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Course Description

With dysphagia litigation on the rise, this is the course you need to protect your practice and elevate your clinical skills. Led by legal consultant and expert witness Denise Dougherty, this livestream course explores the critical issues surrounding dysphagia malpractice cases, CMS regulations, and ASHA standards. You’ll gain the tools to improve your documentation, master standard practices of care, and sharpen your clinician proficiency—all while safeguarding your career.

This interactive, live course provides direct access to expert insights and practical strategies that you can implement right away. Plus, with 14-day access to the recording, you’ll have the flexibility to revisit the content at your convenience. Earn CE credits from the comfort of your home and gain the confidence to navigate even the most complex dysphagia cases. Register now to ensure your spot!

Dysphagia is increasingly becoming a focal point in medical malpractice cases.

This rise in litigation is driven by advancements in research, diagnosis, and treatment. To protect both patients and providers, CMS has implemented specific regulations regarding the care and documentation required for services reimbursed by Medicare. ASHA's code of ethics and scope of practice further set the bar for clinician competence in dysphagia management.

Despite dysphagia making up about 60% of a speech pathologist’s caseload, many SLPs report having minimal academic training in this critical area, with some completing less than a semester of coursework or lacking hands-on experience in their graduate clinicals. This course will delve into the key issues of dysphagia litigation, provide strategies for supervision and clinician proficiency, and emphasize standard practices of care. We’ll also cover red flags in documentation and work through real-world scenarios to sharpen your problem-solving skills.

ATTENDANCE:

  1. Attend as part of the LIVE STUDIO AUDIENCE in Gulf Breeze, Florida - Studio audience seats are limited - so register today!
  2. Attend via LIVE STREAM from anywhere around the world. Live stream participants will login to access the event from their computer.

NOTE:

  • This live event is streamed in real time. 
  • Course agenda is in Central time, please adjust for your time zone
  • Registrants who attend the live broadcast will be able to interact with instructor.
  • All registrants will have access to the broadcast recording for 14 days.
  • A group may view the course together, however each attendee must be individually registered in order to receive CE credit.

COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS:

  • Attend/view entire course
  • Pass multiple choice quiz (80% min score)
  • Complete online course evaluation

CEUs:

  • SLPs - this course is registered with ASHA as Blended Learning. ASHA CEUs may be earned by attending live, viewing the recording, or a combination of both.
  • OTs - Participants who need live hours for state license renewal must attend in real time yet, will still have access to the recording for 14 days.
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Course Objectives

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

  • Identify the issues and factors behind increased dysphagia litigation
  • Differentiate skilled and unskilled documentation
  • Demonstrate use of standard practice of care through documentation

Denise Dougherty

MA, CCC-SLP

Denise Dougherty, MA, CCC-SLP
Denise owns and operates a private practice in Indiana, PA, where she conducts therapy with both children and adults. She is a legal consultant/expert witness in wrongful death/negligence lawsuits involving dysphagia. Denise is a co-editor of Private Practice Essentials: A Practical Guide for Speech-Language Pathologists, published by ASHA Press. She has presented workshops and written numerous articles appearing in the ASHA Leader on the topic of private practice. Denise served as a consultant for The Arijah Children’s Foundation in Anguilla, BWI, providing evaluations and therapy programs for special needs children. Ms. Dougherty was an adjunct faculty member at York College of Pennsylvania and Wesley College in Dover, Delaware. She is a past President of the American Academy of Private Practice in Speech Pathology and Audiology (AAPPSPA), and received the Academy’s 2007 Honor Award and 2014 Award of Excellence for her achievements. Ms. Dougherty is a member of the Technical Experts Panel for Quality of Insights of Pennsylvania, working on initiating quality measures for CMS to improve effectiveness, efficiency, economy and quality of services delivered to Medicare beneficiaries. She received her bachelor’s degree in communication disorders from Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania; a master’s degree in communication disorders from St. Louis University. Ms. Dougherty is certified in VitalStim® therapy and is a VitalStim® instructor, has completed additional training in orofacial myology, is a member of the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association and has received numerous ASHA ACE Awards. For more information, please visit www.dldspeechpath.com.

Financial Disclosure Denise receives honoraria from CIAO for the presentation of her live courses and royalties for the sale of her online courses. Denise is in private practice and receives legal consultant/expert witness fees
Non-Financial Disclosure: There are no non-financial relationships to disclose.

Day 1

01:00 - 01:30
Litigation - Issues and factors
01:30 - 02:00
CMS and ASHA expectations
02:00 - 02:45
Dysphagia Competency – evaluation and treatment
02:45 - 03:00
Break
03:00 - 03:30
Red flags!
03:30 - 04:05
Scenarios, problem solving and troubleshooting
04:05 - 04:15
Q and A

Delivery VIA:

  • Live Stream - This course is offered from our Live Stream studio. Watch and interact with the instructor from wherever you are or join us as part of the studio audience in sunny Gulf Breeze, FL. Included with each Live Stream registration is access to the course recording for the 14 days immediately following the broadcast.

Contact hours pre-approved for:

  • 3 Hours
  • CIAO is an ASHA Approved Provider #AAWA (0.3 ASHA CEUs) bubble sheet submission required
  • ASHA CE Provider Approval and use of the Brand Block does not imply endorsement of course content, specific products, or clinical procedures.
  • This course meets PDU requirements for NBCOT (3 PDUs)
  • CIAO is an Approved Provider for the Florida Board of Occupational Therapy
  • Approved for:
  • 3.5 Hrs. OT/COTAs, PT/PTAs in FL (CE Broker #20-1246450)
  • 3 Hrs. Registered with CEBroker for OT/COTAs in AL, AZ, GA, LA, MS, SC, TN

Course meets requirements for:

  • OT/COTAs in AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, LA, KS, KY, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT,
  • OT/COTAs in NE, NV, NH, NJ, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY

    • 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.


    Introductory Level
    0.3 ASHA CEUs


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


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