Am J Occup Ther. 2022 Jan 1;76(1). doi: 10.5014/ajot.2022.761002.
This article explains the need for a licensure compact in the occupational therapy profession and describes the joint American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT®) initiative to develop and implement the compact. Despite uniformity in occupational therapy licensure laws across the states, the ability to obtain and maintain licenses in multiple jurisdictions remains complicated and time consuming. Occupational therapy practitioners will benefit from an improvement to the existing state licensure system that would allow them to obtain a privilege to practice in multiple states through an interstate licensure compact. The licensure compact will be implemented by a commission composed of state regulators from each participating state. In September 2019, AOTA and NBCOT issued a joint statement announcing that the two organizations would be collaborating to support the development of an interstate licensure compact for occupational therapy. This article highlights the need for the Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact, the process used to develop the compact's language, and the state legislative progress made to date. It also outlines the next steps needed to advance Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact legislation as well as efforts needed to operationalize the Occupational Therapy Compact Commission.
本文阐述了在职业治疗行业中引入许可协议的必要性，并介绍了美国职业治疗协会（AOTA）和国家职业治疗委员会认证（NBCOT®）联合发起的制定和实施该协议的倡议。尽管各州的职业治疗许可法具有统一性，但在多个司法管辖区获得和维持许可证仍然很复杂且耗时。职业治疗从业者将从改进现有的州许可制度中受益，该制度将允许他们通过州际许可协议获得在多个州执业的特权。许可协议将由一个由每个参与州的州监管机构组成的委员会实施。2019 年 9 月，AOTA 和 NBCOT 发布了一份联合声明，宣布这两个组织将合作支持制定职业治疗的州际许可协议。本文重点介绍了职业治疗许可协议的必要性、制定协议语言所采用的流程，以及迄今为止在州立法方面取得的进展。它还概述了推进职业治疗许可协议立法所需的下一步措施，以及实施职业治疗协议委员会所需的努力。
