Disclaimer: Law, rules and regulations, not Guidelines, specify the requirements for practice and violating them constitutes professional misconduct. Not adhering to this Guideline may be interpreted as professional misconduct only if the conduct also violates pertinent law, rules and regulations.
Consultation with Other Professionals
Best practice often involves consultation with other professionals to insure the provision of quality care. The speech-language pathologist or audiologist should seek informed consent from the patient/client to permit personally identifiable information to be revealed to a consulting professional. In the absence of such consent, the speech-language pathologist or audiologist should disguise the information before sharing it with a consulting professional so that the patient cannot be identified. In clinics, hospitals and schools, the patient or the parent/guardian usually gives written consent at the outset of care to share related information with other care givers/professionals. The speech-language pathologist or audiologist must be sure such consent is present before entering a consultation with another professional.
Speech-language pathologists or audiologists who attend training sessions of any kind as a means of improving or learning new techniques must follow the same precautions; if information regarding their specific patients is used February 10, 2021 all identifiable information to be used in the presentation must be removed.
In agency and education settings, a speech-language pathologist or audiologist with any questions concerning professional practice usually has the opportunity to consult with a supervisor or other staff. Speech-language pathologists or audiologists in private practice may choose to use a consultant whenever they have any doubt concerning their therapy, or have other questions or concerns involving diagnosis, risk factors, or treatment techniques. Another resource for audiologists and speech-language pathologists is to contact the State Board office for guidance.