<aside> 💡 Teamwork in the Health Profession

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1. Discuss how interprofessional teamwork in health care can improve health outcomes.

   • Why teamwork?

     • Improved health outcomes
     • Changes in population and patterns of disease
     • Workforce imperatives

   • Teamwork in medicine

     • interaction or relationship of two or more health professionals who work interdependently to provide care for patients

     

   • Benefits of teamwork

     • Improved health outcomes

   • With teamwork, patients report:

     • Higher levels of satisfaction
     • Better acceptance of care
     • Improved health outcomes

   • Collaborative practice can improve

     • Access/coordination of services
     • Appropriate use of specialist services
     • Chronic disease outcomes
     • Patient care/safety
     • Health professional satisfaction

   • Collaborative practice can decrease

     • Complications
     • Length of hospital stay
     • Tension/conflict amongst health professionals
     • Staff turnover
     • Clinical error rates
     • Mortality rates

   • Teamwork TED talk

     • Current: system dependent on hospitals and clinics (since 1780s)
       • Needs to be:
         • Care anywhere (not just brick and mortar, but internet)
         • Home and online tools (motoring, imaging device, online telehealth)
         • Prevents hospital acquired infections in the already sick
         • Teamwork between doctor and patient
         • Developing countries may skip brick and mortar and go online
     • Currently: Specialist that just look at parts
       • Need to evolve to multidisciplinary teams doing person care
       • Uncoordinated care Is expensive and deadly
       • 80% of medical errors caused by communication and coordination errors
     • Drug guesswork
       • RCT invented in 1948 to invent TB drugs
       • RCT treats us as average; patient not same as populations
       • High performance computing, analytics, big data builds predictive models on patients
       • Experiments on software avatar not body
       • Intel mapped human genomes for pharmacogenetics
       • Intel wants to make technology accessible to all
     • Passive patients
       • Patients need to know their own goals
       • Take control of your health
       • Longevity or quality of life?
     • Unsustainable, unaffordable

   • Why learn about teamwork?

     • Your future practice!
     • Global expectations
     • Professionalism
     • Graduate attributes
     • Faculty priorities

   • WHO and Teamwork

     • Although increasing emphasis on teamwork
     • Teamwork often sidelined in urgent crises, epidemics, disasters, rising costs and aging
     • Policy makers recognize strong, flexible collaboration as the best way to confront health challenges

   • AMA Code of Conduct and Teamwork

     • Working with other healthcare professionals
     • Respect for medical colleagues and other healthcare professionals
     • Delegation, referral and handover
     • Teamwork
     • Coordinating care with other doctors

   • AMC graduate outcomes

     • Domain 4: Professionalism & Leadership: the medical graduate as a professional and leader
     • Demonstrate ability to learn/work in teams
     • Recognize limits of one’s expertise, refer to other professionals as needed

   • JCU Framework for Interprofessional Education

     • Positive attitudes/readiness for collaborative care
     • Foster qualities enhancing their professionalism
     • Strong foundation for safe, effective, collaborative practice to enhance patient outcomes
     • Necessary knowledge for rural, remote, indigenous environments
2. Identify barriers to effective interprofessional teamwork.
   • Barriers
     • Turf-protection tussles
     • Organizational/Institutional barriers
     • Health care policy that is not supportive
     • Poor remuneration for team-based care
     • Poor communication
     • Geographical distance
     • Language/cultural barriers of team members
   • Enablers of successful teamwork
     • Good communication!
     • A shared focus on patient outcomes
     • Health policy favouring team-based care
     • Specific remuneration for team-based care
     • Institutional/managerial support
     • Geographical proximity
     • Respect for the training/skills of various professionals
     • Conflict resolution strategies
3. Briefly discuss major population & workforce trends driving changes in how health professionals work together to deliver health care.
4. Define and identify differences between key terms associated with transfer of care.
5. Identify models of task substitution and delegated practice
6. Discuss, using examples:
7. Outline roles & responsibilities of a number of other health professionals, & identify interdependencies between professionals.