Resource Center

Featuring:

• Neil Baker, MD, Principal, Neil Baker Consulting and Coaching
• Nan Cochran, MD, President, American Academy on Communication in Health Care (AACH); Associate Professor of Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine and Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice
• Calvin Chou, MD, PhD, FAACH, Professor of Clinical Medicine, UCSF; Vice President for External Education, AAC

The last thing a patient needs to experience at a hospital or a clinic is tensions between staff members. Yet, we've all been there and seen and heard things that make us wonder “who isn’t getting along with whom” or, worse, are we getting the best care when we can tell providers are just barely disguising their frustrations with one another? It's a fair question, especially since health care is being redesigned at all levels to be more of a team effort. Doesn't that mean that the team has to be cohesive and everyone needs to get along?

For this WIHI, we brought together the expert group that spoke to a packed room about managing conflict on health care teams at IHI’s 25th Annual National Forum in December 2013. Neil Baker, a longtime IHI faculty member, has spent the past 30 years helping organizations and professionals deal with "people issues" that jeopardize patient safety and stall improvement work. Nan Cochran, the president of the American Academy on Communication in Healthcare, trains around conflict management and negotiation, and Calvin Chou focused on teaching medical students and residents humanistic clinical skills that are critical to communicating more effectively with patients.

Listen and learn about the skills that can help health care teams understand and appreciate their differences and avoid the pitfalls and conflicts that cause disruption and harm for patients.