Improving patient safety with team coordination: challenges and strategies of implementation

The health care environment presents significant risk of errors leading to patient injury and harm. One method to promote patient safety involves improving team coordination. The MedTeams training program, a nationally funded research project, provided the framework for team training in several labor and delivery units in the United States. Many challenges were confronted when team training was implemented. Based on these experiences, specific strategies to ensure the success of team training are discussed.