Document Less, Communicate More: Simple Documentation for Rehab

There are two ways to participate in this live event, as either part of the live studio audience in Gulf Breeze, Florida or via live stream around the world. Live stream participants will receive instructions in the confirmation e-mail on how to access the event from their computer and interact with the instructor. Studio audience seats are limited - so register now! Please contact our office if you have any questions. 850-916-8886.
Course begins: 9:00 AM Central (10:00 AM Eastern; 7:00 AM Pacific)

Therapists face many challenges in the clinical arena today, with ever increasing caseloads and demands on time during the day. When learning to document in college, therapy students do not have the benefit of clinical experience, and thus do not truly know what they are learning at the time. Once in clinical practice they learn from therapist mentors and employers and piece together an idea of what is needed. There are times when a clinician is baffled that a patient receives a denial from the insurance company for therapy that seems so obviously needed. This course will help therapists to understand what third party payers are looking for and to gain a better understanding of how to present the big picture when documenting. Learn the true purpose of documentation, third-party-payer requirements, how best to communicate with your payers, how to paint a picture with your documentation, next steps after a denial, and how to keep your documentation simple.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:

Course Instructor(s)


Lisa Sinton

OT, MPA

Lisa Sinton has been an occupational therapist for over 20 years. She has a Bachelor of Communications degree from Arizona State University; a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Occupational Therapy from Quinnipiac University; and a Master’s of Public Administration from Florida Atlantic University. Lisa has worked with pediatric and adults in outpatient, inpatient, and school based settings. She has worked as a Rehab Manager and served as a Rehab Clinical Educator for five years in a large community hospital. Lisa was responsible for building the online clinical documentation systems at two different hospitals for all the rehab therapies in both inpatient and outpatient departments as they transitioned from paper documentation to online documentation. Although she reviewed charts in her capacity as a Rehab Clinical Educator, she believes that the role that prepared her most thoroughly to teach clinical documentation was her work in utilization review for an insurance company. For five years she read rehab documentation from occupational, physical and speech therapists, to determine if the documentation submitted met the criteria to continue with therapy. Lisa reports that she learned more about therapy and documentation in those five years than she did in any clinical setting. As a reviewer she had many aha moments, and developed a much better understanding as to why we are all writing these things down. Rather than focusing on the many component parts, Lisa offers her experience to guide you through a look at the bigger picture.

Financial Disclosure: Lisa receives honoraria from CIAO for the presentation of her live courses and royalties for the purchase of her online courses.
Non-Financial Disclosure: there are no relevant disclosures

Course Agenda

Day 1

08:30 - 09:00
Registration (light snack and drinks provided to on-site participants)
09:00 - 09:30
Purpose of Documentation (10:00 AM Eastern; 8:00 AM Mountain; 7:00 AM Pacific)
09:30 - 09:45
3rd Party payers-what do they want?
09:45 - 10:15
Workshop: Reviewing Documentation
10:15 - 10:30
Bio Break
10:30 - 11:15
Workshop: Reviewing Documentation (continued)
11:15 - 11:45
Avoiding Call with Reviewer
11:45 - 12:30
Efficient and Effective Documentation/Paint the Picture
12:30 - 01:30
Lunch (on your own)
01:30 - 01:45
Jargon, Legibility, and Other Tips
01:45 - 02:15
Workshop: Goal Writing
02:15 - 02:30
Bio Break
02:30 - 03:00
Show Improvement, Make it Measurable, Have a Plan and Medical Follow Up
03:00 - 03:15
Best Practice in Communicating with Payers
03:15 - 03:30
Dealing with Denial
03:30 - 04:30
Workshop - Creating Clear and Simple Documentation
04:30 - 05:00
Summary and Q&A

Contact hours pre-approved for:

  • 6.5 hours (0.65 CEUs)
  • CIAO is an ASHA Approved Provider #AAWA (SLPs) Bubblesheet required
  • This course is offered for 0.65 ASHA CEUs (Introductory level, Related area)
  • CIAO is an AOTA Approved Provider #4119 (OT/COTAs)
  • This course meets PDU requirements for NBCOT (6.5 PDUs)
  • CIAO is an Illinois Approved Provider for PT/PTA Continuing Education
  • CIAO is recognized as an Approved Provider for PT/PTAs by the NYSE Dept State Board for PT
  • This activity is provided by the TBPTE Accredited Prov. #2202009#TX
  • This activity meets the continuing competence requirements for PT/PTA license renewal in TX
  • 6.5 Hrs PT/PTAs in AR, IL, KY(CS104-2017-KPTA), MS, NM, OK(201912098), TX(6.5 CCUs)
  • 7.5 Hrs OT/COTAs in FL (CE Broker #20-627309)
  • 7.8 Hrs PT/PTAs in NY
  • 7.5 Hrs PT/PTAs in FL (CE Broker #20-627309)

This course is offered for 0.65 ASHA CEUs (Introductory level, Related area)


The assignment of AOTA CEUs does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products, or clinical procedures by AOTA.


CIAO Automatically reports to CE Broker for Florida Occupational and Physical Therapists and Assistants. Florida SLPs can either use the ASHA CE Participant Form (Bubble Sheet) or self-submit through CE Broker.


CIAO is recognized on the NBCOT Provider Registry (meets PDU requirements for NBCOT)