Transactive memory system as a measure of collaborative practice in a geriatrics team: implications for continuing...

The interprofessional team meeting is a model of care in which members of the interprofessional team come together with their individual expertise to provide holistic care for the patient. Additionally, interprofessional team meetings serve as a platform for continuing interprofessional education as healthcare professionals come together to learn with, from, and about each other to enhance collaboration and patient care. Utilizing the transactive memory system (TMS) framework, this paper aims to demonstrate the utility of TMS as a measure of interprofessional collaborative practice based on a pilot study in an interprofessional geriatrics team. Questionnaires were administered to 78 members who regularly participated in the interprofessional team meetings. The quality of perceived TMS was measured by the cumulative scores on two previously validated scales. Logistic regression analyses revealed that TMS was a significant predictor of satisfaction with interprofessional team meeting experience and clinical work, whereas TMS scores significantly increased with greater number of interprofessional team meetings attended. Reliability analysis indicated high internal consistency while in factor analysis, each scale was predicated on a dual factor structure instead of the original tri-dimensional structure. Our results indicate the novel use of TMS as a valid and reliable measure of interprofessional collaborative practice. Implications for the role of TMS in continuous interprofessional education, collaborative practice, and patient care are also presented.