Collaborative Care Teams Discussion Paper

The use of collaborative care teams (CCT) may lead to better patient care and more efficient clinical staff operations. The proposal would include a thorough description of the advantages of CCTs for patients and clinical staff, as well as information on their structure, the supervision and evaluation procedures, any potential operational or financial concerns, and an implementation schedule. The hospital would benefit from better patient outcomes and clinical staff workflow if CCTs were implemented successfully.

Benefits of CCT to Patients

Patients may get several advantages from CCTs. CCTs may provide more thorough treatment that is better coordinated and more focused on the patient’s requirements. CCTs can offer more comprehensive treatment and greater provider coordination since they include a variety of healthcare professionals on staff (Wranik et al., 2019). Additionally, CCTs may improve patient involvement and participation in their treatment while facilitating quick access to care. It has been discovered that CCTs enhance patient satisfaction and results. According to studies, CCTs may considerably lower hospital readmission rates, the length of hospital stays, and healthcare expenses. By offering thorough and coordinated treatment, CCTs also increase patient satisfaction (Wranik et al., 2019). Patients that get treatment from CCTs benefit from enhanced follow-up care, better access to care, and better communication between clinicians. Additionally, CCTs may provide access to support services like mental health care and other services often exclusively offered in CCT settings.

Benefits of CCT to Clinical Staff

CCTs provide several advantages for clinical personnel as well. By enabling healthcare professionals to concentrate on their specialized duties and coordinate care amongst numerous providers, CCTs may enhance workflow (Wranik et al., 2019). Collaborative Care Teams Discussion Paper Clinical professionals can offer care more effectively and more efficiently, thanks to CCTs. Clinicians may spend less time on administrative tasks thanks to CCTs, which frees them to devote more time to patient care. CCTs may also help physicians follow up with patients and offer complete treatment. This may result in better patient outcomes and fewer readmissions to the hospital, which should lower hospital expenses. Additionally, CCTs may provide more collaborative, team-based treatment, enhancing the work satisfaction and morale of clinical personnel (Wranik et al., 2019). CCTs also provide physicians access to a greater variety of tools and services, which may enhance the level of care they deliver.

Structure of CCT

Depending on the demands of the patient and the hospital, CCT structures might change. A primary care physician, a specialist, a mental health professional, a social worker, and a case manager are often included in CCTs (Schot et al., 2020). Usually, the primary care practitioner provides essential medical services such as sickness diagnosis and treatment as well as preventative care. Usually, the specialist gives more specialized care, such as surgical operations or therapies for long-term ailments. Usually, mental health services like counseling or psychotherapy will be provided by a mental health professional and social worker (Schot et al., 2020). Usually, the case manager will arrange for the patient to obtain the required treatment while coordinating care amongst providers. Together, these healthcare professionals coordinate and provide the patient with a full range of services. Additional participants in CCTs are often employed as administrative staff, researchers, and information technology specialists.

Oversight and Assessment

Supervision and evaluation are crucial to guarantee that CCTs provide the best treatment possible. The hospital leadership team should be in charge of overseeing CCTs (Wei et al., 2020). The team should keep tabs on the CCTs’ success or failure and provide the CCTs advice on how to perform better. The team should also monitor patient results and provide suggestions for enhancing patient outcomes.

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Operational/Financial Risks or Areas of Concern

When adopting CCTs, there are a few operational and financial risks or considerations. The first is the price of putting the CCTs into practice. CCTs need extra employees and equipment, which may be costly. The price may change depending on the CCT’s size and the services it offers. Significant coordination is needed for CCTs, which may take much time and be challenging to handle (Javed et al., 2020). A further issue is a need for more uniformity across CCTs, which may result in variations in the level of treatment. The possibility of an increase in the CCT staff’s workload also exists. Burnout and a decline in work satisfaction may result from this. Finally, the more sophisticated treatment CCTs give may result in less patient satisfaction.

Timeline for Implementation

The demands of the hospital and patient populations’ demands should be used to determine the timing for adopting CCTs. The CCTs’ implementation should follow the evaluation and planning phases. Evaluation of the present care model, creation of CCTs, and staff training should all be part of the assessment and planning phase (Sinsky et al., 2019). The recruiting and training of people, as well as the introduction of the CCTs, should all occur during the implementation phase. The majority of CCTs can often be implemented in three months. The timeline covers team formation, people selection, resource identification, and team implementation.

Conclusion

Interprofessional teams, known as collaborative care teams (CCTs), provide patients with complete treatment in a medical context. CCTs may provide more thorough treatment that is better coordinated and more focused on the patient’s requirements. Clinical staff workflow may be enhanced by CCTs, which can also help the hospital save money. CCTs have been shown to enhance patient outcomes and satisfaction, lower readmission rates, shorten hospital stays, and lower healthcare costs. Additionally, CCTs provide doctors with better follow-up treatment, access to more resources, and enhanced communication. CCT implementation typically takes three months to complete and calls for collaboration and resources. Hospitals should consider CCTs as a model of care since they may benefit patients and professional personnel.

References

Javed, A. R., Sarwar, M. U., Beg, M. O., Asim, M., Baker, T., & Tawfik, H. (2020). A collaborative healthcare framework for shared healthcare plan with ambient intelligence. Human-centric Computing and Information Sciences, 10(1), 1–21. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13673-020-00245-7

Schot, E., Tummers, L., & Noordegraaf, M. (2020). Working on working together. A systematic review of how healthcare professionals contribute to interprofessional collaboration. Journal of interprofessional care, 34(3), 332-342. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13561820.2019.1636007

Sinsky, C. A., & Bodenheimer, T. (2019). Powering-up primary care teams: advanced team care with in-room support. The Annals of Family Medicine, 17(4), 367-371. https://www.annfammed.org/content/17/4/367.short

Wei, H., Corbett, R. W., Ray, J., & Wei, T. L. (2020). A culture of caring: the essence of interprofessional healthcare collaboration. Journal of interprofessional care, 34(3), 324–331. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13561820.2019.1641476

Wranik, W. D., Price, S., Haydt, S. M., Edwards, J., Hatfield, K., Weir, J., & Doria, N. (2019). Implications of interprofessional primary care team characteristics for health services and patient health outcomes: a systematic review with narrative synthesis. Health Policy, 123(6), 550–563. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168851019300831

Collaborative Care Teams Discussion Paper