Interprofessional collaboration: who is doing it? Who isn't?

A questionnaire about practice in the area of physician-educator collaboration and behavioral-developmental pediatrics was obtained from 239 California primary care pediatricians. The survey examined the characteristics of physicians who do and do not collaborate, as well as their perceptions of the advantages of and barriers to interprofessional collaborations. The results indicated that, whereas most (88%) respondents indicate that communication among educators and physicians is sometimes or frequently useful when patients have behavioral, developmental, and chronic health disorders, only 17% actually communicate frequently by telephone or meeting with educators. The characteristics of physicians who collaborate the most frequently include factors such as small groups or solo practices in rural areas, use of routine developmental screening, training in working with teachers, training in behavioral and developmental pediatrics, and higher estimates of the number of patients with behavioral and developmental disorders in their practice. The relationship between physician characteristics and frequency of collaboration is analyzed and discussed. Physicians' perceptions of the collaboration process and suggestions for improving collaboration are discussed.