Enhancing Patient Care Through Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Posted on Oct 4, 2025 in Other university degrees and diplomas

Interdisciplinary Approach to Patient Management

Defining Discipline and Interdisciplinary Practice

Discipline

Discipline refers to:

  1. Behavior
  2. A branch of knowledge, typically requiring higher education
  3. Training

Interdisciplinary Practice

Interdisciplinary practice involves two or more academic, scientific, or artistic disciplines, relating to more than one branch of knowledge.

It involves an arrangement of knowledge and skills within one subject area to redefine problems outside of normal boundaries and reach solutions based on a new understanding of complex situations.

Interdisciplinary Approach in Healthcare
  • In healthcare, it is a group of experts from various disciplines working together to treat an ailment, injury, or chronic health condition.
  • An interdisciplinary approach involves team members from different disciplines working collaboratively, with a common purpose, to set goals, make decisions, and share resources and responsibilities.
  • A team of clinicians from different disciplines, together with the patient, undertakes assessment, diagnosis, intervention, goal-setting, and the creation of a care plan. The patient, their family, and caregivers are involved in all discussions about their condition, prognosis, and care plan.
Benefits of Interdisciplinary Care
  1. Complex Needs Management: Older people in hospitals often have multiple diagnoses and complex needs. Compared to younger age groups, a greater proportion of older people require an interdisciplinary approach to their care to deal with complex multimorbidity, social, and psychological issues.
  2. Optimal Outcomes: The best possible outcomes for older people are achieved through a consultative, collaborative approach to care that actively involves the patient, their family/caregivers, and an interdisciplinary team.
  3. Risk Management: An interdisciplinary approach can help avoid risk-averse thinking by weighing the risk against benefits for the patient.
  4. Improved Efficiency and Satisfaction: An interdisciplinary approach can improve patient outcomes, healthcare processes, and levels of satisfaction. It can also reduce length of stay and avoid duplication of assessments, leading to more comprehensive and holistic records of care.
  5. Discussion Opportunities: The opportunity for discussion created by interdisciplinary care planning can be used for the benefit of patients and their families.
  6. Goal Alignment: The care team needs to work together, utilizing an interdisciplinary approach, to provide and implement a care plan that meets the patient’s goals and needs.
  7. Shared Role: All healthcare professionals have a shared role in providing person-centered care.

Key Components of Interdisciplinary Management

Leadership

Positive leadership and management provide clear direction and vision for the team through:

  1. Promoting an atmosphere of trust where contributions are valued and consensus is fostered.
  2. Ensuring that the necessary resources, infrastructure, and training are available, as well as a mix of skills, competencies, and personalities amongst team members.

Person-Centered Practice

Well-integrated and coordinated care that is based on the needs of the patient can contribute to reducing delays in the provision of care and avoiding duplicated assessments.

  1. Involving the patient in all aspects of their care empowers them to speak up and contribute to decision-making.
  2. Formulating shared, standardized interdisciplinary care plans and records of care contributes to holistic and comprehensive person-centered care.

Effective Teamwork

An interdisciplinary approach relies on health professionals from different disciplines, along with the patient, working collaboratively as a team. The most effective teams share responsibilities and promote role interdependence while respecting individual members’ experience and autonomy.

To ensure effective teamwork:

  1. Ensure team members have clear goals and an understanding of their shared roles and responsibilities within the team structure.
  2. Recognize the overlap in knowledge and expertise of staff from different disciplines.
  3. Encourage team cohesiveness and creativity through team commitment and the identification of mutual goals.
  4. Encourage less experienced team members to ask questions, which may give rise to creative ideas and alternative perspectives.
  5. Establish teams with members from diverse disciplines to foster higher overall effectiveness, and hold regular team meetings which are associated with higher levels of innovation.

Crucial Role of Communication

Communication across disciplines, care providers, and with the patient and their family/caregivers is essential to setting goals that most accurately reflect the person’s desires and needs.

  1. Involve the patient’s GP or pharmacist to increase the success of the intervention.
  2. Communicate openly to encourage genuine collaboration. A breakdown of communications between health professionals is a common factor in hospital errors and adverse events.
  3. Document assessments and ensure clinical handover documents are completed thoroughly and stored in a central place.

Interdisciplinary Care in Specialized Fields

At first, a commitment to the interdisciplinary approach to patient care can be intimidating for many dentists and practices, but it offers significant advantages:

  • It saves time and energy.
  • It simplifies the process of referrals and working with specialists.

Operating Room Environment Considerations

Key elements of the operating room environment include:

  1. Sterile and non-sterile personnel.
  2. Instruments and the procedure to be done.
  3. Functions of each personnel.