Improved healthcare outcomes through action of interprofessional team

Inter-professional education refers to occasions when students from two or more professions in health and social care learn together during all or part of their professional training with the object of cultivating collaborative practice for providing client- or patient-centered health care.

Today’s patients have complex health needs and typically require more than one discipline to address issues regarding their health status. In delivering health care, an effective teamwork can immediately and positively affect patient safety and outcome. The need for effective teams is increasing due to increasing co-morbidity and increasing complexity of specialization of care. Time has gone when a doctor or a dentist or any other health practitioner in whatsoever health organization would be able to solely deliver a quality care that satisfies his or her patients. The evolution in health care and a global demand for quality patient care necessitate a parallel health care professional development with a great focus on patient centered teamwork approach.

Below we will demonstrate how the actions of an inter-professional or interdisciplinary team resulted in improved health outcomes based on the article “Improvement in inter-professional student learning and patient outcomes”.

 Figure 1: Shows all professions responsible for a patient well-being

Recent training models incorporate medical students into earlier direct patient care roles with the goal of preparing them for team-based and patient-centered care such as Diabetes Medical Education (DIME). The program illustrates how inter-professional students can experientially learn and practice care management using medical home principles, provide value, and improve both patient satisfaction and student teamwork skills in two primary care ambulatory care settings for patients with uncontrolled diabetes.

The patient population included 36 adult patients ages 18–70 with uncontrolled diabetes and inter-professional learners included 15 medical students, 3 physician assistant students, 2 social work students, 8 nursing students, 12 pharmacy students, and 4 internal medicine residents to provide patient care. Different roles were assigned to the students based on their respective professions. Nursing students obtained vital signs and point of care HgA1c if needed, provided diabetic goals education, health literacy screenings, preventive services, and directed group visits. Pharmacy students screened for alcohol and tobacco use, performed cardiovascular risk calculations and medicine reconciliation, and reviewed and assessed medication adherence. Medical students performed oral exams, foot exams, eye exams and negotiated lifestyle action plans based on patient preferences. Physician assistant students performed similar duties to both nursing and medical students. Social work students performed depression screenings, identified insurance status and provided community resources and counselling referrals as needed. Medical residents or faculty primary care physicians were responsible for the overall management of the patient; the team collaborated together with the patient in the development of a care plan.

The patient satisfaction results were compared between DIME clinic patients and patients in the same clinic who visited on the same days, but who did not participate in DIME.

Inter-professional team work overall results in a better patient experience, the focus in enhanced patient care with all medical professionals participating in the care of that patient.

Table 1 : The benefits of effective teamwork

Organizational benefits	Team benefits	Patient benefits	Benefits to team members
Reduced time and costs of hospitalization	Improved coordination of care	Enhanced satisfaction with care	Enhanced job satisfaction
Reduction in unexpected admissions	Efficient use of health-care services	Acceptance of treatment	Greater role clarity
Services are better accessible to patients	Enhanced communication and professional diversity	Improved health outcomes and quality of care Reduced medical errors	Enhanced well-being