1.6 Concurrent Practice
Effective September 2015; Revised June 2022
Standard
A regulated member of ACSLPA participates in concurrent practice only in situations in which the benefits outweigh the risks.
Indicators
To demonstrate this standard, the regulated member will:
a) Inquire whether clients are receiving concurrent interventions.
b) Ensure clients are informed of the risks and benefits of concurrent practice and document appropriately.
c) With the clients’ permission, collaborate and communicate with the other regulated member(s) involved in the care of the same client(s) to ensure that goals and interventions are complementary.
d) Monitor the efficacy and appropriateness of concurrent practice and discontinue if it is determined that the benefits do not outweigh the risks.
Expected Outcomes
Clients can expect that they are informed of the risks and benefits of concurrent practice and that due diligence has been carried out when making decisions regarding concurrent services.
Glossary
Client refers to “a recipient of speech-language pathology or audiology services, and may be an individual, family, group, community or population. An individual client may also be referred to as a patient.”
Collaboration refers to “an approach that enables health care providers to deliver high quality, safe, person-centered services to achieve the best possible individual health outcomes. Collaborative practice is not the goal in and of itself: rather, it is a means to move the system to a higher level of quality and safety while maintaining a focus on the needs of the individual seeking health services.”
Complementary refers to “combining in such a way as to enhance or emphasize the qualities of each other or another.”
Concurrent practice refers to “the independent provision of interventions to a client for the same or related concerns by two or more service providers. The provision of interventions can be face-to-face or via virtual care and may involve SLPs or audiologists within the province, may involve situations where some of the clinicians involved are located outside of the province, and/or may also involve regulated members of ACSLPA and professionals from other health care disciplines.”
Intervention/intervention strategy refers to “an activity or set of activities aimed at modifying a process, course of action or sequence of events in order to change one or several of their characteristics, such as performance or expected outcome.” In speech-language pathology and audiology, intervention is a term used to describe the various services provided to clients, including but not limited to individual and group treatment, counselling, home programming, caregiver training, devices, discharge planning, etc.”
Regulated member refers to “an individual who is registered with ACSLPA in any of the regulated categories of membership prescribed by ACSLPA Bylaws, the Health Professions Act and our Regulations.”