNGA payment system will effect different populations, pediatric PTs, OTs, and Speech-Language Pathologists have numerous and significant concerns with the proposed new program which WellCare intends to implement July 1, 2013.
These concerns are described below: