Pilot Program
Improving Team-Based Care Coordination Delivery and Documentation in the Health Record
A template developed at the Atlanta VAMC standardizes and captures data about care coordination components in a patient’s electronic heath record...
Unlike a traditional didactic with classroom case conferences on interprofessional collaboration, PACT ICU is an opportunity for health care professionals to both learn and work together providing care in a clinic. Moreover, colocation of diverse trainee and faculty professions during the case conferences better prepares trainees to work with other professions and supports all participants to work and communicate as a team.
CoE staff have assessed educational outcomes before and after attendance in PACT ICU. On average, trainees (n = 30) said they found the PACT ICU case conferences to be “very helpful” in developing treatment plans.
Interprofessional Collaboration
Team building and colocating trainees, faculty, and clinic staff from different professions are a primary focus of PACT ICU. The case conferences are designed to break down silos and foster a team approach to care. Trainees learn how the team works and the ways other professionals can help them take care of the patient. For example, trainees learn early about the contributions and expertise that the pharmacist and psychologist offer in terms of their scope of practice and referral opportunities. Additionally, the RN care manager increases the integration with the PACT clinical team by sharing pertinent information on individual patients. Based on recent trainee survey findings, the CoE has observed a positive change in the team dynamic and trainee ability to interface between professions. PACT ICU participants were more likely to make referrals to other members within the PACT team, such as a warm handoff during a clinic appointment, while they were less likely to seek a consult outside the team.7
Clinical Performance
The PACT ICU is an opportunity for a trainee to increase clinical expertise. It provides exposure to a variety of patientsand their care needs and serves as an opportunity to present a high-risk, challenging patient to colleagues of various professions. As of June 2018, 96 physician resident and NP residents have presented complex patient cases.
In addition, a structured forum for discussing patients and their care options strengthens team clinical performance, which supports people to work to the full scope of their practice. Trainees learn and apply team skills, such as communication and the warm handoff.
An interprofessional care plan that is delineated during the meeting supports the trainee and is carried out with help from consultants as needed. These consultants often facilitate plans for a covisit or warm handoff at the next clinic visit, a call from the RN care manager, a virtual clinic appointment, or other nontraditional visits. The clinic staff can get information from PCPs about patient’s plan of care, and PCPs get a more complete picture of a patient’s situation (eg, history, communications, and life-style factors). In addition, surveys of PACT ICU participants suggest the curriculum’s effectiveness at encouraging use of PACT principles within the clinic team and improving appropriate referrals to other members of the PACT team, such as pharmacy and behavioral health.
Patients presented at PACT ICU can be particularly challenging, so there may be a psychological benefit to working with a team to develop a new care plan. The PCPs who feel they are overwhelmed and have exhausted every option step back, get input, and look at the patient in a new light.
Related: Interprofessional Education in Patient Aligned Care Team Primary Care-Mental Health Integration