Patient care teams

Background

The delivery of healthcare by a coordinated team of health professionals is now assumed to be beneficial, and the concept of ‘teamwork’ has taken firm hold in healthcare. The expectation is that enhanced, more elaborated team approaches in selective circumstances are associated with improved healthcare delivery processes, leading to more appropriate care, better patient outcomes and lowered costs, compared to approaches with less elaborated teamwork.

The establishment or enhancement of a patient care team is therefore increasingly considered a key method for improving the quality of healthcare. However, as yet, it is unclear whether teams are as effective as they are supposed to be, and under what conditions team effectiveness is optimal.

This report

This systematic review groups studies according to the particular objectives of the teams. By aggregating the results to these subgroups, the authors aimed to draw some headline measures about the effectiveness of different types of teams. In addition, determinants for team effectiveness were collected.

Who should read this report

This report provides a very useful guide for those in policy-making or practice interested in improving the quality of healthcare by drawing together key studies and navigating some of the complex issues associated with assessing complex processes. 

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