Clarice Grote, MS, OTR/L: OT in Policy & Advocacy
In this post, we will be learning about an occupational therapy practitioner working in Policy & Advocacy. You will hear from the personal and professional experiences of Clarice Grote, MS, OTR/L Clarice is the founder of Amplify OT and an occupational therapist with experience in acute care, outpatient, lymphedema, and home health. Clarice has served as the Missouri Occupational Therapy Association’s Director of Practice (‘19-’21), AOTA’s Home and Community Health Special Interest Section Advocacy and Policy Coordinator (‘18-’21), and currently serves as an American Occupational Therapy Political Action Committee (AOTPAC) Ambassador. Clarice is an accomplished speaker and author on Medicare policy, value-based care, and advocacy.
Q & A with Clarice:
Please tell us a little about yourself.
I'm an occupational therapist who works in adults and geriatrics with experience in home health, acute care, outpatient, and lymphedema. I went to the University of Iowa where I obtained my bachelor’s in music performance and health and human physiology and then I moved to NYC to go to Columbia University. I graduated with by master’s in OT in 2018 from Columbia. I completed a third level 2 with AOTA's Federal Affairs Team which led me to discover that what I really wanted to do with my career was work in advocacy and policy to support the profession of occupational therapy. Outside of OT things, I love to garden with flowers and succulents, play with my cat, nap, and visit national parks with my husband. So far Arches and Yellowstone are my favorite parks.
What motivated you to contribute to this series?
I want to be on this podcast to highlight that occupational therapy practitioners have so many skills they can use in a non-clinical role and highlight the importance of being an active advocate for occupational therapy at the local, state, and national level.
Please describe the UncommonOT work that you do and the setting in which you work, the population you serve, and the needs that you address.
Although I still work as a clinician, I consider my non-clinical work my primary setting. I started Amplify OT to educate practitioners and students on all things advocacy, policy, and healthcare quality. The thing I hear most from students and practitioners is that they learned what type of interventions to provide, but didn't learn how to bill for them. People see policy as this elusive and challenging topic because it involves a lot of jargon and can be very technical. But it is so important practitioners are aware of this area because it impacts our practice every day. We saw a lot of layoffs in the profession with the implementation of PDGM and PDPM in-home health and SNF. Some were prepared and others were not. Those that were not felt blindsided and took the word of their employers as truth. There is a lot of misinformation out there about what Medicare will and won't pay for and it is often incorrect or misguided. I'm here to help people sort out fact from fiction and provide resources specific to occupational therapy.
What inspired you or drew you to this type of OT work?
I was starting my second year of OT school when Trump was elected to office in 2016. I knew the Republican Party had been advocating for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act aka ObamaCare. The ACA was not only important to me personally but also to the profession of occupational therapy. The more access people have to therapy services the more job opportunities there are and the ACA brought coverage to millions. Also, the ACA required CMS to develop different payment strategies that forced systems to look at quality over quantity of care and this was beneficial to OT practitioners. I thought to myself, why would I pay all of this money and put in so much time to be an occupational therapist and then not fight for it to be a viable profession. So, I asked to do a fieldwork at AOTA and was accepted. I have always been interested in politics and the AOTA fieldwork really set that on fire. I continue to love this work and I love the way it makes my brain work. We need great practitioners but we also need great practitioners behind the scenes supporting the great work people are doing with patients.
How did you get there? Can you describe your path?
See above - I decided to start Amplify OT because I wanted to reach a broader audience than I was by writing for AOTA and my state association. I wanted the opportunity to interact with students and practitioners consistently and to be able to communicate in a less formal way.
Please describe a typical day or OT session in your uncommon setting? What OT skills do you utilize?
Right now I share my time between working PRN in acute care, running Amplify OT, and doing contract work for AOTA. My work for AOTA is with the quality team and usually starts with reading emails, checking our task list, and diving into the AOTA website. When I work on Amplify OT, I first start by checking my website for any bugs or updates, then I design some content for social media, record some videos, and do research for articles. Each article typically requires around 5-10 hours of research depending on how much I already knew about the topic and how technical I want to be.
Can you talk about some recent highs (successes) and lows (challenges) of your current role?
Some recent highs have been the amazing community I have found of OT entrepreneurs through my work with AMPlify OT. There is even an OT entrepreneur summit that I attended and left feeling so inspired. This work really fuels my sense of pride and accomplishment. Also being offered the work with AOTA is one of my career dreams! The pandemic has been a real challenge and I, unfortunately, had to reduce my hours due to the level of burnout and depression I felt while working in acute care. I cannot put into words the depth of fear, sadness, and hopelessness I have felt during the pandemic. I must say though that the support from my team has been amazing and therapy practitioners truly are a special community.
How do you continue to learn in order to stay on top of things within your role?
AOTA is my number one resource. I always read their policy articles and read every OT Practice policy update. It's at the front of every publication. I also follow a lot of healthcare reporters on Twitter and listen to What the Health Podcast. Reading policy articles may sound dull but I really love it.
Can you share a little bit about salary and compensation in this setting? How do OT or the services you provide get funded?
Doing policy has been a lot of free work but I'm finally starting to make some money. I'd be happy to discuss how OT is reimbursed under Medicare!
Any career advice for our followers and listeners on how to get started on this path?
Find your passion and lean into it. If we sit back and wait for things to come to us we won't ever be satisfied. Create opportunities for yourself and engage in meaningful networks and you'll be surprised at how many wonderful opportunities come your way.
What’s a common myth or misconception about your job/role you’d like to call out or demystify?
Being in a non-clinical role does not make anyone less of a clinician and policy doesn't have to be hard.
How do we find you, follow you, be in touch with you, and promote your unique work?
AmplifyOT.com is my website and I can be found on Instagram @amplify_OT, Facebook @amplifyot, TikTok @amplifyot, LinkedIn Clarice Grote and Amplify OT, and Twitter @hawkeyeot and @amplifyot. My email is cgrote@amplifyot.com I'm available for guest lectures, keynotes, and CEUs and I can't wait to hear from everybody!
RESOURCE LIST:
Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act: https://www.aota.org/Advocacy-Policy/Congressional-Affairs/Legislative-Issues-Update/2018/Amy-Vicky-Andy-Act-Passed.aspx
My Pain Management article as a student: https://www.aota.org/Advocacy-Policy/Congressional-Affairs/Legislative-Issues-Update/2017/Pain-Management-Survey-CMS-Reimbursement.aspx
Amplifyot.com - they can sign up for my newsletter on my home page
As always, I welcome any feedback from all of you or if you are interested on being a guest on future episodes, please do not hesitate to contact Patricia Motus at transitionsot@gmail.com or DM via Instagram @transitionsot
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