What makes interprofessional working effective

As baby boomers age, meeting their primary care needs will become increasingly difficult due to a diminishing number of physicians entering primary care practice, the increasing complexity of available diagnostic tools and treatments, and expanded access to care under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

This perfect storm has led to calls for changes in the way primary care is delivered including the adoption of interprofessional collaboration IPC practice models. Although many have advocated for the IPC approach, high-quality studies showing concrete evidence of improved patient outcomes is still lacking.

The mean SD complexity score for participants in this study was Each team member assumed three roles in the project: 1 a clinician that provided care directly to patients and their families; 2 an educator that provided information and guidance to staff; and 3 an innovator that contributed to the ongoing refinement and evaluation of the practice model.

The interprofessional team met weekly. Comprehensive assessments of each patient included medical, functional, and psychosocial conducted by the team during an extended initial visit 1. During this visit, the patient and their family met the family physician and a family medicine resident.

After introductions, the resident conducted a minute quality-of-life interview with the patient and family. The interview was observed by the entire interprofessional team via closed-circuit television. After completing the interview, the resident debriefed with the team. Each team member identified and discussed patient- and family- centered concerns. The team developed an initial patient evaluation plan after discussing the patient and family priorities.

Two or three members of the team then met with the patient to perform additional assessments, while the rest of the team observed via closed-circuit television. Collaborative discussions were continuously happening during this period. It Promotes Patient-Centered Care Ultimately, the goal of all medical and healthcare professionals should be the same: to provide patients with the best care possible. This is easier to achieve with interprofessional collaboration. Instead of having individuals take turns caring for them, patients have a team on their side from the start, working together to provide care that has lasting results.

Interprofessional collaboration starts with interprofessional education. Consider options on how to give your future medical professionals the collaborative training they need to care for patients as a team. Schedule a free consultation to learn more about the benefits of interprofessional collaboration. This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible.

Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings. Modern healthcare is a team sport, especially in hospitals.

The typical inpatient experience features a cadre of health professionals working together to deliver quality care and stellar patient experience. Except, how much are they actually working together?

Unless they have regular meetings or secure digital communications tools, the answer is likely not much.

So, what exactly is interprofessional collaboration in healthcare? Why should it be a priority for your organization? And what hospital communication technology do you need to keep your team connected — across health professions, shifts, and even locations? But interprofessional collaboration is about more than data sharing and efficient communication between nurses and physicians.

It requires all care team members to engage with the patient and with each other, and it requires leaders to put their egos aside for the good of the patient. In , the Institute of Medicine called for team-based patient care as a way to improve patient outcomes and safety. Since then, the World Health Organization and other global healthcare organizations have repeatedly stressed the need for interprofessional education as a way to not only improve quality of care for individual patients, but also for global health populations.

Why is interprofessional collaboration essential? Because when you create a collaborative culture and put communication strategies and technology in place to support that culture , you:. A patient walks into the emergency department ED complaining of chest pains. An ED doctor checks him out, followed by a cardiologist, who orders some tests and waits on the results from the radiologist, who confirms what both doctors suspected: the patient is having a heart attack.

After having emergency surgery, the patient spends a day in the ICU, where a team of nurses care for him in hour shifts, before transferring him to a cardiac unit, where he meets his new team of rotating nurses. Each morning throughout his stay, a hospitalist or perhaps his primary care doctor stops by during rounds.