5 Types Mental Health Professionals: Knowing which of them is right for you!

Having decided to take professional help for dealing with mental, emotional, behavioral or relationship issues is the first step towards healing. But the dilemma does not stop with the decision to consult a mental health professional. The real challenge is in being able to identify which one is most suitable for your individual case. Of course there is the additional concern of cost, location, time span, benefits of therapy and more. So as an individual whom do you consult with? In this article we have tried to explain the different medical professionals who practice healing techniques for mental health so that one can identify their right fit!

5 Types of Mental Health Professionals 

• Psychologist: A specialist in comprehending human behavior, thoughts and emotions, psychologists are experts at offering counseling for relationship or personal issues and mental disorders, through scientific study and counseling. Psychologists are of different types, the most popular being clinical psychologists and child or school psychologists. They don’t prescribe medication (unless in rare cases) and usually helps their patients overcome their difficulties through group or individual therapy.

• Psychiatrist: A medical doctor licensed to prescribe medication psychiatrists are also often trained in psychotherapy. They often specialize in working with particular groups or mental health, such as child/adolescent psychiatrists, psychosis, psychiatrists working with people with learning disabilities, perinatal psychiatrists, forensic psychiatrists etc. Based on particular cases they often perform physical exams, interpret laboratory tests etc.

• Marital and Family Therapist: With hundreds of hours of direct clinical experience, marriage and family therapists are trained specialists who use a variety of diagnostic and group/individual counseling techniques for healing. They usually deal with the usual problems that occur in marital and family life ranging from arguments, disagreements to graver issues. These sessions are usually short as the focus is on specific differences.  In certain cases if the problem is specific to one person like alcoholism, then singular sessions can also be arranged for.

• Psychiatric Nurses: They usually come with a license as registered nurses (RN) and get trained as psychiatric nurses with over 500 hours of clinical experience. In some states they can even write prescriptions for medication and even have knowledge of psychotherapy. They usually offer treatment for mental and emotional issues and are known for having a positive therapeutic relationship with patients. Based on their area of expertise and the nature of patients they are dealing with they can further specialize as family psychiatric nurses, child psychiatric nurses, psychiatric mental-health nurses, community psychiatric nurses etc. 

• Mental Health Counselor: A rather broad category, these professionals require appropriate license and/or qualifications along with thousands of hours of clinical experience. The extent of their practice extends to offering counseling for job stress, general stress, addiction, marital problems and so on. 

The key to identifying the right mental health professional who can attend to your specific case is to first figure out what is important to you as an individual. In fact there are times when you might have to consult more than one professional to find the right fit.

If you are a marketer having access to drugs and medical supplies or products that would help mental health professionals to offer their services better then make sure you get in touch with Top Healthcare Leads for our mental health professionals email list. A thoroughly verified and accurate database it ensures that marketers are able to connect with decision making mental health professionals for the sales and promotions of their products and services.

Emergence of the CIO in Healthcare Sectors – A Needed Evolution or Unnecessary Addition?

Yes, hospitals and other healthcare facilities have CIOs or Chief Information Officers, and that’s a fact!

The CIO is no longer a distinctive corporate world and IT sector title and can be seen in other sectors as well. Digitalization and new-age technology is primarily responsible for the distinctive evolution of the role of the CIOs in the healthcare sector and plays a significant part in research and analysis, development and implementation of strategies, identification and selection of technology and IT supplies and more. In fact, there is no singular reason that has led to its recognition and popularity, but a plethora of factors. Let’s have a look at the main reasons for the emergence of the CIO in healthcare sectors!

Emergence of the CIO in Healthcare Sectors: Main contributors
In terms of scope and complexity the role of healthcare CIOs is constantly changing. In fact certain research papers show that that keeping in mind other variables, the importance of the role has increased by 25-50%!

