What do you do if your interdisciplinary healthcare team is facing communication challenges?

Cuando mi equipo de atención médica interdisciplinario enfrenta desafíos de comunicación, organizo reuniones regulares, establezco canales claros de comunicación y promuevo la escucha activa. También ofrezco capacitación en habilidades de comunicación si es necesario, para mejorar la coordinación del cuidado y garantizar una atención de calidad para nuestros pacientes.

It’s crucial to address these issues promptly to ensure efficient patient care and team collaboration. Identify the Issues: Determine the root causes of the communication breakdown. It could be due to unclear roles, lack of regular meetings, or cultural and language differences. Define Roles and Responsibilities: outline each team member’s role and what is expected of them to prevent confusion. Implement Regular Meetings: Establish regular team meetings to discuss patient cases and collaborate on treatment plans. Use Technology: Leverage communication platforms that allow for secure messaging, file sharing, and video conferencing.

The first step is pinpointing the specific communication problems we're facing. Are there misunderstandings due to medical jargon? Do scheduling conflicts prevent crucial information exchange? Is there a lack of clarity regarding roles and responsibilities? Openly discussing these issues with the team is key.

I agree that identifying a common language as well as convenient times to discuss issues is a great first step. In my experience in healthcare, interdisciplinary discussions break down when there is not a clear goal towards which each profession can contribute their own expertise. Vague talks of improving X are usually dominated by those who like to hear themselves speak while many ideas are not proposed by those wondering why they were invited to contribute.

Healthcare professionals know the What but might not know the How or the Why. Clear roles are wildly important, but so is a clear dialogue on what the healthcare team is optimizing towards. Most roles on an interdisciplinary healthcare team know that their ultimate goal is to impact the patient outcome positively. However, most do not know how their role effectively does that. Often, this is missed by preceptors and clinical staff as healthcare has become title and task-based. So, clarifying roles and how their role and contributions impact the main goal are essential steps to creating interdisciplinary healthcare teams more in alignment.

Establishing communication protocols does help to streamline the number of ad hoc interactions and also assures the team is updated simultaneously and have the opportunity to contribute to the discussion. Experience has taught me that a scheduled (purposeful) time for the care team to convene daily helps to progress care and avoid delays. The goal is to 'run the list'. For example, who is scheduled for tests? What are they and what care decision is pending the results of the test? Who is a potential discharge? Is the patient's care progressing? Is something else needed for the treatment plan? By staying focused on clinical 'next steps' as well as any identified barriers, the interdisciplinary team is able to work more effectively.

Open and fair communication works best when everyone involved knows where their own area of expertise lies and has the ability to clarify their piece to the rest of the group. In our multidisciplinary rounds, we are often surprised by assumptions that were made or information that hadn’t been fully explained. If you can leave a multidisciplinary team meeting with each member on the same page, then you can really be an effective team.

Leveraging technology for Alignment. Utilizing technology should align interdisciplinary healthcare teams for better patient outcomes, but how can we ensure its effectiveness? If your team repeatedly faces the same issue, technology may not be yielding the desired results. Effective technology use requires a clear plan, purpose, and outcome. For instance, integrating telemedicine evaluations with a medical assistant present on calls eliminates redundant communication or maybe moving that meeting on camera to include other healthcare teammates at other hospital locations to get more real-time input.

We utilize a workstation on wheels for the attending physician as well as a station for a care coordinator to be in their part of the EMR. This helps save time, verify information, and allows us to add orders or send referrals without having to take notes or commit a to-do list to memory.

In the realm of healthcare, it's crucial to establish a common ground where open communication and deep listening are the pillars of interaction. This sacred space encourages every team member to share openly and listen attentively, creating an atmosphere of trust and collaboration. By fostering this environment, the team not only strengthens their bond but also enhances the overall quality of care, reflecting a profound commitment to healing and unity.

Communication challenges between teams might happen especially when they encounter new project out of their scope or needs specific qualifications. However, distributing the rules from the start of the project might help because there might be some hidden qualifications that some team members have, but they do not usually use in work such as excel. Unfortunately, if there is no one in the team with such qualifications, they need to search for a way to arrange help them reach those milestones. Sometimes, they need a platform, an application, or a different entity to facilitate those challenges.

CME, definitely all your team work must be updated in knowledge and techniques. Asymmetry makes some run while others are walking.

Issues on interdisciplinary healthcare teams often involve one word: trust. Here are three ways a team can create a trusting environment quicker! 1. Be trustworthy: Start by being reliable and consistent yourself. In order to expect the same from others, you need to ask, "Am I exemplifying trustworthiness?" 2. Foster Positive Expectations: Expect the best out of other contributors and teammates. Their approach and process might not be the same, but it doesn't mean their intent or results have less quality outcomes. 3. Create Shared Ownership: Give people real responsibility and give them real support when they ask. "This is yours, but I'm here to help."