Schools that partner with us are invoiced for the activities therapists complete both ON and OFF camera. This includes:

• Direct time spent with students meeting IEP minutes
• IEP meeting attendance
• Paperwork completion for IEPs
• Session planning 
• Documentation of session completion
• Medicaid billing
• Communication with teachers, parents, and relevant team members
• Progress report completion
• Assessment administration and report write up
• Clinical coordination of services
• Additional duties as assigned by school personnel (i.e., newsletters, team meeting attendance, etc.)

Lighthouse Therapy invoices are broken down by individual student so schools can easily monitor and verify billable activities. Our goal is to be as transparent as possible. However, if you have a question, you’ll have the contact information of our billing team so you can get a quick resolve to any concern you may have.

Yes! Our contracted therapists, regardless of discipline, must navigate a complex maze of regulations, requirements, and certifications to ensure they are properly licensed to work with students. 

At Lighthouse Therapy, we track, monitor, and verify that all providers have taken the steps needed to meet the stringent standards set by regulatory bodies and educational institutions. Both our clinical and human resources teams work collaboratively to gather the most recent information about needed licensure, and work to verify these requirements with the school. If needed, we will request that a therapist work to obtain a new or updated license, and guide them through this process. 

In addition, our human resources team tracks licensure expiration dates, actively ensuring compliance. We require a copy of all valid licenses and certifications to be kept on file, and will share an electronic copy with schools upon request. 

Bonus: Lighthouse Therapy requires a certified background check prior to being cleared for work. This is no charge to schools, as we absorb these costs as a company.

If Lighthouse Therapy does not have a therapist ready for immediate placement, then it typically takes  45-60 days. However, time of year and therapy discipline play a major role in how long it may take. Between the months of January and March it may take over 90 days to recruit, contract, and place a therapist for your school.

It’s understandable that school districts want to wait as long as possible before contracting for online services. At Lighthouse Therapy, we get it. School administrators, teachers, and parents often prefer in-person therapy because it just makes sense.

However, should you choose to use Lighthouse Therapy, and your situation changes, our contract spells out some options. 

Our current contract requires a 90-day termination period. This means, should your perfect in-person candidate walk in the door, we need 90-days notice before our contract together can be dissolved. This is for several reasons:

1. The Lighthouse therapist assigned to your school will need reassignment. This takes time. It’s important for us to ensure financial stability for our therapists and their families. Abrupt disruption to service delivery puts providers out of work quickly, which causes stress and uncertainty. Our goal is to take good care of therapists, so they can take excellent care of students. 
   
2. The process of recruiting, interviewing, onboarding, and cross-licensing therapists costs Lighthouse a minimum of $4,000. This is a cost we absorb for schools. Abrupt disruption to service delivery places additional costs onto Lighthouse, as the initial process to get a therapist ready for schools will need to be repeated. 

Should your school be unable to provide a 90-day notice to Lighthouse, our contract outlines the financial obligations for the length of this term. Our billing and invoicing department will work closely with your team during this process. 

Yes! Most of our therapists come with about 17 years of experience working in public schools all across the United States. Some of them come with experience working on many different IEP systems. If they're unfamiliar with your specific system, they can be available for training.

The use of a facilitator or paraprofessional when implementing virtual services is truly best practice. The reason being, students often need assistance coming to and from sessions. They may require technology assistance, and truly, some students may struggle with attention or need behavioral redirection. The most important issue, though, is truly student safety. We want students to be safe while attending their therapy session. We recognize the challenges that schools are facing right now retaining and attracting students. We want staff, especially paraprofessionals, nurses, bus drivers, and even teachers. If finding a staff member to help facilitate sessions is a barrier, our team will work alongside you to determine the best creative solution for this issue.

Lighthouse Therapy charges schools a one-time, per student annual fee called an Administrative Fee, which you will see on your first invoice.  

These fees help cover the cost of therapists initial setup time for services and administrative work needed to accurately input student information into our internal system, so we may:

• Invoice schools accurately and clearly
• Pay therapists for work completed
• Track session completion and attendance
• Securely store documentation
• Schedule sessions efficiently for therapists and school staff
• Generate reports for student progress, goal completion, and compliance

All information placed in our internal system is both HIPAA and FERPA compliant. We take pride in ensuring that all student information is kept confidential, and our policies adhere to state and federal regulations. 

Want a tour of our system? Our tech team would be happy to show you!

Clinical Coordination is the term we use here at Lighthouse to describe the activities performed by a lead provider we give to your school team. Clinical Coordinators (CCs) serve as the primary liaison between our school partners and assigned providers. Their primary role is to ensure that day to day operations run smoothly so that students receive their service and make progress. They may also be a part of your therapy team, actively serving students!

Your Clinical Coordinator works closely with your onsite team to:

• Problem solve issues that arise quickly with providers, team members, or students
• Coordinate student referrals to your assigned therapist(s) so once assigned, students are scheduled quickly
• Serve as a mentor to both your onsite team, and your assigned therapists when needed
• Monitor documentation and session completion to ensure compliance
• Support team communication 

Rationale: In our experience, many schools face challenges when using teletherapy services, especially in the beginning. These challenges, when not addressed quickly, can lead to negative outcomes for students. Coordination of all the moving pieces is essential to our success as an educational team. When we’re successful, so are students!

As a general rule, most schools notice that Clinical Coordination activities account for approximately 5% of their total invoice cost. While more coordination may be needed in the beginning of the school year, this cost may decrease as processes and procedures become second nature to the team. 

Due to the nature of online therapy services, Lighthouse Therapy can provide services to any state in the United States. Our therapists are licensed and credentialed in the state in which they live and in the states in which they provide services.

(Lighthouse therapy also maintains the NPA certification requirement in California.)