Presenters
- Lisa Tshuma, PA-C, DBH, MPAS, MPA, Assistant Professor, A.T. Still University, Mesa, AZ
- Sue Dahl-Popolizio, DBH, OTR/L, Clinical Associate Professor, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ
- Lesley Manson, PsyD, Clinical Associate Professor, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ
- Alexa Trolley-Hanson, MS, OTR/L, Clinical Assistant Professor, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
- Will Lusenhop, MSW, PhD, LICSW, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
Summary
Primary care patient care models are shifting from lone primary care provider (PCP) decision making to shared responsibility for patient panels, with other team members empowered to provide significant portions of chronic and preventive care across the lifespan (pediatric through geriatric populations). Interprofessional health teams are equipped with a broad range of skills and expertise to address health and wellness needs of patients with complex medical conditions. For example, the interprofessional team can best serve patients with chronic pain and opioid use disorder (OUD), who have an elevated risk of mortality and higher health care costs, compared with the general population. These disparities have been linked to sub-optimal management of co-occurring chronic conditions in primary care, resulting in high costs of care and functional impairment of the patients. In addition, high burnout rates in primary care are rising and can be ameliorated through medical home models that emphasize team-based participatory decision making. One evidence-based strategy to address these issues is the inter-professional team huddle. Another evidence-based approach is Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation (SBAR) communication. These strategies can be combined to optimize communication and outcomes. This presentation includes discussion of evidence-based communication techniques and identification of specific roles and responsibilities for each team member to improve coordination of care healthcare team satisfaction and patient outcomes. An interactive interprofessional huddle demonstration will teach how to apply these techniques in a primary care setting. Common comorbid, real world case examples, including a patient with opioid use disorder (OUD), will be discussed by the team during the simulated huddle. Huddle and communication competency guidelines and tools will be applied in the demonstration and shared with participants to encourage application in practice.
Objectives
- Describe the roles, and overlap of roles, for interprofessional team members in primary care.
- Explain how a huddle is used to determine treatment approach and plan of care.
- Provide at least 3 examples of how the interprofessional team can address the needs of complex patients.
