The Difficult Case Consultation: An intervention for interprofessional health communication

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Interprofessional Communication
• Medical Sociology

Background:

• Difficult cases in inpatient settings pose challenges to healthcare teams.
• Existing approaches may not adequately address the root causes of these complex situations.
• Need for structured interventions to improve interprofessional collaboration and patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a novel intervention for the early detection, prevention, and resolution of difficult cases in hospitals.
• To introduce a theoretically grounded process for analyzing and addressing complex communication problems in interprofessional healthcare.
• To explore systemic factors contributing to the emergence of difficult cases.

Main Methods:

• Action research project to develop a narrative re-framing tool.
• Creation of the Difficult Case Consultation (DCC) intervention.
• Case study analysis of two complex inpatient scenarios.

Main Results:

• The narrative re-framing tool revealed entrenched assumptions about difficult cases.
• The Difficult Case Consultation (DCC) process effectively aids teams in analyzing communication issues.
• Systemic factors contributing to difficult cases were identified.

Conclusions:

• Theoretically grounded collaborative processes are crucial for optimizing healthcare team communication.
• The Difficult Case Consultation (DCC) offers a structured approach to managing complex patient cases.
• Addressing systemic issues is vital for preventing and resolving difficult cases in inpatient care.