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How do ABA providers track authorization units?

Track each authorization by client and CPT code: units approved, units used by completed sessions, units already on the schedule, and units left, with the start and end dates. Then compare how much of the authorization you've used with how much of the time has passed. That shows early whether a client is on pace to run out before the end date or to finish with units unused.

How to set it up

1. Make one row per client per CPT code. An authorization for direct treatment and one for protocol modification are separate pools of units.
2. Convert session time to units the way your payer does. The ABA codes are generally billed in 15-minute units, but rounding rules differ by payer.
3. Count completed sessions as used and scheduled sessions as reserved. Cancelled sessions count toward neither. Looking at used plus reserved tells you whether the schedule fits inside what's left.
4. Watch the pace. If 40% of the authorization period has passed and 60% of the units are used, the client is likely to run out early. The reverse means hours may go unused, which is worth raising with the family and the team.
5. Catch sessions with no matching authorization, such as the wrong code or a date outside the authorization period, before they're billed.
6. Put reassessment and re-authorization dates on the calendar with enough lead time for your payers.

Unit rules, rounding and authorization terms come from each payer and plan. Check with your payer, and follow your organization's billing policies.

A template that does this

Our ABA/BCBA Authorization & Caseload Tracker ($14, Excel and Google Sheets) keeps one row per client per CPT code. Completed sessions use units, scheduled sessions are shown as reserved, and cancelled ones count toward neither. It shows units left, a projected date the units run out, over- or under-use flags, and sessions with no matching authorization. The unit length and the warning thresholds are yours to set.

Common follow-up questions

Should scheduled sessions count against an authorization?

Not as used, because they haven't happened yet. It does help to see them as reserved, so you know whether the sessions already booked will fit inside the units left.

What does over-utilized mean?

That units are being used faster than the authorization period is passing, so the client may run out before the end date. Under-utilized is the reverse: units may go unused.

Our practice management system tracks units. Why use a spreadsheet?

If your system already shows units left and pace for every client in one view, stick with it. A spreadsheet suits smaller practices, or BCBAs who want a quick picture of their own caseload.

Related questions

• How do I track RBT supervision hours each month?

Sparta Labs templates are spreadsheets for organizing your practice. They aren't an EHR, billing or clinical advice, or a HIPAA compliance solution.