ABA
ABA intake
The intake steps and checklist items ABA episodes add to the shared intake board, and how to record ABA benefits and caregivers.
These steps appear when your clinic has the ABA module. In ABA screens a patient is called a learner; it is the same patient chart. ABA episodes sit on the shared intake board beside every other discipline.
Intake steps#
An ABA episode moves through these steps on the board:
| Step | The learner is here once |
|---|---|
| Referral received | The ABA episode exists. |
| Benefits verified | A current coverage has a verification date in its ABA benefits, or its latest eligibility check came back active. |
| Assessment auth requested | An assessment authorization is requested or pending. |
| Assessment auth approved | An assessment authorization is approved. |
| Evaluation scheduled | An appointment with an assessment code is booked. |
| Evaluation complete | The learner's assessment report is signed, or its outside file is recorded. |
| Treatment auth submitted | A treatment authorization is requested or pending. |
| Treatment auth approved | A treatment authorization is approved. |
| Staffed | A technician is on the current care team. |
| First treatment visit | A visit billed with a direct treatment code is signed. |
The card names the analyst who leads the case under Case lead. Your clinic can rename, hide or reorder these steps for ABA, and add columns of its own, in intake setup.
Requested hours and settings#
An ABA referral also records the Requested hours per week and the Requested settings (home, school, clinic, community, telehealth) in its intake details. Families fill them in themselves when they ask for ABA from your online intake form. The ABA intake funnel timing report shows how long learners take to reach each step; see Caregiver guidance.
Intake checklist#
Besides the items every discipline checks (see intake checklist), an ABA episode's checklist adds:
- ABA benefits verified on a coverage.
- An approved assessment authorization and a completed assessment.
- Once the learner has a behavior reduction program, a signed behavior intervention plan.
- An approved treatment authorization.
- A care team with one member flagged Clinical supervisor. The item warns when the care team has none.
- The learner's home as a service address.
The treatment plan item is the learner's treatment plan. Your clinic can turn any of these items off for ABA, reorder them or add its own in intake setup. The assessment report item opens the chart's Reports page with New Assessment Report ready, while the learner has a completed assessment without a report. Signing the report completes the item.
ABA benefits#
On the learner's Coverage page, the ABA benefits list shows each insurance coverage. Choose Edit ABA benefits on a row to record:
- Covers ABA and Prior authorization required: yes, no or not known yet.
- Managed by: the behavioral health carve-out that manages ABA for this plan, when it is not the plan itself.
- Benefits verified on: the date you confirmed the benefits. This moves the learner to Benefits verified.
- Notes.
Annual ABA hour or visit limits are the coverage's own benefit limits: add a limit counted in Hours or Visits for the ABA discipline. The ABA benefits list shows them.
Caregivers#
Mark the people who care for the learner on the chart's contacts: Caregiver, one Primary caregiver, and May sign sessions for those who may sign that a session was delivered. A caregiver program in the learner's plan names its caregiver (see programs), and each visit records the people present.
Permissions#
Recording ABA benefits needs Coverage: Manage. The board and checklist permissions are on the intake board page.