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Tip of the week: Interdisciplinary communication

Case Management Weekly, September 7, 2005

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Case managers are in an excellent position to facilitate interdisciplinary communication among caregivers, which is required in standard PC.5.50. The requirement calls for a patient's care to be developed and provided in an interdisciplinary and collaborative manner. Related to that standard are PC.4.10 and PC.5.60, which require hospitals to develop individual plans of care and to coordinate the care, treatment, and services.

Many healthcare providers think the right form will solve their interdisciplinary communication problem, but documentation is not the magic bullet, said Patrice Spath, BA, RHIT, a healthcare quality and resource management consultant at Brown-Spath & Associates in Forest Grove, OR. "It's not a piece of paper that helps meet this requirement," she said. "It's getting together face-to-face and talking."

Interdisciplinary rounds are an effective way to get everyone together-and "usually it's the case managers leading the charge," said Spath. She said that studies have shown when caregivers conduct interdisciplinary rounds early in a patient's care, there's an increase in communication and timely referrals. Several factors contribute to successful rounds in which caregivers feel they're not wasting their time:

• Appoint one person to lead the rounds. This individual is typically a case manager, intern, or hospitalist.
• Keep the rounds brief and focused on care planning, not education.
• Institute daily rounds that start at the same time each day.
• Garner support from management so staff feel comfortable leaving their duties to attend rounds.

Source: Case Management Training Monthly, May 2005, HCPro, Inc.

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