Top 5 Reasons Why Team-Based Care is Best for Patients

Multi-specialty team-based healthcare has become the staple for patient care across the United States in recent years because of its numerous benefits for patients and care providers. Patients who turn to Epic Care’s multi-specialty team-based treatments find a variety of expert healthcare professionals ready to care for them when they need it the most.

According to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), traditionally, a single doctor is responsible for most or all of a patient’s care. When it comes to collecting information about a patient’s health, examining them, diagnosing, prescribing medications, and explaining the treatment plan, one team member can become overwhelmed. This traditional method can impact the quality of care due to burnout from the care provider and cause patient dissatisfaction.

However, in a team-based care setting, doctors share these responsibilities with at least one other person, including other physicians, physician assistants, nurses, specialists, and others who play a careful role in a patient’s treatment. Additionally, some patients require more than one specialist, which is why our physicians work together to provide comprehensive treatment plans.

With Epic Care’s patient-centered method, embracing the team approach has enabled us to provide our patients with well-rounded, multi-specialty treatment at numerous locations throughout the Bay Area.

How?

1. Multi-Specialty Team-Based Care Ensures the Best Treatment Possible.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) explained that this patient-centered method allows that “every team member has a voice in the decision-making process and is empowered to meet the patient’s needs whenever possible.”

With that, healthcare practitioners like those at Epic Care can pool their extensive knowledge and resources to develop the best possible treatment plans for their patients. Our physicians, nurses, and other highly trained healthcare professionals stay on top of the latest technological advancements and breakthroughs so that patients get the most innovative care available. Regular meetings give team members a chance to go over a patient’s latest information together.

2. Multi-Specialty Team-Based Care Ensures Highly Qualified Team Members Work on Tasks Simultaneously.

“Team-based care is intended to provide the right care at the right time by the person with the most appropriate level of training, experience, and licensure,” noted the American Nurses Association (ANA). Diverse teams that correctly utilize each member’s unique skill set and insights ensure optimal delivery of care.

With the team-based approach, team members can cooperate with and support one another because they have shared goals within and across settings. A National Academy of Medicine (NAM) report explained that this approach works best because it encourages “all healthcare professionals to function to the full extent of their education, certification, and experience.”

3. Multi-Specialty Team-Based Care Ensures Decreased Burnout in Care Providers.

Additionally, within this method, healthcare teams can tailor their workflow to the patient’s unique needs, selecting the most appropriate people to handle specific aspects of each person’s care. “Team members can help physicians with preventive care, planning, counseling, and follow-up services resulting in improved health and wellness for patients with chronic conditions,” explained the General Practice Services Committee (GPSC).

4. Multi-Specialty Team-Based Care Ensures Patient Satisfaction.

“When practices draw on the expertise of a variety of provider team members, patients are more likely to get the care they need,” the AHRQ report noted.

Epic Care believes that in a perfect health system the proper team member guiding patient care and decision-making should be the patient, something other organizations like the ANA have echoed. According to the AHRQ, providing patient-centered care is key to a team’s success and involves seeking “patient input while designing and delivering team-based care.”

According to an ANA report, in addition to providing patients with high-quality care at every level of treatment, the team approach can also give patients a better overall experience. The collaboration among team members “can improve timely access to basic primary care, after-hours care, and extended health services,” explained the GPSC.

The team approach also improves the continuity of care in a health system, strengthening the relationship between patients and their primary care providers and other team members. Patients always feel well-informed with a team on their side because they have different professionals they can turn to for guidance.

5. Multi-Specialty Team-Based Care Reduces the Cost of Patient Treatment.

This team-based healthcare also can reduce the cost of a treatment since care is more coordinated under a team and, therefore, more effective. The GPSC found that patients whose specialty care team provided team-based care were “less likely to require emergency medical services than those who do not, resulting in lower costs” for the patient.

According to the NAM, other studies have shown that when providers worked together as a team, it “played an important role in preventing adverse events,” such as hospital admissions or visits to the emergency room. That, in turn, saves patients from potentially costly medical bills.

Lastly, teams play a big part in helping Epic Care live up to that standard as they meet patients’ individual needs with every resource available to them. At Epic Care, healthcare providers consider themselves partners in patient care and work together to treat people promptly, stay in communication with them, and educate patients about their treatment.

Epic Care has more than 55 physicians ready to lead the way in providing multi-specialty team-based healthcare to their patients in multi-specialty surgery and cancer care. The doctors, physician assistants, nurses, and more deliver what we call the “Standard of CARE” — Compassion, Assurance, Responsiveness, and Excellence in Service. To learn more about Epic Care’s team-based approach to healthcare and how it can benefit you and your loved ones, or to learn about the wide range of services it offers throughout the Bay Area, call (925) 255-1066 or visit epic-care.com.