New York State
Occupational Therapy Association

Mr. Jeffrey Tomlinson, OTR, FAOTA
c/o NYSOTA
119 Washington Avenue, 2d floor
Albany, NY 12210
By: FAX

Dear Mr. Tomlinson:

Thank you for your letter requesting that the Board for Occupational Therapy reaffirm its position regarding certain services described in two letters scripted by predecessors of mine. Specifically, a January 25th 199 letter from Ronnie Hausheer to Michelle Cullen and a February 15, 1999 letter from Barbara Zittel also to Michelle Cullen.

Both of those letters stand for the historical position that an OT may provide certain services without a prior referral. While referrals for treatment services are necessary, referrals are not required in statute for other services that do not rise to the level of treatment. In recent telephone conversations we discussed some aspects of Response to Intervention that are not treatment and may not need a referral. As always, a licensed professional must consider the details in a case by case basis when determining whether a modality or intervention falls within the scope of what would be considered treatment.

I hope that this is helpful.

Doug Lentivech

Executive Secretary 

Download the Lentivech Letter