The typical patient sees a multitude of health professionals throughout their care journey. All of these workers are critical to ensuring the best outcomes possible for each patient’s unique circumstances. All of these workers must work in tandem to ensure that all moving parts are working harmoniously so nothing disrupts the accuracy or delivery of a patient’s medical care.
Yet, Bent Philipson, who is the founder of the Philosophy Care Centers, asks this: How much are these healthcare professionals actually working together? It’s clear they are all handling their individual part in their patient’s care journey, but are there any frequent touchpoints between care teams?
Health professionals talk more when they’re working within the same facility, but beyond that there likely isn’t consistent communication unless workers are interacting through digital devices on a secure network or holding regular meetings. This, says Bent Philipson, is a problem. Healthcare shouldn’t be an individual feat, it should be a team sport. But as modern healthcare becomes more and more specialized, these care teams become more cramped and more detached. This is why interprofessional collaboration is a necessary and significant part of healthcare. Health professionals and facilities must make collaboration it a priority for their teams and anyone involved in each patient’s care, regardless of where they work.
Below, Bent provides some of the most impactful benefits of interprofessional collaboration.
Improved Patient Care Outcomes
Imagine someone is emitted to the ER with chest pains. An ER doctor meets with the patient first, followed by a cardiologist, and then finally a radiologist, who confirms the patient suffered a heart attack. The patient is seen by a team of ICU nurses for a day, their health improves, and then they are transferred to another area of the hospital to be monitored by a new team of nurses. All of these individuals know critical information about this patient, but it’s very rare that you will find them in the same room together. They share data among their team, but they don’t communicate directly with one another.
Imagine how beneficial this comprehensive perspective of the patient would be if each person shared their knowledge and ideas in real-time with the group. It would result in better care and improved patient outcomes, which is the goal of every health professional.
Expedited Treatment Solutions
A lot of the healthcare industry is a waiting game as information is processed and passed down through a line of professionals to their patients. Delays can waste valuable time, which is futile in medically urgent situations. Interprofessional collaboration allows different care teams to reach out to each other and accelerate the time it takes to acquire the notes, lab results, and patient information necessary to develop and implement treatment options.
Interprofessional collaboration prevents symptoms and conditions from worsening and can help save lives.
Enhanced Job Satisfaction
Health professionals experience on-the-job frustrations as a result of delayed processes and a lack of communication. It’s not uncommon for voices to get lost in translation and for important information to be held up. Interprofessional collaboration helps empowers all members of a care team. Everyone feels like they play a vital role in their patient’s care journey and it can really bolster a stronger sense of community. Improving job satisfaction leads to reduced turnover rates, and this is critical in today’s healthcare landscape as the sector still struggles with staffing shortages.
Interprofessional collaboration isn’t a perk, Bent Philipson believes it’s the difference between happier patients, happier health professionals, and a more advanced industry.
