Primary care physician perspectives on using team care in clinical practice

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Cardiology
• Primary Care Medicine

Background:

• Physicians were prompted to refer patients with uncontrolled hypertension (HTN) to a telehealth program.
• This program included home blood pressure telemonitoring and pharmacist care management.
• Understanding physician perspectives on team care is crucial for program integration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate physician attitudes towards team care.
• To examine how physicians utilized team care within a telehealth intervention.
• To identify factors influencing physician engagement with pharmacist-led care management for hypertension.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative interviews were conducted with nine physicians involved in the Hyperlink 3 telehealth intervention.
• Interviews explored physician attitudes, barriers, facilitators, and team care utilization.
• A comparative thematic analysis was performed on transcribed interviews.

Main Results:

• Physicians generally held positive attitudes towards team care.
• Communication, access, trust, and perceived competence of team members impacted engagement.
• Individualized practice styles dictated team care use and involvement of specific members.

Conclusions:

• Physician practice styles significantly influence the adoption and utilization of team-based care models.
• A flexible, practice-style-sensitive approach is more effective than a standardized model for high-functioning healthcare teams.
• Integrating physician practice styles with communication, access, and trust is key for thriving healthcare teams.