PT As A Consultant Flashcards
Definition of consultation from guide to PT Practice
Consultation is the rendering of professional or expert opinion or advice by a PT. The consulting PT applies highly specialized knowledge and skills to identify problems, recommend solution, or produce a specific outcome or product in a given amount of time.
A PT may provide consultation at the request of a patient, another practitioner, or an organization either to recommend PT that is needed or to evaluate the quality of PT being provided to individuals; or the PT may provide consultation at the request of an individual, business, school, government agency, or other organization for services that do not involve interventions for individuals.
Other definitions for a consultant
- An individual to whom one refers for expert advice or services
- A person who gives professional advice or services to a company for a fee
- A person who by training and experience has acquired special knowledge in a subject area that has been recognized by a peer group.
Who do PTs provide consultation services to
Clients
Corporations
Insurers
Educational institutions
Lawyers
Other health care providers
A consultant or consulting company, does not work for the client as an employee but as an independent contractor
Qualities/attributes of a good consultant
- Expertise/body of knowledge
- Objective perspective
- Good communication skills
- Good listener
- Professionalism
- Team player
- Ability to see multiple points of view
- Problem solving skills
What does problem solving skills mean
- See more than one solution to a problem
- Ability to simplify/explain a problem
- Consider all facts and get feedback from team
- Apply learning across different situations to develop new, innovative strategies
Objectives of consulting
- Providing information to a client
- Solving a client’s problems
- Making a diagnosis, which may necessitate redefinition of the problem
- Making recommendations based on dx
- Assisting with implementation of recommended solutions
- Building a consensus and commitment around corrective action
- Facilitating client learning — teaching clients how to resolve similar problems in the future
- Permanently improving organizational effectiveness
Phases of consulting
- Entry and contracting
- Data collection and diagnosis
- Feedback and the decision to act
- Implementation
- Extension, recycle, or termination
What happens during entry and contracting phase
- Meet with client
- Explore problem
- Making a decision if you are the right consultant for the work
- Listing client’s expectations
- Specifying what expectations you, as the consultant, have determining how to get started.
- Determining how to get started
What happens during data collection and diagnosis phase
- Data gathering — quantitative and qualitative, possible needs assessment,t observation, discussion with stakeholders
- data confirmation
- Once the problem is identified — make sure the consultee recognizes the problem, the goal wanted to reach, resources available
What happens in the feedback and decision to act phase
- Report findings from phase 2 — reduce info into a manageable size so that it can be understood
- May involve the client in analyzing the information
- Be prepared for resistance
- Set specific goals; timeframe
- Determine steps to action
What happens in implementation phase
- Often falls to the organization but consultant may stay involved
- Introduce change, education, training
- technical consultants typically remain until project completion
What happens in extension, recycle, or termination phase
- Evaluate success or failure
- Implementation may have uncovered the real problem. Extent or recycle consulting services
- If have achieved the goal/solved the problem — terminate
What are the minimum essential components of a consulting agreement
- Statement acknowledging that the consultant is as an independent contractor
- Thorough description of the scope of services
- Terms and conditions under which the services will be provided: resources needed, fees, spells out expectations, purpose/objectives/ground rules/expectations/timelines
- Anticipated date of service completion
- Statement identifying who will own any intellectual property that develops out of the consulting project
- Signatures of the consultant and an individual who has the authority to legally bind the contracting company to the terms and conditions outlined in the agreement
