Preliminary Findings on the Use of Session Questionnaires to Improve Clinician-Client Alliance With Special Consideration to Clinical Education

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-60
Author(s):  
Anu Subramanian

ASHA's focus on evidence-based practice (EBP) includes the family/stakeholder perspective as an important tenet in clinical decision making. The common factors model for treatment effectiveness postulates that clinician-client alliance positively impacts therapeutic outcomes and may be the most important factor for success. One strategy to improve alliance between a client and clinician is the use of outcome questionnaires. In the current study, eight parents of toddlers who attended therapy sessions at a university clinic responded to a session outcome questionnaire that included both rating scale and descriptive questions. Six graduate students completed a survey that included a question about the utility of the questionnaire. Results indicated that the descriptive questions added value and information compared to using only the rating scale. The students were varied in their responses regarding the effectiveness of the questionnaire to increase their comfort with parents. Information gathered from the questionnaire allowed for specific feedback to graduate students to change behaviors and created opportunities for general discussions regarding effective therapy techniques. In addition, the responses generated conversations between the client and clinician focused on clients' concerns. Involving the stakeholder in identifying both effective and ineffective aspects of therapy has advantages for clinical practice and education.

Assessment ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 107319112199646
Author(s):  
Olivia Gratz ◽  
Duncan Vos ◽  
Megan Burke ◽  
Neelkamal Soares

To date, there is a paucity of research conducting natural language processing (NLP) on the open-ended responses of behavior rating scales. Using three NLP lexicons for sentiment analysis of the open-ended responses of the Behavior Assessment System for Children-Third Edition, the researchers discovered a moderately positive correlation between the human composite rating and the sentiment score using each of the lexicons for strengths comments and a slightly positive correlation for the concerns comments made by guardians and teachers. In addition, the researchers found that as the word count increased for open-ended responses regarding the child’s strengths, there was a greater positive sentiment rating. Conversely, as word count increased for open-ended responses regarding child concerns, the human raters scored comments more negatively. The authors offer a proof-of-concept to use NLP-based sentiment analysis of open-ended comments to complement other data for clinical decision making.


Author(s):  
Mario Plebani

AbstractAnalytical quality specifications play a key role in assuring and continuously improving high-quality laboratory services. However, I believe, that there are two “missing links” in the effective management of quality specifications in the delivery of laboratory services. The first is the evidence that pre-analytical variation and related problems are not taken into great consideration by laboratory professionals. The second missing link is the communication of quality specifications to clinicians and other possible stakeholders. If quality specifications represent “the level of performance required to facilitate clinical decision-making”, they cannot be used only for internal quality management procedures but must be communicated to facilitate clinical reasoning, decision-making and patient management. A consensus should be achieved in the scientific community on these issues to assure better utilization of laboratory data and, ultimately, improved clinical outcomes.Clin Chem Lab Med 2007;45:462–6.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Kjell Krüger ◽  
Bård R. Kittang ◽  
Sabine P. Solheim ◽  
Kristian Jansen

Objective: Several mortality indices have been constructed to aid clinical decision making in older adults. We aimed to prospectively validate the Flacker-Kiely (FK) mortality index in a Norwegian nursing home cohort, which has not been done before, and explore whether NT-ProBNP could improve its discriminatory power.Methods: We performed a cohort/mortality study. From November 2017 to July 2018, physicians in all public long-term nursing homes in Bergen, Norway, scored residents according to the original Flacker Kiely index. Mortality data were derived from the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry and NT-ProBNP values were obtained from routinely collected blood chemistry. An alternative FK index using the NT-ProBNP-value as a marker for the presence of heart failure was constructed (FK NT-ProBNP index). The ProBNP cut-off value was selected based on a Cox regression model (“dead/alive 1 year”/” NT-ProBNP (Ng/l)”, where the value with the highest Youden index was identified. We judged index performance by using c-statistics.Results: Both the original FK index and the constructed FK NT-ProBNP index discriminated between risk strata. The FK NT-ProBNP index yielded a C-index of 0.66 compared to 0.62 for the original FK index. Optimal discriminatory power was shown with a NT-ProBNP cut-off value of 1,595 Ng/l as heart failure criterion, and FK NT-ProBNP score 6.6.Conclusions: The prospective mortality estimation ability of the FK-index was comparable to previous retrospective studies. The inclusion of NT-ProBNP as a heart failure criterion strengthen the discriminatory power and utility of the index, both in clinic and administration.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (04) ◽  
pp. 279-288
Author(s):  
Mark DeRuiter ◽  
Sarah M. Ginsberg

AbstractThe fields of speech-language pathology and audiology, collectively referred to as communication sciences and disorders, are driven by evidence-based practice (EBP). As accountability in clinical service delivery continues to increase, there are few who would argue that encouraging clinicians to engage in methods that have withstood the rigors of peer-review is the wrong approach. Graduate students are typically given many opportunities to learn about the evidence for their discipline, and graduate programs are required to provide these opportunities under accreditation standards. While EBP is critical to our discipline's clinical function, we assert that evidence-based education (EBE) is equally as important as EBP to our discipline's function in educating our students. This article discusses EBP and EBE with a focus on elements that may not have been considered in the past, particularly within the complex dynamic of the EBE and clinical education interface. We present current and proposed models, including a new model of EBE in clinical education. We share insights into how the new and proposed models fit within the broader context of clinical decision making and the scholarship of teaching and learning. We conclude by addressing future needs for the education of clinical educators.


