Occupational therapists should consider the following information when setting up their practice. Aspects of the business plan may need to be reviewed by accounting and legal professionals. Once input has been obtained, policies and procedures can be
developed for the practice.
Checklist
☑ Values to reflect: What principles must the occupational therapy services reflect?
Resources: Code of Ethics,
Competencies for Occupational Therapists in Canada (2021)
☑ Business structure: Have tax or business lawyers or accountants been consulted? Do they recommend setting up a professional corporation? Is additional insurance needed based on risk?
Resource: Professional Corporations
☑ Advertising legislation: Has advertising legislation been reviewed to ensure that marketing approaches and social media platforms and websites are honest, truthful, transparent, and professional?
Resources: Occupational Therapy Act, 1991: General, Use of Social Media
☑ Consent: What must be included during the consent discussion? Who can give consent?
Resources: Standard for Consent, Consent Checklist,
Determining Capacity Decision Tree
☑ Assessment: How are clients going to be assessed? What about virtual services?
Resources: Standard for Assessment and Intervention,
Remote (Virtual) Services
☑ Documentation: What must be documented? How will personal health information be kept secure? What are an HIC’s obligations?
Resources: Standard for Record Keeping, Record Keeping Review Tool,
Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004: A Guide for Regulated Health Professionals, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (2019), Succession planning to help prevent abandoned records.
☑ Managing difficult decisions and relationships as an owner: How should difficult situations that may involve conflicts of interest or high-risk service activities be navigated?
Resources: Decision-Making Framework, Standard for the Prevention and Management of Conflicts of Interest
☑ Discontinuing services: What are the obligations when discontinuing services?
Resource: Discontinuing Services
☑ Fees/billing practices: How can fairness, equity, and transparency be incorporated into billing practices?
Resource: Standard for Record Keeping
☑ COTO employment profile: Does employment information need updating?
Resource: Registration Services for the College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario
☑ Other resources: What other resources about occupational therapy and private practice are available?
Resources: Ontario Society of Occupational Therapists (
https://www.osot.on.ca/),
Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (
https://caot.ca/)