This was a popular course in March 2025. See more popular courses.

You can view this video for free (without CE credit) on ASHA Stream.

This course explores known and unseen factors that influence development of a flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) program in health care settings. Experts in pediatric and adult dysphagia discuss strategies for justifying a FEES program to decision-makers, financial and logistical touch points, implementation challenges, and the importance of increasing access to FEES in specialty settings like the neonatal intensive care unit and rural adult health care facilities.

Learning Outcomes
You will be able to:

• Describe two key factors for justifying a FEES program to decision-makers from clinical and administrative perspectives in pediatric and adult health care settings 
• Analyze financial, logistical, and implementation challenges in the development of a FEES program and identify potential strategies to address these barriers

Presenter Information

Hannah Allen, MS, CCC-SLP, BCS-S, graduated from the University of Utah in 2015 and completed her clinical fellowship at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, a Level I Trauma Center. Since completion of her training, she has worked in acute care, outpatient, post-acute rehab, and long-term care. She has grown to love post-acute and skilled nursing care and strives to bring the highest-quality intervention to our patients in these settings through development of evidence-based programming and practice. She and her colleagues developed an in-house FEES program in 2021 at her prior facility, St. Joseph Villa. This created an opportunity to support other affiliated facilities to develop in-house FEES programs in partnership with the Ensign Service Center. In 2023, she obtained her BCS-S, and she continues to advocate for robust dysphagia programming in skilled nursing care. She currently works as Director of Rehabilitation at Heritage Park Healthcare and Rehabilitation in Utah.

Disclosures:

• Director of Rehabilitation at Heritage Park Healthcare and Rehabilitation
• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation

Jenny E. Reynolds, MS, CCC-SLP, CLC, CNT, BCS-S, is a speech-language pathologist practicing as an advanced clinical specialist in the Neonatal ICU at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. Jenny also works prn in acute care at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. Jenny is a board certified swallowing specialist with a focus in pediatric dysphagia. Jenny is a certified lactation counselor and a certified neonatal therapist. Jenny is currently working on a small baby certification. Jenny is a doctoral candidate in Health Studies at Texas Woman’s University. Her research interest is with infant feeding and infant FEES (Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing). Jenny has disseminated research at conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals. Jenny serves on the ASHA Convention  programming committee. Jenny is currently a mentor for neonatal therapists with NANT Ignite program. Jenny is a member of the National Association of Neonatal Therapy (NANT) professional collaborative. She is also an adjunct lecturer for several speech therapy graduate programs. For volunteerism, Jenny serves as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for Dallas County, where she advocates for children in foster care.

Disclosures:

• Advanced Clinical Specialist at Baylor University Medical Center
• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation

Angela Morrell, MA, CCC-SLP, is an Associate Director for the Health Care Services team at ASHA. She brings experience working with adult and geriatric patients across a wide range of health care settings. Angela began her career in subacute rehabilitation, later transitioning to acute care and outpatient rehabilitation, where she eventually led a team of hospital-based speech-language pathologists. Her clinical interests include treatment of neurological conditions, providing care for patients with tracheostomies and ventilator dependence, and conducting instrumental swallow studies.

Disclosures:

• PRN at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital
• ASHA employee

Assessment Type

Self-assessment—Think about what you learned and report on the Completion Form how you will use your new knowledge.

To earn continuing education credit, you must complete and submit the learning assessment by the end date below.

Program History and CE Information

Start date: March 1, 2025
End date: March 1, 2030

This course is offered for 0.05 ASHA CEUs (Intermediate level, Professional area).