4 Benefits of Multidisciplinary Teams
Introduction
Admit it, you’ve become all too familiar with playing the waiting game when it comes to getting referred to appropriate care for your healthcare needs. In traditional healthcare systems, people may find themselves stuck between initial appointments with physicians and long waiting periods for referral to specialists or other health professionals to receive care. Other times, people may have access to these services, but face issues of having to travel to different locations for appointments and face the headache of redundantly explaining their medical history to each professional they see. For these reasons and more, traditional healthcare systems may oftentimes present barriers to patient outcomes, reduce overall patient satisfaction, and fail to optimize comprehensive care of the patient.
Healthcare is a complex and multifaceted field which requires an adverse set of skills and expertise to provide the best possible care to patients. What if there was a way to combine all of a patient’s needs, from physician assessment to multimodal therapy treatments, all in one organized place to ensure patients receive the best care possible? Multidisciplinary teams have emerged as a cornerstone of modern healthcare, recruiting professionals from different areas of specialized training to help optimize patient care. In this blog post, we will explore what multidisciplinary teams are, explain the benefits of multidisciplinary teams in healthcare, and further discuss some potential barriers patients and organizations may face when not utilizing these teams.
What Are Multidisciplinary Teams & Why Are They Important?
As previously mentioned, multidisciplinary teams in healthcare are established networks of professi
onals from different fields of expertise and specialized training, who are brought together to collaborate and provide comprehensive care to patients. Depending on the professional environment, patient population, and specific needs of the patients that they aim to meet, multidisciplinary teams may look different in terms of which professionals are recruited. These teams may operate in hospitals, acute rehab settings, long-term care settings, community outpatient clinics, and more!
Who Makes Up a Multidisciplinary Health Team?
In health care environments, a multidisciplinary team may typically include some of the listed professionals below, but will vary according to clinical setting, patient population, and specific needs that the team aims to meet.
- Physicians
- Specialists (Sport Medicine Physicians, Cardiologists, Neurologists, Orthopedists, Pulmonolgists, Oncologists, etc.)
- Physiotherapists
- Chiropractors
- Massage Therapists
- Podiatrists
- Naturopathic Doctors
- Nurses
- Dieticians
- Pharmacists
- Psychologists
- AND MANY MORE…
For example, the treatment and research multidisciplinary team at UHN’s Krembil Brain Institute is composed of different specialized team members than the Diabetes Care multidisciplinary team at North York General hospital. Although both teams are located within hospital settings, they serve to meet different specific needs and thus require different specialized skill sets!
Benefits of Multidisciplinary Teams
#1: Improved Patient Outcomes
Multidisciplinary teams a
llow for a holistic approach to patient care, addressing not only the physical but also the emotional, social and psychological needs of patients. By bringing together experts from different fields, these teams can provide more comprehensive and personalized treatment plans, leading to improved patient outcomes and better quality of care. With each care provider focused on treating a different aspect of patient health based on specialized expertise and unique perspectives, patient areas of need may be more easily identified.
#2: Enhanced Communication & Collaboration
Multidisciplinary teams promote better communication and collaboration among healthcare professionals. This collaboration ensures that all members of the teams are on the same page, leading to more efficient and effective care. Having patient medical history, treatment charts, and treatment plans all located in place provides team members with a better understanding of the patient’s care as a whole, reduces redundancies, and reduces risk of medical errors or complications in treatment. This may be especially important for elderly individuals and/or individuals with comorbidities or complicated medical histories.
#3: Increased Patient (& Team) Satisfaction
Patients often feel more supported and cared for when they are treated by a multidisciplinary team. This can lead to increased patient satisfaction and a better overall experience. With a 3:1 ratio of treating professionals to patients in a community clinic setting for example, patients may feel as though they are thoroughly cared for and as a result, may feel more inclined to return for treatment and refer family or friends. Multidisciplinary team members may also experience increased satisfaction, as they may feel their unique specialized knowledge and skill set can help make a meaningful contribution towards providing patients with optimized, comprehensive care.
#4: Bridges Gaps in Healthcare by Addressing Barriers
Without multidisciplinary teams (i.e. in more traditional models of healthcare systems), patients may face barriers to care, such as lack of access to specialists or fragmented care. These barriers can lead to delays in diagnosis, delayed referrals for treatment as well as increased healthcare costs. Multidisciplinary settings help patients gain access to a variety of experts that may otherwise be difficult to access. The increased organization and hassle-free cross-referral between professionals of multidisciplinary teams may also reduce wait time for referrals, allowing patients to receive the care they need when they need it!
In multidisciplinary teams, everyone is a critical piece of the puzzle that is providing optimized, comprehensive care of the individual as a whole rather than just their physical limitations.
Closing
Multidisciplinary teams play a crucial role in modern healthcare by providing comprehensive and personalized care to patients. By addressing common barriers patients may face in more traditional models of health care systems, we can ensure that all patients receive optimized care.
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Visit us or call us at 519-942-8884 today to book with your neighborhood wellness clinic and let our team of specialized health professionals help you get back to being you!
