for healthcare industry and infrastructure
THE ALLIANCE champions occupational therapy, workforce development, emerging technologies, and governance as a solution for overextended healthcare industries and infrastructure.
The BOLSTER framework operationalizes the strategy.
Mission: Strengthen U.S. healthcare as critical infrastructure by expanding occupational therapy, developing the workforce, and integrating emerging technologies across medical and behavioral healthcare.
Who: The U.S. medical and behavioral healthcare industries and the critical infrastructure that supports them.¹˒²
What: Integrate validated emerging technologies into occupational therapy practice to strengthen continuity of care, improve administrative and clinical efficiency, reinforce governance, and reduce computational and operational burden across healthcare systems.³˒⁴
When: Now. Existing reimbursement pathways, regulatory structures, and interdisciplinary partnerships provide a foundation for implementation without creating a new healthcare system.⁵˒⁶
Where: Occupational therapy serves as a functional third pillar between traditional medical and behavioral healthcare, strengthening coordination across both while providing a practical pathway for technology adoption, cybersecurity integration, and long-term system resilience.³˒⁴˒⁶
How: The BOLSTER Framework provides the implementation model, governance structure, performance measures, and continuous improvement process.
References
¹ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. (2025). Healthcare and Public Health Sector.
² U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2023). Healthcare and Public Health Sector-Specific Plan.
³ National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2024). The NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0.
⁴ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. (2024). Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2024–2030.
⁵ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (2025). Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.
⁶ American Occupational Therapy Association. (2023). Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process (4th ed.). American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 77(Suppl. 2). https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2023.77S2001
Together, we can heal healthcare.
Acknowledgment: “The Alliance” and all related content have been independently developed by the author. Portions of “The Alliance” were developed as part of graduate coursework at The George Washington University. Ms. Scotch expects to complete her Master’s degree in Homeland Security at GWU in Spring 2027. All views expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of George Washington University or any of its affiliates.
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