Interdisciplinary collaboration in healthcare involves the coordination of health care practitioners who are specialized in various fields to achieve better health care and improved patient outcome. These health professionals include nurses, doctors, dentists, pharmacists and dental practitioners. Therefore, interdisciplinary collaboration is aimed at approaching the care of a patient from a team perspective. In many hospitals, this interdisciplinary collaboration has been enforced as a policy thus promoting teamwork and better therapeutic management of the patients. There is data that show how concepts of interdisciplinary collaboration are affecting the care of patients (Derry, Schunn & Gernsbacher, 2014). Various departments such as human resource have also integrated the concept of interdisciplinary collaboration.
One of the healthcare facilities that applies interdisciplinary collaboration is Mayo clinic. Mayo Clinic is located in Minnesota, in the United States. It deals with medical practice and medical research. This healthcare company has employed more than four thousand healthcare professionals ranging from nurses, doctors, pharmacists, and dentists. Mayo clinic offers employee training programmes that are aimed at enhancing teamwork among its members (Bluth et al., 2013). The healthcare professionals usually receive training about cultural competency. All the employees in this company undergo orientation and annual training on diversity within the healthcare system.
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The employees are urged to attend cultural and linguistic classes to be able to interact with their colleagues from different cultures and races. Team meetings are also a critical aspect of this company. These team meetings enhance interaction and unity among the healthcare professionals. Employees are trained on how to plan and coordinate the treatment of patients primarily through the usage of the electronic medical records (Bluth et al., 2013). When each of the professional assesses a patient, the professionals feed the data into a program that contains the medical records of the patient. This information helps the professionals in knowing what their colleagues had investigated and diagnosed and therefore can give an accurate and informed diagnosis and medication. Therefore, through training the healthcare professionals how to enter patient information and ensure that this information is available for each department in the healthcare facility, it promotes teamwork and interdisciplinary collaboration. The healthcare professionals are also trained on the roles and responsibilities of the members of the healthcare system and how the duties of the various members of the healthcare teams relate. The healthcare practitioners are also urged to appreciate the roles that their colleagues play in health care and treat them with equal respect and esteem (Bluth et al., 2013).
Mayo clinic has placed strategies in place to ensure that the patient-centered outcomes are achieved. The organization has put in place bedside rounding involving various healthcare practitioners to meet the needs of the patients. Through bedside face to face communication, the healthcare practitioners can work together in the diagnosis and management of the patient. During this rounding, each of the healthcare practitioners gives some input about the practitioner's field of specialization. The pharmacists provide advise on drugs, doctors give information about the patient symptoms and diagnosis, and the nurses give information about the response of the patient to medication. This move has led to improved patient care.
Another strategy that has been put in place to encourage team collaboration is by delegating each member of the healthcare team a definite role. This is because the various health care professionals receive education based on their profession thus are skilled in different areas. In cases where the functions overlap, there is consultation among the professionals. This role definition ensures that each member of the healthcare teams performs a specific role which at the end contributes to the wellbeing of the patient. The organization also assigns particular responsibilities and tasks to foster this interdisciplinary collaboration. This happens in situations such as leadership positions whereby the various health professionals are given leadership positions. As leaders, they have to consult with their team members thus fostering collaboration among the healthcare practitioners. Mayo clinic also specifies which professionals are responsible for the wellbeing of the patient. Since the healthcare practice is patient-oriented, the needs of the patient will determine the composition of the team that will manage the patient. Speaking to the family of the patient also requires the collective responsibilities of the healthcare professionals thus promoting interdisciplinary collaboration to achieve this objective.
Mayo clinic also involves the various healthcare professionals in the handling of conflicts and discussion on ways to improve the healthcare services in the hospital. These professionals are also included in the planning of various programmes for the healthcare company. This promotes interactions and discussions among the multiple professionals thus fostering interdisciplinary communication and in the long run improving the patient outcomes.
Human resource department is tasked with the role of interviewing, recruitment and training of workers. In the recruitment process, the human resource department recruits healthcare employees based on their academic qualifications and experience. This is done to ensure that the professionals know their specific functions and that they have worked in healthcare set up before thus they know how to perform their duties and work together with other professionals for the improved patient outcome. During the interviewing process, this department is tasked with the responsibility of selecting employees with qualities and attributes of teamwork. This department also trains the various professionals on the importance of team building.
The human resource department is responsible for organizing talks such as continuous medical education (CME) to enlighten the various professionals ion their role as part of the team in managing multiple medical conditions, therefore, leading to the better patient outcome. The human resource department also ensures that the employees in the healthcare facility even comply with the legal requirements. This department ensures that the professionals are certified and that they belong to various professional bodies. This compels the professionals to work by the law thus inevitably making them comply with the requirements, therefore, offering quality services (Irwin et al., 2012). If each professional offer quality service, the end product will be that the patient will receive better health care.
The human resource department also coordinates the benefits of the various professionals in the hospital. For the various professionals to claim these benefits, they have to work together as a team so that through their team efforts, they can be able to improve the services they offer thus attracting the benefits. This department also suggests the development strategies that can be used to enhance the quality of services that are produced by the healthcare facility. One of the strategies that the department recommends is teamwork among the employees in the healthcare facility. Therefore, by such a suggestion, this department can promote interdisciplinary collaboration in the healthcare site. The human resource department also suggests to the management of the hospital how to manage resource and encourage accountability (Bender, Connelly & Brown, 2013). This department advocates for the hiring of specialized medical personnel to deal with specific sectors in the healthcare facility and the professionals being held accountable for their actions. This will prompt the professionals to seek clarity thereby encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration.
Working as a team is the most efficient way of reaching a set target. In the health care system, it takes the combined efforts of the various healthcare professionals to offer quality patient care. It is the duty of the management and employees of each organization to promote this interdisciplinary collaboration. Neither doctors nor nurses can run hospitals alone. They are required to combine their efforts. Every practitioner in the health care system acts as a pillar of a quality health system.
References
Bender, M., Connelly, C. D., & Brown, C. (2013). Interdisciplinary collaboration: The role of the clinical nurse leader. Journal of Nursing Management , 21 (1), 165-174.
Bluth, E. I., Truong, H., Nsiah, E., Hughes, D., & Short, B. W. (2013). The 2013 ACR Commission on Human Resources Workforce Survey. Journal of the American College of Radiology , 10 (10), 750-756.
Derry, S. J., Schunn, C. D., & Gernsbacher, M. A. (Eds.). (2014). Interdisciplinary collaboration: An emerging cognitive science . Psychology Press.
Irwin, R. S., Flaherty, H. M., French, C. T., Cody, S., Chandler, M. W., Connolly, A., & Lilly, C. M. (2012). Interdisciplinary collaboration: the slogan that must be achieved for models of delivering critical care to be successful. Chest , 142 (6), 1611-1619.
