Latest Developments in Telepractice for SLPs and Audiologists

What Is Telepractice?

In ASHA's recent position statements, telepractice is defined as "the application of telecommunications technology to delivery of professional services at a distance by linking clinician to client, or clinician to clinician, for assessment, intervention, and/or consultation."

ASHA's position is that "telepractice is an appropriate model of service delivery for the professions of speech-language pathology [and audiology]. Telepractice may be used to overcome barriers of access to services caused by distance, unavailability of specialists and/or subspecialists, and impaired mobility."

Telepractice offers "the potential to extend clinical services to remote, rural, and underserved populations, and to culturally and linguistically diverse populations."

ASHA video on Telespeech Services (7:42)
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Ensuring Quality of Service via Telepractice

ASHA's position statements also emphasize that "the use of telepractice does not remove any existing responsibilities in delivering services, including adherence to the Code of Ethics, Scope of Practice, state and federal laws (e.g., licensure, HIPAA, etc.), and ASHA policy documents on professional practices."

Therefore, "the quality of services delivered via telepractice must be consistent with the quality of services delivered face-to-face."

How Telepractice Is Being Used...

...By Audiologists:

Infant hearing screening
Hearing screening
Hearing aid programming and counseling
Auditory brainstem response (ABR)
Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs)
Audiologic rehabilitation

...By Speech-Language Pathologists:

To provide speech and language services to schools in remote or underserved areas
To provide voice, aphasia, or cognitive-communication treatment to satellite clinics from hospitals
In clients' homes as an adjunct to home health visits
For specialized services such as laryngectomy rehabilitation and augmentative and alternative communication