Achieving Team-Based Health Care Delivery

The AHA's Physician Leadership Forum hosted an afternoon session in conjunction with the Health Forum/AHA Leadership Summit on Achieving Team-Based Health Care Delivery. David Nash, MD, Founding Dean of the Jefferson School of Population Health and Professor of Health Policy at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA, delivered the keynote address. Dr. Nash spoke about the need for hospitals to do a better job grooming physician leaders. He mentioned how team-based care is becoming the norm and how both hospitals and physicians need to embrace this. View Dr. Nash's Presentation here. 

The program also included case examples from AtlantiCare Health System, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Marquette General Health System.

AtlantiCare Health System

AtlantiCare Health System spoke about their Special Care Center (SCC), a patient-centered medical home they developed for individuals with chronic conditions. AtlantiCare created the SCC four years ago, serving roughly 1,800 patients to date. The SCC has resulted in reduced hospital length of stay (LOS), readmissions, and ER visits. View AtlantiCare's presentation here.

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Brigham and Women's Hospital created their Interdisciplinary Team Unit (ITU) for three reasons -- to increase time for learning among its residents, to improve communication and collaboration among personnel, and to cut down on costs. In its short existence, the ITU has proved successful, significantly cutting down on in-patient mortality, LOS, and readmissions while also increasing time for educational activities and satisfaction among attendings, residents, and nurses. View Brigham and Women's presentation here.

Marquette General Health System

Marquette General Health System talked about their transition from traditional medical departments to service lines. These service lines meet on a regular basis and encompass a broad spectrum of medical and hospital staff to include all staff directly involved with a patient's care. A main point of emphasis for each service line is that all involved are seen as equals. Marquette also employs the use of a newsletter to keep each service line in the loop on what other lines are doing. View Marquette's presentation here.