Many clinical, social and logistical factors will determine your choice of one care pathway over another. Some factors that may indicate care pathway 1 is appropriate for your patient include:
- Below threshold scores on psychological questionnaire and central sensitisation assessment.
- You have liaised with the patient’s referring primary health professional and determine that they have appropriate expertise to provide care.
Action: Develop a primary health professional-led treatment plan in conjunction with the patient and the patient’s primary health professional.
When prescribing Care Pathway 1 for a patient at a medium to high risk, the specialist should liaise with the primary health professional to:
- identify the primary treatment goal
- provide a recommendation about the number of treatment appointments and the duration of future treatment
- outline specific advice about the optimal approach to future treatment, with the recommendation to modify the approach if necessary
- provide advice about the anticipated outcomes for the remaining episodes of care to be delivered by the primary health professional
- establish a separation or discharge plan within 6 months of the injury, with a view to ensuring patient confidence and competency in self-directed and active injury management.
Upon agreement with the primary health professional, a specialist can review the patient at 3 and 6 week intervals after the initial assessment to monitor the patient’s progress and adjust treatment as necessary.
Learn more through patient case studies