• Changing business agenda on data transparency: This has been a critical factor for the emergence of the role of CIOs in the healthcare sector- data and information transparency and availability. It was seen that due to lack of data and information transparency between departments, doctor-patients, pharmacists and other involved individuals, it was leading to higher costs for medical treatment. As a result of that, the federal government introduced new practices, medical institutes came out with reports, and it was made mandatory for medical records to be made accessible to authorized persons. Since the appropriate utilization of IT is the most convenient way to store, manage, share, modify or analyze digital data, healthcare companies and hospitals started to make proper use of Information Technology which in turn led to the emergence of the role of the Chief Information Officer!  

• Big Data and multichannel communication: Gone are the days when individuals would rely on single channels for connecting with doctors, nurses, physicians or any others. With data coming from multiple online and offline channels like social media, text, emails, query forms etc. it was identified that specialists would be required to compile, normalize and integrate this enormous volume and variety of data being added with immense velocity. That’s how it was identified that CIOs or specialists at managing large volumes of Big Data would be needed in the healthcare sector as well!

• The strategic leader behind the teams: The CIO is not the regular systems and operations guy. He is the strategic leader responsible for leading high-performing teams. Whether it is for developing long-term growth plans, or practices for accelerating the revenue cycles, or even for designing a comprehensive strategy for patient engagement, the CIO and his team ensures that the right strategies and tools are implemented for keeping the scales balanced. It was as such necessary for healthcare companies and hospitals to identify a leader who would through the proper implementation of IT offer business solutions. 

As such it’s not a pretentious statement to say that the role of the Chief Information Officer is not just another title, but an important part of the healthcare sector- a much needed evolution.

For healthcare marketers, hospital recruiters, pharmaceutical company manufacturers or anyone else looking for a way to get in touch with CIOs from hospitals or healthcare facilities, the Chief Information Officers email list from Top Healthcare Leads is a good way to start your communications and campaigns to them! As a global leader in offering healthcare data, we can help our team with the most comprehensive solutions for achieving business excellence!

3 industry trends for Physical Therapists in 2015

As a medical profession, physical therapy has matured considerably over the years, with exponential growth potential. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of PTs or physical therapists as of 2013 was expected to rise at a rate of 39% - far more than most other specialization in the medical sphere. It is therefore not surprising to discover that within PT itself, a number of specialties have emerged such as physical therapy assistants, physical therapy aides etc. with each displaying sufficient potential in the near future!

As such, with time, the healthcare sector has made some bewildering revelations. Here are 3 of the most interesting industry trends for physical therapists in 2015:

3 interesting trends for Physical Therapists in 2015

• Back to the Roots: Location of Practice:

It’s interesting to note that as per industry analysts in the United States there will be a significant movement away from crowded cities to the smaller towns and rural areas. Since the market in towns is far less saturated and there’s nominal market competition, it tends to provide better career opportunities, stability and growth potential. As such places like Utah, Maryland, Wyoming have better opportunities for physical therapists than the larger cities.

• A globe trekker: Travelling as a part of career:

As the demand for specialty based physical therapists is rising, so is the opportunity for specialists to travel across the country and even internationally on professional assignments. In fact there are travel agencies that collaborate with physical therapists and offer certain benefits like housing, consultation in reference to local licensing, etc. So make sure that if you are a travel consultant or a marketer you get for your business a physical therapists mailing list to leverage from this opportunity.

• Taking physical therapy to new heights: Emerging sub-specialties: 

An interesting trend is that apart from hospitals and clinics, physical therapy has successfully broken barriers and made its entry into offices, homes, private practice and even into sub-specialties like pediatric physical therapy. This trend is more easily visible in the big states and cities like New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts etc.

It goes without saying that there is sufficient opportunity for physical therapists in the future of medical science. If we are to go by statistics and research then it is clearly understandable why a significant number of medical practitioners have chosen physical therapy as their preferred medical field.

As a marketer therefore if you have pharmaceuticals, treatment drugs or other products and services that will aid physical therapists in administering therapy then get in touch with us at Top Healthcare Leads for our physical therapists mailing list!