Best Practices for ABA Plan of Care Templates: 7 Features, from Section Outline to Payer Coverage

A Plan of Care template decides what every BCBA writes and what every payer receives. TargetFlo's Programming → POC Templates and Template Coverage keep templates consistent and matched to the right insurance.

1. A section outline, not a blank page

Each template lists its sections in order. The standard outline has 23: from referral, service order and diagnosis, through assessment results, the FBA, medical necessity, the behavior intervention and crisis plan, skill acquisition goals and caregiver training, to treatment intensity, CPT codes and units, the weekly schedule, staffing and supervision ratios, transition and discharge, and signatures.

2. Checklist rules attached to each section

Sections carry the IDs of the checklist rules that apply to them, so the policy checklist runs where the content is written.

3. Initial and reauthorization versions

Reauth templates ask for progress against the previous period. The reauthorization board creates the reauth plan from the matched template, with prior units filled in.

4. Payer matching

Each template is linked to the insurances it serves. A new plan opens with the matching template already chosen.

5. Template Coverage

One table: every insurance, its initial template and its reauth template — and the gaps. Fix gaps here before a reauthorization comes due.

6. Snapshot at creation

A plan copies its template when created. Editing a template bumps its version and never rewrites plans in progress.

7. Import what you have

Import an existing template from a document or JSON, then attach sections and rules.

Related: Plan of Care & BIP · NC Medicaid CCP 8F guide · Medicare ABA documentation