TeamSTEPPS® (Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety) is designed to help health care professionals improve patient safety and quality through effective communication and teamwork skills.

TeamSTEPPS is an evidence-based set of tools and a training curriculum to successfully integrate communication and teamwork principles into any health care system. It is based on decades of experience and lessons learned from high reliability organizations such as military operations, aviation and nuclear power. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the U.S. Department of Defense developed TeamSTEPPS in the mid-2000s. From 2011-2017, the American Hospital Association (AHA) managed the National Implementation of TeamSTEPPS. After the federal program ended in September 2017, the AHA committed to continuing their support of the TeamSTEPPS movement and AHA Team Training was officially launched.

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  • Direct and coordinate, assign tasks, motivate team members, facilitate optimal performance.

    Tools You Can Use

    • Brief
    • Huddle
    • Debrief

  • Develop common understandings of team environment, apply strategies to monitor team members’ performance, maintain a shared mental model.

    Tools You Can Use

    • STEP
    • I’M SAFE checklist
    • Cross-monitoring

  • Effectively exchange information among team members, regardless of how it is communicated.

    Tools You Can Use

    • SBAR
    • Check-back
    • Call-out
    • Handoff

  • Anticipate other team members’ needs through accurate knowledge, shift workload to achieve balance during periods of high workload or stress.

    Tools You Can Use

    • Two-Challenge Rule
    • DESC Script
    • CUS
 
 
 

Why TEAMSTEPPS?

The cost of implementing TeamSTEPPS is minimal compared to the savings surrounding outcomes and satisfaction. Many studies have found that teamwork training can lead to a stronger culture of safety through:

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Positive change in behaviors

  • Adoption of team strategies was higher with teamwork education, with up to 31 percent of staff adopting teamwork behaviors.1
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Cost savings

  • A team-based program integrated behavioral health into every patient visit and saved a hospital system $13 million per year.2
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Process efficiencies

  • At a Level I Trauma Center, the time from arrival to CT scanner and the operating room were decreased significantly after TeamSTEPPS training.3
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Improved outcomes

  • TeamSTEPPS was implemented on a Woman’s Health Unit and saw a significant decrease in length of stay and the mortality index.4
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Increased patient satisfaction

  • HCAHPS survey scores improved after a New York hospital implemented TeamSTEPPS.5
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Enhanced staff satisfaction

  • After implementation of TeamSTEPPS tools in an OR, employee satisfaction increased by 19% and perceptions of safety climate increased from “good” to “outstanding.”6

TeamSTEPPS Course Offerings

TeamSTEPPS Next Steps

Advanced

This immersive course will help participants looking to spread and sustain their TeamSTEPPS program to create staff and leadership ownership and to refine an action plan. Participants will engage with a community of experts, both faculty and fellow attendees, to solve complex challenges using design-thinking approaches. This course produces TeamSTEPPS Influencers.

Learn More
 

Ready to start on your own TeamSTEPPS journey?

Complete our brief custom training questionnaire to get started on a solution tailored to your needs or browse our course and workshop schedule for upcoming educational offerings. Still have questions? Email us at teamtraining@aha.org.
 

References:

  1. Jones, K.J., Skinner A.M., High R., & Reiter-Palmon R. (2013). A theory-driven, longitudinal evaluation of the impact of team training on safety culture in 24 hospitals. BMJ Qual Saf, 22(5), 394-404.
  2. Reiss-Brennan, B., Brunisholz, K.D., Dredge, C., Briot, P., Grazier, K., Wilcox, A., Savitz, L., & James, B. (2016). Association of integrated team-based care with health care quality, utilization, and cost. JAMA, 316(8), 826-834.
  3. Capella, J., Smith, S., et al. (2010). Teamwork training improves the clinical care of trauma patients. J Surg Educ, 67(6), 439-443.
  4. Borckardt, J.J., Annan-Coultas, D., Catchpole, K., Wise, H., Mauldin, M., Ragucci, K., Scheurer, D., & Kascak, K. (2020). Preliminary evaluation of the impact of TeamSTEPPS® training on hospital quality indicators. J Interprof Educ Pract 18.
  5. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2015). New York Hospital Uses AHRQ Resources to Improve Patients' Experience of Care. https://www.ahrq.gov/news/newsroom/case-studies/201514.html
  6. Leonard M., Graham S., Bonacum D. (2004). The human factor: the critical importance of effective teamwork and communication in providing safe care. Qual Saf Health Care, 13 Suppl 1, i85-90.