Mapping competencies for the multiskilled health care professional: an allied health curriculum reform project.

Health care organizations increasingly face the pressures of meeting the needs of patients while responding to the financial pressures of cost containment and quality optimization. One strategy that health care providers use to adapt to the changing environment is multiskilling. Multi-skilled health care technicians are trained to perform multiple tasks so that they can be deployed more efficiently within health care organizations. Multiskilling can provide numerous benefits to providers, organizations, and patients, but appropriate training for such individuals is critical. The Multiskilled Competencies Development Project was initiated to identify professional standards for entry-level multi-skilled health care technicians. The project was designed to meet the training needs of multiskilled workers through improved allied health curricula. The results of the DACUM (Developing a Curriculum) competency profile for multiskilled health care technicians are presented.