Why we have OT’s as Client Managers at The OT Practice
by Nikki Thompson
I founded The OT Practice with a commitment to excellent clinical care and professional customer service. We aim to ensure that clients receive a quality experience from their first contact with us as a business.
Initially, I was the clinician delivering that direct care myself and in time moved to the person who picked up the telephone when a client contacted us looking for an independent occupational therapy assessment. Through my time speaking to clients in this role it became apparent to me that whether they were a professional referrer or a private individual seeking support, they greatly valued having an OT on the end of the phone to ask the right questions and give timely clinical reassurance and advice. It was this experience and insight that is the reason we have OT’s working in our Client Manager roles within the business today.
Who are our Client Managers?
To be a Client Manager with The OT Practice an OT needs to have extensive clinical experience in their area of practice. Our team share our commitment to excellent customer care and service and have an exceptional eye for detail. Part of the role is to peer review the reports from our field-based clinicians many of whom are outstanding clinicians in their own right. Our Client Management team combine an extensive breadth and depth of clinical knowledge, a desire to promote innovation in occupational therapy practice and a personalised approach to working with a large field based team.
Our OT Practice Kids team is led by Sarah, a paediatric OT with many years experience of providing occupational therapy for children with complex and profound needs in the community.
Our adult teams have dedicated client managers for our professional and our private and charity clients ensuring that we have the capacity within the team to fully respond to all enquiries and manage a large volume of cases in a timely fashion.
Read more about our adult team
What are the benefits for private clients?
When someone has cause to seek out an independent occupational therapy assessment it is normally because they are in some form of crisis. A parent has had a fall, they may have received a recent and life changing diagnosis or their child’s school have highlighted a concern for example. To be able to have immediate and free access to a clinician in the first instance where they can receive expert clinical advice on the best way forwards has been very well received by all clients. Ethics is at the heart of our practice and sometimes through asking clinical questions we identify that we are not the right practice or route for the client. In these circumstances the Client Manager uses their knowledge and experience from their years working within statutory services to signpost them to the most appropriate route.
During this initial consultation the OT conducts a mini triage assessment and can provide any immediate clinical advice to reduce identified risks or immediate concerns. They ensure they have the clinical and social information required to provide an accurate quote for the service that a client requires.
What are the benefits for professional clients?
Most of our professional clients are solicitors or case managers (who often come from a clinical background themselves) their requirements when they contact us are very different from those of a private client. Many of our professional clients refer repeatedly to us and simply let us know the location and needs of the client letting us match these to the skills, location and capacity of our field-based team. Being clinicians themselves our Client Managers can do this seamlessly as they recognise and understand the practical implications of the field based OT’s experience, post qualifying training and specialisms.
Having an office based occupational therapist / Client Manager managing their cases means that our professional clients have the reassurance that they can pick up the phone to discuss their case at any time during the working day, our client managers should know their cases as well as the field OT and through our shared note system can generally answer most queries in a timely fashion.
Our Client Managers also QA our reports and given that they are the person who has originally taken the referral they review the report to ensure the clinical reasoning is sound and that the original reason for referral has been fully addressed.
The relationship between the Client Manager’s and their field based therapy team is one of mutual respect. Feedback is delivered peer to peer allowing both parties to grow and develop as clinicians and leading to the best clinical reporting, treatment planning and outcomes for the clients.
Our Client Managers are skilled clinicians with commercial experience and working styles. They utilise their clinical skills on a daily basis when liaising with clients, allocating the most suitable OT’s, supporting therapists and ensuring that all areas of a client’s case are professionally managed. We are incredibly proud of our Client Management team and their assistants who support them. If you have a client who would benefit from an independent OT assessment please do contact the team to experience their customer service and clinical skills first hand.
