5 Ways to Improve Collaboration in Healthcare

5 Ways to Improve Collaboration in Healthcare. A culture of collaboration is vital for improving the quality of care delivered to patients. By creating a culture of trust among healthcare professionals and educating them on their strengths and weaknesses, synched teams are better equipped to meet the demands of daily roles. In addition to training medical staff to work efficiently, a high degree of collaboration also helps build a sense of trust among patients and their families. If done well, collaboration can also increase patient satisfaction, increase staff morale, and even prevent medical errors.

Creating a culture of trust

Creating a culture of trust to improve interprofessional collaboration is crucial to effective patient care. The healthcare marketplace is highly stressful due to a heavy patient load, increasing demands on direct care providers, and system-wide financial pressures. By focusing on how to improve interprofessional collaboration, healthcare providers can minimize the occurrence of undesirable events and improve teamwork, communication, and patient outcomes. Here are some ideas to foster an atmosphere of trust.

To understand what a good culture looks like, start by examining the culture of healthcare organizations. Look at how staff is structured. Are they treated equally? Are they rewarded appropriately for their work? What are the roles and responsibilities of different staff groups? Are there rules and regulations that are in place to ensure quality care? Are there reward systems or local rituals that support approved practices? Do they encourage staff to voice concerns?

Clarifying expectations

The purpose of clarification of expectations is to help prevent misunderstandings and facilitate communication. In healthcare, a clear understanding of the expectations of the team members is crucial for improving patient care. There are five key factors to consider in clarifying expectations:

First, clarify the roles and responsibilities of team members. This will mitigate power struggles, improve interprofessional collaboration, and enable the successful implementation of new roles in the team. Second, clear roles help optimize the scope of practice of each professional. Clarification will also ensure efficient patient management. By clarifying expectations, you will improve communication, ensure appropriate implementation of professional roles, and promote efficient patient care. For primary care practice, there are many role overlaps.

Asking for feedback

Giving and receiving feedback is a vital part of teamwork processes. It helps to focus on specific situations and identify possible improvements. The recipient should avoid distractions. It is more effective to focus on specific tasks or actions and not on personality traits, which tend to be subjective. For example, when giving feedback to a physician, it is not helpful to mention that the doctor did not perform a certain procedure properly. In addition, it is not helpful to make generalizations about the person’s personality traits.

After receiving feedback, the recipient should act appropriately. While the feedback provider may have some valid points, the focus should be on understanding it. Accepting feedback requires self-reflection. Ask for clarification or examples to validate the feedback. It is also helpful to assume that the feedback provider is right and is not a snide or judgmental person. This will help diffuse the feelings of disappointment or disapproval that may arise when a critical comment is received.

Providing appropriate technological support

While clinical collaboration is beneficial to patients, it can also boost job satisfaction, recruitment, and retention of staff. But if the health facility lacks appropriate technological support, gaps in information sharing can arise, which may negatively impact patient care. Failure to support collaboration among health facilities can hinder the digitization process and may impact the motivation of other willing players. By providing appropriate technological support, healthcare organizations can improve collaboration among internal and external team members.

A health system must consider the role of every individual in its workflow. This includes both direct patient care roles and non-direct care roles. It should provide easy access to important communications and documentation. Using the same communication tool can help healthcare organizations eliminate costly redundancies and improve collaboration across the entire staff. This technology can also help healthcare organizations reduce operating expenses. And because it improves the patient experience and staff satisfaction, it can help healthcare organizations reduce costs by providing appropriate technological support.