DB respones
#1
4:20pmApr 8 at 4:20pm
Teamwork is everything in healthcare. Breaking down the silos and working as a team has been one of the best advancements in the last 20 years. Team care lightens the load for everyone while providing superior patients care. Allowing each member to focus on developing their skill set elevates performance of the entire team. No one person is responsible for knowing everything. The old model of the provider rounding on the patient and firing off orders to the underlings is an antiquated practice of the past and almost everyone is happier as a result. A highly functioning care team is a valuable tool.
Technology is being developed at lightening speed followed by publication of literally thousands of evidence -based journal articles each year. Professional societies publish evidenced based guidelines intended to optimize and advance care coupled with landmark clinical trials that are game changers. This same information bombards the email box, snail mailbox, and brain of every healthcare provider of all specialties. No one has time to learn it all. It is no longer possible to be effective as a jack of all trades and master of none. Value and quality require focused expertise. Healthcare teammates of all specialties and discipline strive to be a master of their specialized domain. Teamwork in healthcare is the glorious collaboration of these brilliant minds as care decisions are made.
Just as optimum care is team based so is performance improvement. The meshing of multiple opinions and specialized knowledge creates a multidimensional viewpoint of any issue. One of my favorite sayings is ask three healthcare teammates the same question and you will receive at least 6 answers. Pharmacists included! Everything we do is process oriented. Each process has multiple steps, decision points and potential outcomes. It is not even conceivable that one person or one specialty could understand the level of complexity. It truly does take a village.
This is very evident when performing a root cause analysis. Even though we work in a “just culture” world, tensions are high because and adverse event has happened. Someone was harmed and someone(s) were involved. Usually, the persons involved in the event are not part of the team, but loyalty extends to the department, division, and smaller team. The best strategy to avoid the blame game is to focus on the process - what, where and why did things go wrong. That is why so many vantage points are needed. Rarely do we step out of our comfort zone to see things from an alternate viewpoint. The best way to do that is look at the issue from a team- based perspective. The dynamics of a team is an entirely different discussion but if the right people are chosen, blame is put on the back burner and process is the focus the level of creativity often has no limits. The people that do the work know what works best, what truly happens and how things are really done.
This is only one example of the role of teams but again, almost everything we do in healthcare benefits from a multiple vantage point strategy. That is the way to avoid creating those holes in the swiss cheeses and creating processes that are doomed to fail. I am a huge fan of team- based work in healthcare. It is the best strategy to create performance improvement plans and projects that are applicable, clinically relevant, and achievable. When something does not go as planned a team of experts is the best group to critically analyze the issue, find the process breakdown and develop an action plan.
#2
YesterdayApr 7 at 5:55pm
Teams, which are comprised of hospital staff and medical staff, work together to accomplish shared goals. The hospital staff and medical staff together equals a range of skills and different perspectives that will increase success within the performance improvement plan in healthcare. Most projects and objectives require multiple people and "teams" to coordinate their ideas and skills we have seen the lack of communication between staff and other medical staff along with staff and patient lead to unnecessary medical accidents. A team must communicate effectively whether it be oral or written. The teams must emphasize the improved quality care and coordination of care for patients. Sometimes the team must include the patient in the decision making process.
#3
TuesdayApr 6 at 2:07pm
The goals of healthcare performance improvement are not about just improving the practices and procedures of individuals. The goals include making positive improvements systemically through an organization, which means that teams of people working together need to be targeted. If there is anything I have taken away from the cases we’ve discussed so far, it is that many times preventable errors are due to lack of communication across a team. Healthcare workers operated in silos that prevent communication, collaboration, and efficient decision making based on current evidence. Lighter (2011) argues that using teams is important because they provide the opportunity for collaboration across specialties and skill sets, which in turn makes decisions more effective and informed. Team charters make these various specialties and skill sets work effectively together by defining responsibilities and expectations. Rather than a top-down hierarchical decision making structure that is considered “traditional,” the team approach eliminates the gaps in communication and accountability that can occur with a top-down, siloed approach to decision making (Lighter, 2011). In addition, teams can achieve more than an individual can. Mayo and Woolley (2016) argue that it is key not only to build a team with smart people on it, but to ensure that processes exist so team members with relevant knowledge can speak up when it’s time, and can impact the team’s work with that knowledge. They call this process one of maximizing collective intelligence, meaning that one person’s expertise can can improve the work of everyone around them, creating a positive ripple effect in an organization where everyone ends up more informed, more aware, and more effective. The key in making this work is collaboration and communication, as well as the empowerment of individual team members to make a difference within and through their team (Mayo & Woolley, 2016). Resources: Lighter, D. E. (2011). Advanced performance improvement in health care: Principles and methods. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett. Mayo, A.T. & Woolley, A.W. (2016). Teamwork in health care: maximizing collective intelligence via inclusive collaboration and open communication. AMA J Ethics 18(9); doi: 10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.9.stas2-1609