School SLP help with software

by J Niebauer
(Central Indiana)

My wife is a SLP at a primary school in central Indiana. She is responsible for scheduling, progress monitoring, periodical reports, etc; basically ALL of the logistic rigmarole that the vast majority of medical professionals have software to assist them with. When she first started back in 2012 she had no problem handling it all, of course then her case load was a very manageable 50 students. Now that number has nearly doubled. And NOW she has to do it all from home via Zoom sessions due to the emergence of our sordid friend, COVID-19. Keeping up with it all is starting to get ridiculously overwhelming not just on her, but for myself and the entire household, respectively.

I finally have convinced her to let me help where I can, such as paperwork organization and email blasts to parents (I'm basically her secretary). Since joining in on the fun I have come to the conclusion that we need more help; more specifically the help of technology! The fact that the state hasn't provided it's school's SLPs with access to relevant computer software to streamline the process (while not surprising in the least as Indiana is known for it's lack of progress in public schools...) has (please forgive) left me speechless.

Not one to be thwarted by a flawed system, I am turning to the almighty web to look for a solution. I have google searched for software designed for therapy, but so far I have only been able to find programs that are designed for PRIVATE clinical data, which is mostly comprised of schedule and billing software. Basically, they are POS (Point Of Sale) programs that have access to medical records and insurance policies.

So my question IS; is there ANY sort of software designed for therapists that work in the public school sector?

If not, has anyone found any shortcuts to help them navigate the seemingly endless morass of bureaucracy that my state's esteemed SLP's are postulated into on a quotidian basis?

ANY help would improve the quality of life in our entire household, which during COVID is thrice as populous with my mother and sister's family incorporated; so yeah, we be stressin' out in here!

Thanks!

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Apr 20, 2020
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It sucks!
by: Bridget

First of all, we are neighbors. I am in IL. Second, thank you for taking the time to help your amazing wife out and realize how absolutely crazy the workload in schools can be. I worked in schools for 5 years and I honestly couldn't handle it. It gets out of control fast. I am in IL.

I am in the private sector now and I do use an EMR which does focus on billing and medical charts. That is most of what is out there.

When I was in schools, I used Google Docs and Google Sheets to help track data and then graph that data. It helped some but it was still crazy. It was free which was a bonus too.

I think SLP NOW is a website that helps school SLPs. I don't know a thing about it besides that.

Hope this helps some.

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Bridget is an ASHA certified, practicing speech-language pathologist. She is passionate about providing parents with information on child speech and language development as well as provide functional, easy activities to do at home! Parents have the power to make a real difference. Follow Bridget at Facebook and Pinterest for more fun!