1998 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 200-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
AG Gift ◽  
G Narsavage

BACKGROUND: Dyspnea, a devastating sign, is rarely monitored by clinicians. One reason may be the lack of a valid measurement scale that is easy to use in a clinical setting. OBJECTIVES: To establish the validity of the numeric rating scale as a measure of present dyspnea (dyspnea at rest). METHODS: A total of 188 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease rated their present dyspnea by using the Visual Analog Dyspnea Scale and the numeric rating scale. They also rated their usual dyspnea (dyspnea during the past week). Demographic information was collected from each patient's chart, and pulmonary status was assessed with portable spirometry, pulse oximetry, or both. RESULTS: Concurrent validity of the numeric rating scale was supported by the high correlation of its scores with scores from the Visual Analog Dyspnea Scale. Conversion of the numeric rating scale to a 0-to-100 scale and comparison with the visual analog scale (by using a paired t test to determine if the correlated scores were similar for clinical decision making) showed that scores were not significantly different. A paired t test showed a difference in scores on the numeric rating scale obtained before and after ambulation, supporting the construct validity of the numeric rating scale. Scores on the numeric rating scale for present dyspnea were poorly correlated with ratings of usual dyspnea, indicating that present dyspnea and usual dyspnea are different constructs. CONCLUSION: Present and usual dyspnea are different constructs. The numeric rating scale is a valid measure of present dyspnea.


2014 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernd J. Schmitz-Dräger ◽  
Michael Droller ◽  
Vinata B. Lokeshwar ◽  
Yair Lotan ◽  
M''Liss A. Hudson ◽  
...  

Due to the lack of disease-specific symptoms, diagnosis and follow-up of bladder cancer has remained a challenge to the urologic community. Cystoscopy, commonly accepted as a gold standard for the detection of bladder cancer, is invasive and relatively expensive, while urine cytology is of limited value specifically in low-grade disease. Over the last decades, numerous molecular assays for the diagnosis of urothelial cancer have been developed and investigated with regard to their clinical use. However, although all of these assays have been shown to have superior sensitivity as compared to urine cytology, none of them has been included in clinical guidelines. The key reason for this situation is that none of the assays has been included into clinical decision-making so far. We reviewed the current status and performance of modern molecular urine tests following systematic analysis of the value and limitations of commercially available assays. Despite considerable advances in recent years, the authors feel that at this stage the added value of molecular markers for the diagnosis of urothelial tumors has not yet been identified. Current data suggest that some of these markers may have the potential to play a role in screening and surveillance of bladder cancer. Well-designed protocols and prospective, controlled trials will be needed to provide the basis to determine whether integration of molecular markers into clinical decision-making will be of value in the future.


Author(s):  
Michael Neumaier

AbstractDuring recent years, the digital revolution has changed the face of societies including industrial production, economies and peoples’ social lives. From these changes we may extrapolate the developments that digitization of health care will bring to medicine in general and laboratory medicine in particular. Disruptive technologies will fundamentally change the way laboratory tests are going to be ordered, carried out and interpreted in the future, and test results from various sources need to be curated to be of added value for the patient’s condition. Wearables and implantables will quantify the concentrations for an unknown number of laboratory parameters, and the data will be stored in cloud services at the fingertips of the patient as the sovereign of his/her health care data. A 24/7 online availability of health services will strengthen predictive medicine and may enable a vastly improved preventive health care that is supported by deep-learning algorithms for clinical decision-making not only on behalf of the physician, but also the empowered patient (e.g. health bots). This will likely shift the current role of Laboratory Medicine as a central provider of diagnostic information from a “hidden champion” towards a higher visibility redefining the patient-physician-laboratory relationship. For example, accessing digital health data will allow Laboratory Medicine to more efficiently contribute to the medical dialog than is often the case today. From this perspective, this will require major readjustments in the way we execute our profession, and it will also need new concepts of education and continuous professional development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (03) ◽  
pp. 377-385
Author(s):  
Canhua Xiao ◽  
Newton Hurst ◽  
Benjamin Movsas

AbstractTraditionally, clinicians have assumed the primary responsibility for evaluating disease- and treatment-related outcomes. In the past few decades, however, a series of recommendations and standards promulgated by professional societies and regulatory agencies have resulted in increased use of patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures in cancer clinical trials. PROs, such as quality of life (QOL) measures, are important in establishing overall treatment effectiveness in cancer clinical trials, and they can inform clinical decision making. This article discusses the current state of the science in PRO research for patients with lung cancer, the cancer type with the highest incidence rate and the lowest survival rate worldwide. The discussion focuses on (1) PRO and survival; (2) electronic PRO reporting and interventions; (3) PROs and immunotherapy; (4) PRO, biomarkers, and precision health; (5) key issues in applying PROs in clinical trials; and (6) future directions for research.


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