Building Interprofessional Team Skills for Collaborative Practice

SPEAKER: JOY DOLL, OTD, OTR/L

In 2023, Joy Doll launched her own consulting firm to support organizations to bridge health care and social care, Hello Better Healthcare, LLC. She is Associate Professor and Program Director of Health Informatics at Creighton University. Prior to launching Hello Better Healthcare, Joy Doll was the Vice President of Community Programs for CyncHealth. In this role, Joy supported cross-sector partnerships to build a social determinants of health ecosystem that includes community based organizations, health information technology, 211 and health care organizations. She led the first EHR integration of health care and social care in the state of Nebraska. She is a passionate advocate for health equity supporting programs like the Health and Dwelling, a Medical Respite for the Homeless and the Greater Omaha Pathways Hub.

Prior to joining CyncHealth, Joy served as the Inaugural Executive Director for establishing the Center for Interprofessional Education and Research (CIPER) where she was engaged with CHI Health to develop, establish and study an interprofessional clinical learning environment. She was the Vice Chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy in the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions at Creighton University. During her time at the CU, she was also the director of a Post Professional OTD Program where she was responsible for recruitment and retention of students, managing student issues, and maintaining program excellence.

Joy is author of the textbook Grant Writing and Program Development for Occupational Therapy Practitioners: Making the Connection and over 50 book chapters or peer reviewed journal publications. She is a sought-after podcaster and speaker including the 2018 TedX Talk entitled Cultivating Collaboration in Health Care: The Journey of an Accidental Expert. Joy earned her Doctor of Occupational Therapy degree in 2003 from Creighton University. In May 2022, she completed a mini MBA from University of Arizona as a recipient of the CommonSprit Equity Impact Scholarship.

WEBINAR DESCRIPTION:

It is widely known that poor communication between health professionals not only contributes to increased mortality but also increases both length of hospital stays and hospital readmission rates. To achieve optimal patient or client outcomes, different health care professionals need to prioritize collaboration and communication. The World Health Organization has defined interprofessional collaboration as occurring when “multiple health workers from different professional backgrounds work together with patients, families, caregivers, and communities to deliver the highest quality of care (2010)”. It is a partnership that starts with the patient and includes all healthcare providers working together to deliver patient- and family-centric care.

The concept of interprofessional teams is not new. Almost 25 years ago, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a seminal report called: “To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System ”. The report highlights many causes for error in health systems, including poor communication among those who care for patients/clients, and supports the need for healthcare professionals to focus on communication and the facilitation of effective communication. Such communication is learned when health professional students engage in interactive learning with those outside of their professions as a usual part of their education, the goal of which is to build a safer and better patient-centered healthcare system. Interprofessional collaboration takes place when all health professionals are aware of the contributions each profession brings to the team and maintain mutual respect for each other’s professional skill.

Ideally, healthcare professionals will have trained alongside each other so they can fully understand how each expert can contribute to the client’s care. If the health professionals have in fact trained in silos, there is still hope—they can all learn best practices to assist in ideal collaboration. Some experts posit that a well-functioning healthcare team is like an effective sports team . Sacrifices are made for the betterment of the sports’ team, or in health care, for the client. Clear communication helps improve sports’ team functioning as well as client care. In sports, different members have different roles—the same is true in healthcare. But all are essential and it helpful for athletes and healthcare professionals to take their ego out of the equation and focus on the goal—whether it be winning a game or correctly optimizing client care.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

After this presentation, the successful participant will be able to:

  1. Define interprofessional collaboration;
  2. Identify the role of case managers and disability management specialists in interprofessional collaboration;
  3. Describe how interprofessional collaboration is important for assuring client safety; and
  4. Explain how interprofessional collaboration occurs when communication occurs using technology.

To earn CE credit, please view the webinar here.