DISCUSSION BOARD

DISCUSSION BOARD 1

You've examined the rationale, form, and function of an interdisciplinary team in providing health care. As you've seen, members of an interdisciplinary team may come from a variety of professional backgrounds, depending on the needs of the patient, the setting in which care is provided, and the resources available.

To prepare:

For this Discussion, review the case study on pages 2-4 of your course text.

Post a comprehensive response to the following:

• Name two additional types of health professionals that could have been involved in the case.
• Provide a rationale as to why they should have been included.
• In your own words, explain why that professional is important to an interdisciplinary team and what you believe he or she would contribute.

Freshman, B., Rubino, L., & Reid Chassiakos, Y. (Eds.). (2010). Collaboration across disciplines in health care. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.

Chapter 1, "The Healthcare Team Members: Who Are They and What Do They Do?"

This chapter introduces the concept of an interdisciplinary health care team, the professions that contribute, and the roles and functions of each. Additionally, a case study of a successful interdisciplinary approach is presented.

Chapter 6, "Interprofessional Collaboration: A Nursing Perspective"

The important difference between interdisciplinary collaboration and interprofessional collaboration is examined in this chapter. There is also a discussion on how different professions view collaboration differently. Critical principles for interprofessional collaboration are offered.

Clements, D., Dault, M., & Priest, A. (2007). Effective teamwork in healthcare: Research and reality. HealthcarePapers, 7 (Sp), 26-34.

Download the PDF and read pages 26-30.

This article analyzes the results of research in Canada on the effectiveness of health care teamwork and the conditions in which this approach can succeed. Interprofessional collaboration is identified as both a process that promotes teamwork and an end in itself.

Colonna, J. (2005). Why teams matter in healthcare: 7 characteristics define successful teams. Healthcare Purchasing News, 29(7), 70-71.

Note: Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Although the composition of interdisciplinary teams often changes, there are key characteristics most successful teams all share. This article identifies and discusses those key characteristics, including a clear sense of goals, clear roles and responsibilities, open communication, productive disagreement, and others.

Ellingson, L. (2002). I. Introduction to the field of health communication. Communication Research Trends, 21(3), 3-4.

Note: Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Ellingson, L. (2002). II. Theoretical approaches. Communication Research Trends, 21(3), 4.

Note: Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Ellingson, L. (2002). III. Collaboration in health care. Communication Research Trends, 21(3), 5-7.

Note: Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Ellingson, L. (2002). IV. Health care teams. Communication Research Trends, 21(3), 7-11.

Note: Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

The emerging field of health communication research is introduced and its theoretical approaches are discussed in this series of four brief articles. The importance of health communication is examined, particularly as it relates to collaboration between and among various practitioners in an age of increasing specialization.

Ithaca College Gerontology Institute. (2003). Interdisciplinary health care: Interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary-What's the difference?

This article describes the important differences between the terms interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary, particularly as these terms are used in relation to health care providers.

Buchbinder, S. B., & Thompson, J. M. (2007). Teamwork. In S. H. Buchbinder and N. H. Shanks (Eds.), Introduction to health care management (pp. 303-322). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

This chapter analyzes the nature of teamwork in health care organizations. The authors describe the distinguishing characteristics of a team and discuss challenges, trends, costs, and benefits of teams and teamwork in health care settings.

Katzenbach, J., & Smith, D. (2004). The discipline of teams. In Harvard Business Review on teams that succeed (pp. 1-25). Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Effective multidisciplinary health care teams are composed of members trained in a number of disciplines working collaboratively for the benefit of the patient. In this chapter, members of health care teams are considered by professional background, role, and function.

Meads, G., & Ashcroft, J. (2005). Collaboration. In The case for interprofessional collaboration in health and social care (pp. 15-35). Oxford, England: Blackwell Publishing.

This chapter explores the nature of collaboration, including its components and expressions. There is also a discussion on how to analyze collaboration, particularly in health or social care settings. The benefits of collaboration are enumerated as are its implications for key relationships.

University of Iowa Health Care. (2010). Patient and guest services: Your health care team.

This website page identifies and describes various members of a typical health care team at an academic medical center in Iowa.

How to Survive Virtual Group Work. (2010).

DISCUSSION BOARD 2

ONLY 250-300 WORDS FOR (CURRENT ISSUES IN HEALTHCARE POLICY AND PRACTICE

stake?holder (stâk'hô¬l'd?r), noun

1. One who is entrusted with the stakes of bettors in a wager
2. One that has a share or an interest in a venture, business, or movement
3. One who is involved in or affected by a course of action

Health policy stakeholders can be defined in many ways. Depending on your individual perspective, one might use each of the definitions given above to describe the role of a stakeholder to health care policy.

As one of the largest sectors of the U.S. economy, as well as one of the single largest line items in federal and state budgets, health care is a huge financial concern for the citizenry. The future of many of the nation's most popular social programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, along with the health of millions, hangs in the balance as government agencies, private industry, political organizations, think tanks, coalitions, and individuals grapple with health policy issues.

To prepare for this Discussion, consider this week's Learning Resources. Select a health care stakeholder from the Health Policy Stakeholder Table located in the Learning Resources area.

Post a comprehensive response to the following:

• Briefly describe the health policy stakeholder that you selected.
• Expand on the role of the stakeholder you selected by explaining their specific interests.
• Describe how they can influence policy.
• Explain the specific focus of their policy efforts.

RESOURCES-

Morone, J. A., Litman, T. J., & Robins, L. S. (2007). Health politics, policy, and practice. (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.), Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning.

IntroductionIn this introduction to the course text, Health Politics, Policy, and Practice, the authors present an overview of health care policy and its components. It presents the basics of the political process and offers a brief history of health care policy in the United States.

Chapter 1, "Values in Health Policy: Understanding Fairness and Efficiency"This chapter introduces two of the most important values in health care, fairness and efficiency, and the necessary tradeoffs we have to make between the two in health care policy. These concepts take on even more importance as health care reform begins to take effect.

Chapter 4, "American Health Care: Inefficient, Inequitable, and Costly"In this chapter, the author explores the historical road that led us to the current health system in the United States, and if it should even be called a "system."

Shi, L., Singh, D. A., & Pratt, J. R. (2010). Current issues in healthcare policy and practice. (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.), Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

Chapter 3, "Health Policy" This chapter defines what the concept of health policy is and introduces some of the major forms it can take.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. (n.d.). Areas of research: health.

What is the fiscal impact of health care policy and reform on the average citizen? The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is a leading bipartisan non-governmental organization working on policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income families and individuals. The web site offers a wealth of up-to-date information on health policies issues that will prove useful throughout this course and well into your career.

Document: Health Policy Stakeholder Table (Word document)

Health Affairs

Health Affairs is a leading peer-reviewed journal dedicated to health policy and research. It provides a wealth of research and commentary on the most up-to-date issues in health policy and practice.

Institute for Healthcare Improvement

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving access to quality health care around the world through policy advocacy and innovative programs. The website provides an informative gateway to their work and a suite of practical tools for the future health care management team member.

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation is focused on the major health care issues facing the US-from health reform to women's health policy, and a wealth of topics in between-a nd the role of the United States in international health care policy. It is particularly rich in resources for studies, white papers, and user-friendly data presentations.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is an important organization dedicated to improving the health of the population of the United States and the health care delivery system. The site will prove invaluable at providing insight into many health policy issues and access to publications and research.