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Australian SLP Spark: speech pathologists must not engage in referral arrangements, secret commissions, kick-backs, or other dodgy practices

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Why:

It’s unethical, unprofessional, and potentially illegal.

Zoom in: 

  • As unregistered health practitioners, Australian speech-language pathologists (SLPs) must not:
    • accept financial inducements or gifts for referring clients to other health practitioners or to the suppliers of medications or therapeutic goods or devices; or 
    • offer financial inducements or gifts in return for client referrals from other health practitioners or health organisations.
  • As NDIS providers, SLPs must not give, ask for, or accept gifts that impact – or may impact – the way they provide NDIS supports or services, including any referral arrangement with other providers.
  • As members of Speech Pathology Australia, SLPs must abide by the Code of Ethics and must avoid conflicts of interest affecting client care, be transparent about financial dealings and provide client-centred care.  
  • Criminal and other laws in some states also regulate secret commissions.

Go deeper: 

Speech pathologists: let’s improve our progress notes to help our clients – and ourselves

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Why it matters:

Writing good file/progress notes of our consultations is:

  • required by our Professional Standards, Code of Ethics, Statutory Code of Conduct and NDIS Code of Conduct; and
  • helpful if a complaint is made against us or if we are sued, e.g., for professional negligence.

Case in point:

D Lane v Northern NSW Local Health District [2013] NSWDC 12 

Zoom in:

Good progress notes are:

  • accurate;
  • objective;
  • respectful;
  • contemporaneous;
  • up-to-date;
  • legible;
  • complete; 
  • securely-stored; and 
  • kept for at least the minimum period required by law (e.g. in NSW, 7 years after last service or when a child client turns 25, whichever is later).

Yes, but:

Good note taking takes time and energy. You need a system to ensure progress note-taking fits into your daily workflows and doesn’t get on top of you. 

Go deeper:

To read more about our progress note system, check it out here.

Read more:

Our Progress Note System 

D Lane v Northern NSW Local Health District [2013] NSWDC 12

Australian SLPs: do you store progress notes in a cloud-based practice management system? 

SLP Spark Alert: To get paid, speech pathology services to NDIS participants need to be ‘NDIS supports’

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What’s happened:

With effect from 3 October 2024, NDIS participants cannot claim for supports that are not “NDIS supports”.

Why it matters:

To get paid, speech pathologists (SLPs) need to ensure that their services to NDIS participants are NDIS supports (as defined). The Minister expects providers to be up to speed on the new rules within 30 days of 3 October 2024 (at the latest). 

Context:

Section 10 of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (as amended) defines NDIS support as a support declared by the rules to be an NDIS support.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) (NDIS Supports) Transitional Rules 2024 are now in effect. Schedule 1 includes a list of supports that are NDIS supports.

Zoom in:

For SLPs, key NDIS supports include:

  • Early intervention supports for early childhood (Item 17):
    • Supports that are evidence-based early childhood intervention supports for children 0-9 years (including children aged 0-6 years with developmental delay) and their families to achieve better long-term outcomes for the child.
    • This includes:
      • therapy provided by allied health professionals including speech pathologists;
      • a key worker for a child’s family.
  • Therapeutic supports (Item 34):
    • Supports that provide evidence-based therapy to help participants improve or maintain their functional capacity in areas such as language and communication, personal care, mobility and movement, interpersonal interactions, functioning (including psychosocial functioning), and community living.
    • This includes an assessment by allied health professionals for support planning and review as required.

Bottom line:

All Australian SLPs should review their services, and ensure that their services to NDIS participants are NDIS supports within the meaning of the Act and the Transitional Rules. 

Go deeper: 

Watch our webinar on NDIS reforms for allied health providers.

Links:

National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013

National Disability Insurance Scheme (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) (NDIS Supports) Transitional Rules 2024

SLP Spark: Each speech pathologist should buy their own professional indemnity insurance

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The big picture

Some Australian speech pathologists think buying their own insurance is a waste of money, and that they can rely on their employer’s insurance if they get sued. 

But:

Your employer might:

  • not buy enough insurance;
  • forget to pay their premium;
  • go bust; or
  • claim (with their insurer) that your alleged actions or failures aren’t covered by their policy.

Zoom in

As health professionals, every Australian SLP is required to maintain appropriate indemnity insurance arrangements, including under the:

  • statutory Codes of Conduct applicable to SLPs as unregistered health practitioners or professionals; and
  • NDIS Code of Conduct applicable to registered and unregistered providers.

Bottom line

SLPs can and do get sued for professional negligence. Litigation is expensive. SLPs should seek professional advice as to the type and amount of insurance they need. We think you should have at least $20 million of coverage.

Read more

Code of Conduct – Non-registered Health Practitioners: see section 13.

NDIS Code of Conduct for Providers: see paragraph 50.

Disclaimer: we have done our best to ensure that this information is correct as at the date of publication (1 October 2024). The information is intended to be general only and is not legal advice. Formal legal or other advice should be sought for particular circumstances or for matters arising from this information.

7 tips for managing office politics in private practice 

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7 tips for managing office politics in private practice:

  1. Unavoidable. In any practice of more than two people, some office politics is inevitable. But it doesn’t have to be toxic.
  2. Be transparent: Talk openly about the value of building connections during onboarding, induction, professional development, and supervision.
  3. Reframe: Highlight the value of networking, negotiation and relationship-building as core competencies for speech pathologists. 
  4. Prioritise the team: Set incentives to promote information sharing, communication, and teamwork. Don’t set KPIs that encourage information hoarding, or competition between team members. 
  5. Access: Outside supervision, ensure everyone has access to management, and that everyone has the same access to clinical resources and informal support.
  6. Check for biases: Be aware of the extra barriers that some team members face because of their background, gender, race or other factors, and insist on including everyone.
  7. Share stories: Ask team members to share examples of times when they have been helped by others, or leveraged relationships and resources to be effective in their roles.

Source: Wyatt, M. and Doldor, E. (2022). Office Politics Don’t Have to Be Toxic. Harvard Business Review, May 2022. 

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