Patients' perceptions of team-based care in family practice: access, benefits and team roles

INTRODUCTION The increasing complexity of health care and escalating prevalence of multiple chronic conditions have driven interprofessional team-based care in family practice. Most published studies examine team-based care from the perspective of health professionals. The purpose of this study was to examine patients' perceptions of team-based care in family practice. METHODS This was a waiting room survey conducted in five family medicine academic teaching clinics in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Patients aged ≥18 years were invited to participate in a survey addressing patient access to team-based care, perceived benefits, preferred health professional and team member roles. RESULTS Of the 44.3% (565/1274) of respondents, 41.8% (231/552) reported receiving care from a team of health professionals, primarily for chronic disease management or pharmacy consultations. While there was a consistent pattern of patient perception that many aspects of care did not worsen with team-based care, improvements in knowledge of their medical condition (67.4%); the care received (65.0%); access to care (51.1%); ability to self-care (48.9%) and maintain their independence (43.7%); and overall health (51.1%) were reported. Some patients felt that team-based care reduced emergency visits (34.6%) and hospitalisations (29.9%), and 44.1% of patients felt that they had an active role on the team and made decisions about their care together with health professionals. CONCLUSION Patients perceive that team-based care in family practice has improved their knowledge and access to care, overall health and avoided some emergency department visits and hospital admissions. The findings support the continued development of team-based care in family practice.