University of Pittsburgh: Non-physician Led, Interprofessional Teams in a Trauma Clinic
Member since: March 2014
Intervention: Non-physician Led, Interprofessional Teams in a Trauma Clinic
Partners:
- University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Falk Trauma Clinic
- UPMC Office of Advanced Practice Providers
- UPMC Donald D. Wolff, Jr. Center for Quality, Safety and Innovation
- University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
Occupations represented: Students and professionals including audiologists, nurse practitioners, nutritional counselors, occupational therapists, physician assistants, physical therapists, rehabilitation counselors and speech and language pathologists.
Overview: Advanced practice providers (APPs) are joined by licensed professionals and students from physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech language pathology, audiology, nutritional counseling and rehabilitation counseling to develop comprehensive care plans and provide patient care.
The UPMC Falk Trauma Clinic utilizes an APP-led team of clinicians, involving a range of rehabilitative medicine practitioners, to provide patient evaluation and transition of care services for trauma patients discharged from UPMC Presbyterian Hospital. Responding to a population health need for additional post-discharge musculoskeletal care, this clinic customizes the care experience to provide patient-centered, multidisciplinary clinical management.
For each patient seen, a nurse coordinator develops a tentatively tailored evaluation plan, which is then formalized with the interprofessional team. Patients are seen sequentially by members of the tailored team. Communication between team members is facilitated by an Interprofessional Clinic Evaluation Flow Sheet, with all clinical recommendations ultimately funneled to the APP.
Intervention study questions:
- What are barriers and facilitators influencing process redesign and the successful implementation of interprofessional teams?
- How does the interprofessional team impact appropriateness and quality of care?
- Is this a sustainable model in the context of the rapidly changing health care marketplace?