Introduction
In the absence of a strategic professional collaboration in the health profession, numerous medical errors are bound to occur. With this in mind, it is imperative to encourage different departments in the health profession to embrace professional collaboration. Professional collaboration ensures an error-free health practice by creating an environment where practitioners are free to discuss their mistakes. In the health practice, collaborations mean assuming complementary roles and cooperatively working hand in hand, sharing responsibilities, problem-solving, and decision-making (Davila, 2012). This paper reviews three health practices which include medical transcription, medical assisting, and health care administration, and discusses the importance of professional collaboration
Medical transcriptionists
Normally, medical transcriptionists work in hospitals and under doctors’ instructions although there are few instances where some work for independent companies. The principal function of a medical transcriptionist is to interpret remarks, drug instructions, and prescriptions dictated by doctors or other health practitioners (Russell, n.d.). To save time, doctors use abbreviations to dictate a prescription or a medical procedure and it is the role of a medical transcriptionist to clarify such information. However, this career requires training in healthcare information management
Medical assistance
A medical assistant can play two major roles in their career, either as an administrator or a healthcare professional. Medical assistants have a primary role in medical offices, laboratories, hospital clinics, and other medical settings (Ehrlich, 2005). Their major role is to carry out clinical and administrative duties in the above-mentioned settings. In this profession, multi-tasking is a required skill since administrative tasks include filing medical paperwork, booking and assigning appointments, controlling hospital visits among other functions (Ehrlich, 2005). This career requires practitioners to master the terminologies used in the health practice hence one must enroll in a medical assisting program.
Healthcare administrators
Healthcare administrators are responsible for the growth of a health institution and its efficiency in delivering its services. This is a position of leadership in a health institution and it is not limited to the facilities they manage but also the entire health care system (Davila, 2012). In a health institution, the environment is quite diverse but all the departments have a direct or indirect relationship with one another. The responsibilities of a health practitioner include budgeting, making tough decisions that affect how the institution runs. However, the most important role in maintaining mutual respect and cooperation among workers (Davila, 2012).
Ways of interacting in these professions
The above-mentioned health professions are closely related and almost similar in some distinct aspects. The first most common factor is that they all require professional training if practitioners are to be effective in their work. Healthcare administrators and medical assistance practitioners both play administrative roles in a health institution. The three are responsible for creating a good working environment for doctors to work effectively (Russell, n.d.). They all work under the doctor’s directives except for the healthcare administrators who play a major role in managing the resources in a health institution. These three lines of work require a lot of attention and the ability to multi-task since professionals are required to handle several tasks at the same time (Russell, n.d.). Their roles are not direct and specific compared to doctors and other health practitioners.
To achieve a professional collaborative relationship in a health institution, health practitioners must change their relationship. Healthcare services have been dominated by doctors in terms of decision-making (Russell, n.d.). Doctors majorly influence the routine running of health institutions leaving other practitioners feeling detached. Involving the above-mentioned professionals in the daily running of healthcare institutions can improve the level of professional collaboration. Embracing ICT and can also increase collaboration by relaying real-time information that can be accessed by the three professions hence sharing knowledge. Holding seminars for employees to learn from each other and share their knowledge also is an effective way of collaborating with the health profession.
Importance of professional collaboration
Considering the critical role played by health administrators, medical transcriptionists, and medical assistance practitioners, professional collaboration is of the essence. Communication between these professionals is imperative and through this more lives can be saved. When an order from the doctor is wrongly translated by a medical transcriptionist, it might result in a wrong prescription hence wrong medication to patients. With a more collaborative practice within the health institution, such errors can be significantly reduced. In addition, collaborating with other health practitioners will help in sharing knowledge and exchanging ideas (O’Daniel & Rosenstein, 2013). This makes the entire workforce equipped and skilled to handle health situations that may not even be in their line of training.
Conclusion
This paper has clearly defined and outlined the major roles and responsibilities of medical transcriptionists, health administrators, as well as medical assistance practitioners. In addition, an evaluation to compare the three professions has also been undertaken. According to this research, professional collaboration is seen as a vital aspect in the health practice.
References
Davila, L. (2012). How to become a health care administrator.
Ehrlich, A. (2005). Medical Terminology for Health Professions. New York, NY: Cengage Learning.
O’Daniel, M. & Rosenstein, A., H. (2013). Professional Communication and Team Collaboration. In R. G. Hughes (Eds.), Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses (pp. 801-814). Web.
Russell, A. (n.d.). Responsibilities & Role of a Drug Transcriptionist. Global Post. Web.