Title 5
Businesses and Professions

Chapter 48.2
Professional Licensing and Regulation of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists

§ 5-48.2-9. Supervision and responsibility.

(a)(1) A supervising professional must be a speech-language pathologist or audiologist who is licensed under this chapter; and who has been actively working in the field for twenty-four (24) months after completion of the postgraduate professional experience; and must be responsible for the acts and performances, patient screening, and specific tasks assigned by the licensee to the speech-language pathology assistant (SLPA)/audiometric aide or audiology assistant.

(2) A licensee who supervises support personnel must:

(i) Utilize the services of only those who meet the minimum requirements enumerated under this chapter;

(ii) Ensure that the support personnel are assigned only those duties and responsibilities for which the person has been specifically trained and which the assistant is qualified to perform;

(iii) Ensure that persons who will be receiving services from support personnel, or the person’s legal representative, are informed that services are being rendered by support personnel;

(iv) Provide supervision of the support personnel (other than newborn hearing screeners and school hearing screeners); and

(v) Complete a minimum of two (2) hours of professional development in clinical instruction/supervision.

(b) A speech-language pathologist supervisor may only supervise one full-time equivalent speech-language pathology assistant (SLPA) support personnel and not more than two (2) SLPAs at any time and an audiologist supervisor may only supervise three (3) full-time equivalent audiometric aides or audiology assistants unless otherwise approved by the board. At no time should support personnel perform tasks when a supervising SLPA cannot be reached by personal contact, phone, pager, or other immediate means. When multiple supervisors are used, the supervisors are encouraged to coordinate and communicate with each other.

(c) Observations of support audiometric aides must be completed and documented as to date, amount of time, and accuracy and efficacy of service according to the following: Direct on-site observations of the first ten (10) hours of direct client contact; and five percent (5%) of all clinical sessions after the first ten (10) hours for every forty (40) consecutive hours worked; and indirect supervision (e.g., home, interactive television, audio/video review, or patient record review) of five percent (5%) of each forty (40) consecutive hours worked.

(d) Observations of a speech-language pathology assistant (SLPA) pathology support personnel shall be completed and documented as to date, amount of time, and accuracy and efficacy of service according to the following:

(1) Direct supervision means in-view observation and guidance while the SLPA is performing a clinical activity. Direct supervision does not include reviewing an audio or video recorded session later.

(2) A minimum of twenty percent (20%) direct supervision and ten percent (10%) indirect supervision is required of all the time that assistant is providing services during the first ninety (90) days of employment. After the first ninety (90) days, the supervising SLPA may adjust their amount of supervision if they determine that the SLPA meets appropriate competencies. A minimum of ten percent (10%) direct and ten percent (10%) indirect supervision is required every one hundred eighty (180) days regardless of employment status.

(e) Before any SLPA begins to provide support independently, the supervising SLP must have first contact with all individuals on the caseload. For purposes of this section, first contact includes establishing rapport, gathering baseline data, and securing other necessary documentation to begin (or continue) the plan of care for the student, patient, or client.

(f) Supervisors shall maintain records which document the frequency and type of supervision of support personnel, such records to be available for audit upon request by the board.