-
Identify appropriate screening and assessment tools for specific patients.
-
Review evaluations performed by the therapists and make recommendations for initial treatment interventions and changes in treatment goals and activities as a patient's status changes.
-
Develop patient/client intervention plans for review by, and discussion with, the clinical supervisor.
-
Make recommendations for discharge summary.
-
Practice clinical interviewing skills.
-
Accompany therapists on home assessment visits, make recommendations, and write up reports for review by therapists.
-
Select and use correct billing procedures and codes (e.g., helping therapists research CCI edits, other payer requirements).
-
Provide discharge-planning assistance to the therapists to include
-
providing family education,
-
researching and determining available community resources,
-
determining accessibility issues and problems and developing solutions, and
-
recommending possible adaptive devices and advantages and disadvantages of prescribing a specific device.
-
Use videotapes of treatment sessions as a means of developing clinical reasoning skills and critical observation skills.
-
Design a beginning clinical research project involving direct interaction with patients. Students would be
-
Prepare presentations for staff (including other non-OT staff when appropriate). In case study presentations, progress from simple to complex cases and analyze applicability of case results to develop practice parameters or protocols.
-
Use role playing with other students and with the clinical supervisor to improve clinical decision making and appropriate therapeutic interpersonal skills.
-
Evaluate the department's operations using a systems analysis and prepare recommendations that address
-
operational improvements,
-
operational effectiveness,
-
work flow,
-
productivity,
-
billing accuracy,
-
time management, and
-
documentation timelines.
-
Develop quality assurance activities and measures in implementing a client-care program.
-
Provide opportunities for the student to meet with local support groups:
-
Evaluate his or her needs and develop a plan of action (use knowledge of groups, condition-specific information, and observations and interactions from the meeting).
-
Develop patient education materials for support groups and families of group members.
-
Provide opportunities for the student to explore community groups, city planners, agencies (e.g., Office on Aging, etc.) for a broad perspective of the occupational therapy "fit" and needs that may exist.
-
Provide extra supervised hands-on treatment time for Medicare Part B patients, if appropriate and amenable to the facility and management staff.
-
Provide the student with opportunities to assist in the treatment of Medicare Part B patients, as long as the supervisor provides the hands-on treatment at all times.
-
Rotate students between inpatient and outpatient units whenever possible in facilities with both types of programs because the inpatient and outpatient payment rules differ.
-
Consider how to enrich the clinical learning experience by including observation of clinicians performing components of the patient management model at varied levels of clinical experience and expertise.
-
Develop critical skills that students usually associate with nonpatient care, such as peer review, quality assurance, administrative management, billing procedures, education, and documentation.
-
Provide opportunities for students to strengthen their clinical reasoning abilities by seeking evidence to justify care delivered (compare observational learning experience of similar patient diagnoses) and developing a systematic approach to patient examination, including histories and assessments.
-
Provide opportunities for students to make initial and/or follow-up calls to physicians' offices to clarify orders, obtain records, report progress, and obtain information (e.g., ICD 9 CM codes).
-
Assign students to develop a resource center of community contacts (e.g., volunteer organizations, sample equipment, pro bono support services for families).