The Ultimate Guide to Clinical Collaboration in Healthcare

Clinical collaboration in healthcare is essential for delivering excellent patient-centered treatment in a healthcare setting. However, clinical collaboration might be abstract for healthcare leaders who want to affect key performance measures.

Thanks to technological improvements in medical practices and hospitals’ business. It has been simpler for healthcare workers to interact and function as a team. 

Patients now have access to a multidisciplinary team of medical specialists that work together to provide the best possible treatment and experience.

What is clinical collaboration?

Clinical collaboration is defined as “collaboration between companies, teams of professionals, or small groups of individual professionals, each with skills, equipment, or knowledge that complements what their partner has, all to be more successful.”

It does help with the financial aim of “maximizing the value of” a brand. It also provides extra eyeballs to help in risk reduction.

Why Is Clinical Collaboration Important?

  • Automation:

Clinical collaboration aids in the automation of healthcare operations, simplifying the IT process even further. 

The automation of numerous healthcare procedures allows for faster delivery of medical services. In addition, it makes patient management and service delivery more efficient.

  • Improved patient care:

When a patient presents with back pain to an emergency room, a team of physicians, nurses, and experts attends to the patient and develops effective care options. 

Collaboration is the only way to do this. Patient-centered treatment and improved health outcomes are the results of this teamwork.

  • Fewer medical errors:

Communication gaps can lead to missed symptoms, misdiagnosis, and even incorrect treatment in the healthcare industry. 

Medical mistakes cause more than 250,000 fatalities per year, making them the third-highest cause of mortality in the United States. Healthcare workers benefit from improved communication due to teamwork. 

It helps reduce the number of medical mistakes. In addition, inter-professional collaboration guarantees that all healthcare professionals engaged in a patient’s care have access to the information they need to ensure that patients are treated safely and accurately.

  • Reduced inefficiencies and costs:

Healthcare institutions can save millions of dollars in lost revenue due to incorrect diagnosis and treatment by reducing medical mistakes. 

Clinical collaboration also saves money for healthcare companies by minimizing workflow redundancies and operational inefficiencies. For example, the research found that 20 hospitals could cut their fall rate by 50% by strengthening physician-nurse communication. 

The average duration of stay was also cut by 0.6 days, while the yearly bed turns increased by 20%. Clinical teamwork has also shortened the time it takes for surgery to begin, saving more than 700 hours over four years.

Read More: How Is B2B Used In Healthcare?

Emerging digitalization trends for clinical collaboration:

There is enough evidence to suggest that at least one of these digital advances is important to invest in it. Regardless of the hospital’s practice or scale, they transform treatment.

  • IoT and wearable devices:

Wearable gadgets in healthcare can benefit both the clinician and the patient. This technology alters how healthcare workers diagnose patients and manage illnesses. 

It provides preventive care by merging high-end hardware, mobile applications, and predictive analytics. These devices send a steady stream of user data to healthcare specialists. 

It allows them to make more educated decisions. This data includes breathing patterns, blood pressure readings, and even sleep cycle data to diagnose accurately.

  • Telemedicine:

Telemedicine remains a popular option for in-person consultations, particularly among the elderly, unwell, and uninsured. 

Healthcare institutions and professionals must invest in digital technology and an EHR that enables telemedicine to attain its full potential. In addition, patients must easily identify doctors and healthcare facilities online for telemedicine to operate. 

  • Big Data:

Policymakers, organizations, and scientists may use big data to make clear, life-changing policy choices and recommendations. When done correctly, data analytics in healthcare may aid in the prevention of illnesses. 

It reduces healthcare costs and improves patients’ quality of life. In addition, healthcare practitioners can use big data to examine patient self-care and health issues better, making it simpler to provide better treatment.

The healthcare sector can only discover useful data and use it for predictive analysis with big data, resulting in better diagnosis and prevention.

  • Cloud Technology:

Thanks to cloud technology, healthcare businesses are linked and have access to digitally secure and safe information. As a result, there is a continual collection of patient data, research, and illness information from numerous sources in the business of medicine. 

Before cloud technology became available, healthcare firms had to pay for expensive systems to store data and information. However, cloud storage has transformed how data is stored and retrieved in the medical industry. 

Because the data can be accessed anywhere, at any time, via various devices, this improves collaboration among healthcare workers. 

Data stored in a centralized cloud network is safer since it is bounced around between several servers rather than stored in one location.

Common challenges in clinical collaboration:

  • Lack of clinical ownership and engagement: 

Getting all healthcare employees to participate in cooperation procedures can be difficult. As a result, there are gaps in information exchange, impacting patient collaboration and care.

  • Lack of board support and engagement: 

If the health facility’s board fails to support collaborative initiatives, the digitization process may hinder. It affects the motivation of other willing participants.

  • Failure to embrace external cooperation: 

While internal collaboration is easier and safer to sustain, external collaboration with other health experts can benefit the sector more.

  • Hierarchical structure and hospital culture: 

Lack of support from a department or organization might hinder the process of clinical cooperation. In addition, because their thoughts and efforts are frequently neglected, subordinates who feel unheard are less motivated to collaborate.

Conclusion:

If it continues to expand at its current rate, the clinical collaboration will become the biggest hit in the future. And we owe it to technical advancement to thank for this. As a healthcare practitioner, you will never regret investing in collaboration technology.

Thanks to technological improvements, collaboration in the healthcare profession are now simpler. intelyConnect is here to help you invest in collaboration technology to make your practice more collaborative.

Staff, providers, and patients may all benefit from improved communication in the healthcare business, which will enhance service and care delivery.