Research in private practice is important in three major areas; the client’s background, the problem’s background and the problem’s solution; for example in the practice of holistic medicine, the practitioner must have the knowledge to diagnose a condition, the patient’s history including an examination to determine if it applies and the treatment strategy for that condition. All of those areas require specific research and practice principles. In particular and especially in the medical services practice principles are very important. Client confidentiality is a paramount concern, yet everyone benefits when practitioners can discuss cases, trends and treatments freely. In those situations, medical practitioners must be careful to not only refrain from using a patient’s name, but also from divulging any other information that might reveal who the patient is.
The next concern is knowing your patient, here the ethics and principals of practice are of great importance. It is necessary to study a patient in depth, not only in regards to the immediate physical condition of the person before them but also in regards to their home and work environments. This is especially true in the practice of holistic medicine; where the treatment involves everything from sleep patterns, through diet and exercise.
Lastly, the practitioner must put this all in place and do the ongoing follow up of making sure the patient is following the treatment instructions and improving. If the practitioner’s research in this end of the process shows the patient is not responding to the treatment strategy more research needs to be done to find out what other options exist. In this manner, research in the private practice of holistic medicine is part of a fluid system of building a solid foundation and constantly growing and moving forward as the time and environment dictates.
References
Orley, P. A. (2004, 12). Clinical Research Trials in Your Private Practice: How to Address the Ethical Challenges. Retrieved 02 04, 2013, from American Academy of Neurology: http://journals.lww.com/neurotodayonline/Fulltext/2004/12000/Clinical_Research_Trials_in_Your_Private_Practice_.21.aspx
Suttle, T. (2012, 05 08). Do you know what your collegues are up to? Retrieved 02 02, 1013, from All things private practice: http://www.allthingsprivatepractice.com/tag/market-research/
