6-Interpretational Communication and Collaboration for High-Value Care

Let’s go back to the example of rounds. Patient rounds should be interprofessional and should be structured to ensure value. Various members may include such as the nurse, the case manager or social worker, a clinical pharmacist, medical students, interns, senior residents, and the attending. These interprofessional team members conduct rounds with a core set of principles to guide the process:

• Rounds should include various members of the interprofessional team

• Rounds should be efficient for the entire team

• Patients should be given the opportunity and encouraged to ask questions and ask for clarification, and

• Interprofessional teams should ensure high quality care (maximizing the positive) and highly safe care (minimizing the negative).1

As clinicians, we each come to the point-of-care with unique knowledge, skills, and viewpoints. For example, in the hospital, the bedside nurse has often spent many more hours with the patient than the physician team has. This nurse likely has many insights into the patient’s personality, goals, condition and progress that could help inform a thoughtful individualized treatment plan. By communicating this with the entire interprofessional team, we can often come up with a high-value plan of care.