Scenario 1: Client confidentiality
You have recently moved to a small town to join a multi-modality clinic where you will be practicing as a nutritionist. It is a small practice where you will be working alongside a chiropractor and a massage therapist. The clinic staff seem to know everyone in town and often provide you with background information about your clients and their families. This is often done when you are out at the reception desk while waiting for your next client.
After a few weeks of working at the clinic you attend a social event organised by one of your clinic staff members. There are many people at the party from the close-knit community. Whilst at the party, you overhear your clinic receptionist talking to her friend about one of your clients who has recently been diagnosed with a terminal illness.
The following week, your client comes in to see you and is very upset that everyone in the community seems to know about her medical condition. She believes the gossip in the community has originated from your clinic. She says that she is going to lodge a complaint with the Health Care Complaints Commission and the Australian Traditional Medicine Society (your professional association) about the breach of confidentiality as she had not granted you permission to disclose any personal or health information to a third party.
Answer the following questions based on the above scenario:
Outline how you would address this breach of confidentiality. Describe what processes (e.g. team/individual consultation processes), procedures or policies need to be put into place to ensure this does not happen again.
Describe the ways in which you could try to regain your client’s trust and prevent her from leaving your clinic or initiating professional misconduct proceedings.
What should you say to your clinic receptionist? How should you communicate improvements to her work practices to ensure confidentiality policies are maintained?
List the relevant state and Commonwealth Privacy laws to which health practitioners must abide. What sort of health information is regulated by these laws?
Refer to the ATMS Code of Conduct available on the ATMS website at https://www.atms.com.au and identify the areas being breached in this scenario. Outline what measures you could take to ensure you and other staff members are practicing in accordance with your professional association’s code of conduct.
What strategies could be utilised to monitor communication in the workplace and ensure that positive and confidential communication is maintained?
Written Assessment– Effective Workplace Practices
Scenario 2: Workplace performance
You are the owner of a natural therapies clinic and have been practicing as a successful Naturopath for the past 10 years. Lately you have noticed that your client bookings have dramatically reduced and some of the practitioners in your referral network have ceased referring new clients to you. You have also noticed that several of your clients have been seeing your colleague who is also a Naturopath and practices from the same clinic.
You ask your colleague if she knows of any reasons as to why your client bookings have reduced. She reveals some feedback that she gained from a client who had recently left you to start seeing her instead. The client told her that he was concerned that you hadn’t been staying up to date with current health industry developments and some of your nutritional recommendations did not seem to be based on recent scientific research.
Your colleague also mentions that she had noticed you were not as efficient as you used to be and that you appeared to be very stressed with both operating the business and consulting with clients. Consequently, she feels concerned that the business may not survive and is uncertain about her future at the clinic.
Answer the following questions based on the above scenario:
After actively seeking feedback on your practice and receiving the information that you are not as efficient in your role as you used to be, how would you respond to your colleague?
Outline the ways in which you could:
a) review current health industry developments
b) identify any skills or areas of your knowledge which are in need of development
c) update your knowledge and skills to ensure you support your career development and stay up to date with current health information, including indigenous health information
Outline what could result if you do not adhere to professional association guidelines on professional development
Describe any self-supporting actions you could take to try to reduce your stress levels.
Explain how you could re-establish trust with your colleague to ensure that she doesn’t leave the practice.
Identify how you could establish realistic goals and targets for yourself and your business. What goal- setting techniques could you use?
Outline the ways in which you could re-establish your referral network. List the types of health practitioners you could approach to help re-build your referral network. Comment on how valuable you think this would be as a marketing strategy for your business.