Patients rely on healthcare professionals for their opinions, prescriptions, and care. In many ways, patients put their lives and health in the hands of people whom they don’t know but still trust. This trust comes from the idea that nurses, doctors, and pharmacists have your best interests in mind.
This may be true, but good intentions don’t mean much without proper collaboration. A doctor may want to help you, but they can’t do so without accurate, concise information from their nurses. Pharmacists provide medications that doctors prescribe, but doing so without checking to make sure it’s the best option is a disservice to patients.
All the aforementioned healthcare professionals must communicate to ensure nothing slips through the cracks. Strong communication can largely prevent many of the common mistakes that happen in healthcare. Follow along as we explore how collaboration can lead to better patient care.
The Right Team Can Ensure the Best Patient Care
It’s easy to think that doctors are the only healthcare providers you must rely on. However, so many people handle a patient’s chart, data, diagnoses, and prescriptions. Whether it be receptionists and nurses or radiologists and pharmacists, everyone is important.
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If patients relied on a single person, they would probably have some concerns about the care they receive. A collaborative healthcare team can improve a patient’s experience in many ways, such as:
1. Eliminate Unnecessary Visits
Nobody looks forward to spending money on appointments, emergency room visits, and prescriptions. That’s especially true if you must keep going back for treatments due to communication problems. False diagnoses can keep patients returning to clinics and hospitals and cost patients a fortune.
However, getting it right the first time can eliminate the need for unnecessary visits. Nurses, physician assistants, and doctors can help prevent such problems by communicating with each other. Similarly, they must sometimes communicate with pharmacists to ensure their patients get the best medications.
Many conditions are time sensitive, so getting things right the first time is incredibly important. Not only can that save patients time and money, but it can also help free up some hospital beds and waiting room space.
2. Keep Patients Happy
Patient satisfaction should be a top priority in healthcare. Sometimes, this is difficult due to staff shortages, high patient turnover, and communication problems. However, proper collaboration between nurses, doctors, insurance providers, and pharmacists can help keep patients satisfied.
Many patients have dealt with the inconvenience of arriving at the pharmacy and finding out their prescription is different than what their doctor prescribed. Similarly, a doctor may tell a patient something that contradicts what the physician’s assistant said.
This can understandably frustrate patients, interrupt their care, and even result in unnecessary costs. A hospital or pharmacy’s patient satisfaction rating can impact its reputation. At the very least, healthcare providers and pharmacists should keep that in mind.
3. Guarantee Better Patient Outcomes
It takes a team to keep patients healthy, and that involves a lot of collaboration. Simple mistakes and communication problems can impact a patient’s outcome and delay their treatment plan. Unfortunately, false diagnoses are more common than one may think, and they often occur due to communication problems.
Similarly, doctors may prescribe medications without knowing too much about them, and pharmacists can intervene. However, some pharmacists don’t intervene because they’re bogged down with work, or they trust the doctor’s prescription. That said, a pharmacist can improve a patient’s outcome by contacting the physician and advocating for a different prescription.
It seems so simple, but this can ultimately alter the course of a patient’s treatment plan. Radiologists must also explain their findings to physicians to ensure everyone is on the same page. Without proper collaboration, healthcare teams cannot give their patients the best chances at improving.
4. Keep Healthcare Providers Sharp
Healthcare is an industry where you can never know too much. New developments arise all the time, some of which can significantly alter the face of patient care. Some healthcare veterans settle into their routines and don’t seek new information.
That’s why some doctors have blind spots regarding treatment plans and medications. It’s up to doctors and their peers to communicate and help keep each other sharp. Of course, healthcare providers must also stay motivated to keep learning.
No matter what your nursing specialization is or what type of doctor you are, you can always learn more. By collaborating, healthcare providers can help each other learn and stay up to date on new developments they may have missed. Doing so can improve their performance and help give patients the best shot at recovering and staying healthy.
Patients Can’t Rely on One Person
So many people are responsible for your healthcare experience. Doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, and pharmacists are among the many people who dictate your treatment plan. If these people don’t collaborate, you’re bound to feel dissatisfied with the care you receive.
Healthcare providers owe it to their patients to communicate with each other to ensure better patient outcomes. Doing so can minimize trial and error and help healthcare teams get treatment plans right the first time. Not only can this help patients save time and money, but it can also get them on the road to recovery much sooner. At the very least, healthcare providers should consider how collaborating can help improve their reputations. After all, who wants to visit a hospital that’s known for false diagnoses and poor patient care?
