Constituents of Interdisciplinary Medical Care (Morley & Cashell, 2017)
- Coordination to achieve shared objectives
- Cooperation through equal contribution to the team
- Shared decision-making that implies communication and negotiation
- Strategic allocation of roles and responsibilities
- Open and trustful relationships between the team members
Benefits of Incorporating an Interdisciplinary Approach to Caring (Department of Health and Human Services)
- Increased communication effectiveness among staff
- Decreased length of patient stay at the facility
- Lower rates of hospital-acquired health conditions
- Faster termination of central lines
- Higher levels of patient satisfaction due to comprehensiveness of care
Individuals that Comprise the Team Working on the Case
- Respiratory therapist as an advanced pulmonary disease specialist
- Nurse practitioner as an integral part of patient-centered care
- Pharmacist as an expert in the use of saline
- Cardiac surgeon as an asset to provide background information
- Case manager as a team leader and communicator
The Role of a Respiratory Therapist in Coordinated Care
- Leading the investigatory team regarding the patient’s pulmonary disease
- Assessing the risk of the patient having ventilator assisted pneumonia
- Creating a strategic plan in case of pneumonia
- Determining the cause of the patient’s thick secretions
- Working with a cardiac surgeon regarding the potential treatment
The Role of a Nurse Practitioner in Coordinated Care
- Observing the patient’s behavioral tendencies
- Documenting the patient’s reaction to different medications
- Working with a therapist and a pharmacist on the investigation
- Managing the completion of basic procedures
- Overseeing the other nurses caring for the patient
The Role of a Pharmacist in Coordinated Care
- Leading the investigatory team regarding the medications
- Determining whether the patient had an allergic reaction to saline
- Working with a respiratory therapist and a cardiac surgeon
- Interviewing the nurses about the patient’s reaction to saline
- Researching the medical history to create a new medication plan
The Role of a Cardiac Surgeon Coordinated Care
- Serving as a primary advisor to the team regarding the surgery
- Overseeing the post-op care of the patient
- Participating in the discussion revolving around the possible implications
- Consulting with a therapist before planning out treatment options
- Potentially adopting the treatment according to the team’s conclusions
The Role of a Case Manager in Coordinated Care
- Presenting the team with a shared mission
- Leading the investigation of the patient’s respiratory implications
- Communicating with the patient and his family
- Gathering insights from the team members and other staff
- Integrating an organizational strategy to bring effective results
Functions of the Team Related to Leadership and Patient-Centered Care (Department of Health and Human Services)
- Ensuring the availability of the essential resources and infrastructure
- Giving the team direction, objectives, and vision
- Promoting an atmosphere of equal contribution and mutual respect
- Making patients active contributors to decision-making
- Developing a standardized multidisciplinary care plan
Functions of the Team Related to Communication and Teamwork (Department of Health and Human Services)
- Promoting the interdependence among team members
- Ensuring the understanding of shared goals and mission
- Encouraging curiosity and creativity among less experienced members
- Integrating genuine communication and collaboration in the care plan
- Diversifying the team to include individuals with different skill sets
Patient Engagement Strategies that Can Be Used in the Case (Patient engagement strategies for healthcare stakeholders, 2019)
- Creating a patient engagement framework
- Employing and leveraging the right technology
- Educating healthcare providers and patients
- Automating the process of patient engagement
- Building an innovative and creative culture at the hospital
Constructing an engagement framework for the patient
- Defining the general vision for patient engagement
- Implementing activities on the team and organizational levels
- Establishing the objectives for patient engagement
- Assessing the outcomes of the engagement initiatives
- Incorporating the patient’s family into a decision-making process
Utilizing Technological Advances in the Patient Engagement Process
- Investing in the development of online patient portals
- Utilizing mobile health applications to improve the quality of care
- Developing digital disease management solutions
- Creating a cross-media engagement portal
- Ensuring the ability to perform online monitoring
The Process of Engagement Automation
- Automating the delivery of patient education
- Incorporating the practice of streamlined billing
- Automating the delivery of patient engagement notifications
- Automating appointments and scheduled check-up reminders
- Developing a cloud-based patient inquiry network
Educational and Cultural Initiatives
- Hosting educational interventions regarding medication management
- Distributing promotional materials about managing chronic conditions
- Holding online and offline educational sessions for the local communities
- Ensuring the hospital creates a patient engagement culture
- Encouraging innovative approaches to coordinated decision-making
Summarizing Transition Techniques (Mansukhani et al., 2015)
- Effective communication of the necessary information by healthcare providers
- Utilizing health information technology (HIT) in the transition care
- Determining the patient’s functional status
- Ensuring there is a proactive discharge plan
- Optimizing the treatment after the transition
Communication as the Most Effective Transition Technique (Mansukhani et al., 2015)
- The problems associated with incomplete health information
- The results of miscommunication after discharge
- The importance of documentation of the patient’s treatment
- Discharge summaries as major sources of communication errors
- The linkage between communication and continuity of care
HIT as the Second Most Effective Transition Technique (Mansukhani et al., 2015)
- Time effectiveness of health information technology
- The use of electronic health records
- The results of the gaps in the HIT infrastructure
- The role of the quality data model
- Limitations to the use of information technology in healthcare
References
Department of Health and Human Services, State Government of Victoria (n.d.). An interdisciplinary approach to caring. Health.vic, Web.
Mansukhani, R. P., Bridgeman, M. B., Candelario, D., & Eckert, L. J. (2015). Exploring transitional care: Evidence-based strategies for improving provider communication and reducing readmissions. P&T: A Peer-reviewed Journal for Formulary Management, 40(10). Web.
Morley, L., & Cashell, A. (2017). Collaboration in health care. Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences, 48(2), 207–216.
Patient engagement strategies for healthcare stakeholders (2019). Acuma Health. Web.