Promoting Better Patient Care

Promoting Better Patient Care

Grand Canyon University: HLT 418V Trends and Issues in Healthcare

Promoting Better Patient Care

Improved communication skills among interdisciplinary teams in the workplace can affect the outcome of patient care. The multidisciplinary approach is important in treating complex medical conditions with significant medical and psychosocial factors, chronic conditions and comorbid physical and mental health conditions (Ritchie et al., 2016).

Allied Health Careers

An Allied health professional is someone who has received a certificate; or degree for training in a science related to health care (Shi & Singh, 2015). A radiographer is an allied health professional that positions patients for imaging procedures using ionizing radiation to produce images (Radiologic technologist.2019). Training required for radiographers are one to four years in an accredited college, university, or technical school with a minimum of an Associates degree and Radiography certification (Radiologic technologist.2019). It is required after graduation to pass boards to be registered by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists(Radiologic technologist.2019). Some states also require state licensure as well. There are many advancements and cross training opportunities for the radiologic technologist. Multiple modality radiographers are in high demand due to increasing the efficiency of your employer. You also become a more valuable employee as well. It is a plus for yourself and the employer. Options for cross training would be Mammography, CT, MRI, and Bone Density for example. A typical day for a hospital technologist would image patients in the ER, OR, or patient rooms with a portable, or by bringing them to a dedicated imaging room. Patients may also be scheduled for fluoroscopy studies such as swallow dysfunction studies(SDS), which is performed as a team with a radiologist and a speech language pathologist. Patients may be under the effects of alcohol, drugs, or psychiatric care, open wounds, or terminally ill. Locations for employment may be mobile that drive to nursing homes to take portable images. Outpatient facilities also see many different patients with different conditions. There are many shifts with call and weekend rotations.

Speech Language Pathologists

Speech Language Pathologists(SLP) work with the full range of human communication to evaluate, diagnose and treat speech, language and swallowing disorders in individuals of all ages, from infants to the elderly (Speech language pathologist.2019). Radiographers often work with SLP and the Radiologists for patients with dysphagia(trouble swallowing food or liquids). Swallow dysfunction studies are performed with barium and different food consistencies to rule out pathologies, complications such as aspiration, strictures, and diverticulum. This collaboration improved outcomes for patient dysphagia. The SLP usually works in the hospital or in the otolaryngologist office providing therapy for voice, speech, and/or swallowing disorders. The SLP determines individualized treatment goals, modify strategies depending on performance, and measure progress throughout therapy. SLP must earn a graduate degree from a program accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation, complete a postgraduate clinical fellowship, and pass a national examination (Speech language pathologist.2019) Cross training for the SLP position is not possible due to the specialized training and rigorous clinical hours, and national exam needed to become appropriately accredited.

Interdisciplinary Teams

Interdisciplinary teams are developed for complex healthcare cases to develop a plan and deliver improved care while controlling costs. The team is a support system for the patient as well (Ritchie et al., 2016). Specialized treatment plans usually have an interdisciplinary team involved (Fulmer, 2016). Interdisciplinary teams consist of providers such as Radiologists, and allied health professionals such as Speech Language Pathologists, and Radiographers. These professionals provide an interdisciplinary team which results in high standards of outcomes with the use of the expert knowledge of the collaborative care for treatment options. Good team care means demonstrating appropriate values and ethics, knowledge of roles and responsibilities, strong communication skills, practicing teamwork and team-based care that advances the patient’s and family’s well-being (Fulmer, 2016). Increasing interdisciplinary teams and training will continue to advance the outcome of patient care standards for the future.

References

Fulmer, T. (2016). Effective interdisciplinary teams: Do we really know how to build them? Generations, 40(1), 64-70. Retrieved from https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rlh&AN=115240272&site=eds-live&scope=site

Handago, L. (2015). Cross-trained radiologic technologists: A survey. Radiology Management, 37(4), 47-51. Retrieved from https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=103611446&site=eds-live&scope=site

Radiologic technologist. (2019). Retrieved from www.explorehealthcareers.org

Ritchie, C., Andersen, R., Eng, J., Garrigues, S. K., Intinarelli, G., Kao, H., . . . Barnes, D. E. (2016). Implementation of an interdisciplinary, team-based complex care support health care model at an academic medical center: Impact on health care utilization and quality of life. Plos One, 11(2) doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0148096

Shi, L., & Singh, D. (2015). Delivering health care in america : A systems approach (6th ed.) Jones & Bartlett Learning. Retrieved from http://www.r2library.com/resource/title/9781284047127

Speech language pathologist. (2019). Retrieved from https://explorehealthcareers.org/career/speech-language-hearing/speech-language-pathologist/#academichttps://explorehealthcareers.org/career/speech-language-hearing/speech-language-pathologist/#academic

Tree, A. C. (8). The need for multidisciplinarity in specialist training to optimize future patient care. Nature Reviews.Clinical Oncology, 14(8), 508-517.