The approach of interdisciplinary teams has improved healthcare provision in a significant way. This is because of improved patient outcomes through enhanced healthcare processes, leading to greater satisfaction levels. As such, an interdisciplinary team leads to a reduction of patient’s length of stay, makes assessments devoid of duplication, and creates holistic and all-inclusive care records (Bhamidipati et al., 2016). Therefore, my vision of an ideal interdisciplinary team consists of healthcare providers from various disciplines who incorporate patient care conferences to interact, discuss, and resolve complex patient issues collaboratively to achieve excellent results for the patient(s). The different health caregivers involved in this team include nurses, pharmacists, respiratory physicians, medical doctors from various fields (anesthesiologist, cardiologist, medical doctor, and others), case managers, and non-professional staff. Thus, communication across these various disciplines, healthcare givers including the patient and their family, is crucial in determining the best approach that perfectly a client’s needs and preferences.
The interdisciplinary team may be determined by the patient’s needs for creation to prepare for an emergency. Say, for instance, a patient suffered a fatal road accident; this will require various team members from several professions. Therefore, in forming such a team, I would invite trauma-trained or orthopedic surgeons, anesthesiologists, respiratory specialists, radiologists, a social worker, and nurses. This team will incorporate the case managers with well-grounded communication and leadership abilities. The efficient communication among the team members or across disciplines will ensure there is awareness of any clinical pitfalls and maintain vigilance on those directly involved in the team to deliver quality patient outcomes (Hjelle et al., 2018). This interdisciplinary team will share knowledge, abilities, and expertise to influence patient care positively. Therefore, the case manager will organize client meetings or case conferencing and share patient files to establish a truly functional interdisciplinary team.
The different disciplines or experts incorporate into the interdisciplinary team each has specific roles to play. The trauma-trained physician plays the role of initial diagnosis, resuscitation, and stabilization of a patient with physical trauma from a road accident or physical assault. They operate on the patient on various critical injuries, including treating fractures, internal injuries, and shock (Miele et al., 2017). Upon the patient’s arrival in the hospital, the trauma doctors address the issues that require immediate attention; then, they recommend the patient’s admission to surgery or the intensive care unit based on client stability. The respiratory physician plays the role of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of respiratory or breathing complications (Mounts & Tepper, 2019). The anesthesiologist assesses, monitors, and supervises patient care in pre-surgery, during surgery, and after the process is done for optimal care. They ensure anesthesia care; provide critical care medicine in pain management, and lead the Anesthesia Care Team (Mounts & Tepper, 2019). The radiologist conducts X-rays to determine any fractures and internal damages.
The social worker coordinates with caregivers to provide patient-centered care by providing solutions for matters that social determinants of health, including inadequate financial capital and social isolations that might lead to re-hospitalization (Hjelle et al., 2018). The case manager leads the interdisciplinary team or provides leadership roles. Lastly, the nurses are an integral part of the interdisciplinary group who ensures enough collaboration. They identify the need for conferences; gather various information to share with other disciplines, such as reporting a patient’s change in arterial blood oxygen concentration levels to the respiratory physician. They will report psychological status changes upon administration of a psychotic treatment or medication to the attending healthcare provider (Dreyer et al., 2016). Generally, nurses do report to ensure proper, unfragmented, and timely care to the patient.
The legal aspects of working through an interdisciplinary team involve the ethical standards applicable in providing healthcare through the different healthcare disciplines. One of the legal elements includes patient information confidentiality being threatened due to sharing records with the team members. According to Johnson (2016), ACA Code of Ethics section B.7. b. Case Consultation of 2014 provides that in consulting with team members, counselors should not reveal personal data that can result in identifying a patient or company that they might have a confidential association with unless consent is given or when concealing such information is compulsory. However, the counselor may disclose such information only to the degree vital to accomplish the consultation’s objective (Johnson, 2016). The care providers should make sure that the information shared appears concealed as the name of the patient. This provision forms one of the legal issues involved in the interdisciplinary team. The teams involved have unequal professions must work holistically to ensure the final goal is achieved effectively while considering the ethical guidelines.
References
Bhamidipati, V. S., Elliott, D. J., Justice, E. M., Belleh, E., Sonnad, S. S., & Robinson, E. J. (2016). Structure and outcomes of interdisciplinary rounds in hospitalized medicine patients: a systematic review and suggested taxonomy. Journal of hospital medicine, 11(7), 513-523.
Dreyer, P., Angel, S., Langhorn, L., Pedersen, B. B., & Aadal, L. (2016). Nursing roles and functions in the acute and subacute rehabilitation of patients with stroke: Going all in for the patient. Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, 48(2), 108-115.
Hjelle, K. M., Skutle, O., Alvsvåg, H., & Førland, O. (2018). Reablement teams’ roles: a qualitative study of interdisciplinary teams’ experiences. Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare, 11, 305.
Johnson, R. (2016). Communication in the 21st century: implications of counseling in a digital world.
Miele, V., Addeo, G., Cozzi, D., Danti, G., Bonasera, L., Trinci, M., & Grassi, R. (2017). Management of Polytrauma. Diagnostic Imaging in Polytrauma Patients, 1.
Mounts, T. I., & Tepper, G. (2019). Postoperative Care Following Outpatient Spine Surgery. In Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (pp. 629-637). Springer, Cham.
