Multi-Team Shared Expectations Tool (MT-SET): An Exercise to Improve Teamwork Across Health Care Teams.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Patient Safety Research
• Health Communication

Background:

• Care transitions for complex patients in high-intensity units are underdeveloped in patient safety research.
• Effective interdisciplinary communication and coordination remain significant challenges.
• Existing approaches often fail to address the complexities of multi-team systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and test the Multi-Team Shared Expectations Tool (MT-SET).
• To engage healthcare teams in identifying mutual needs and establishing shared expectations.
• To improve communication and coordination in multi-team patient care settings.

Main Methods:

• Piloted the MT-SET exercise within hospital oncology workflows.
• Adopted the exercise to gather data on mutual needs and expectations across units during patient transitions.
• Utilized the tool in two patient safety projects involving cross-unit collaboration.

Main Results:

• Identified common coordination problems: care delays, care variations, and communication standardization issues.
• Revealed mismatched prioritization of these problems between different unit types.
• Participants reported improved relationships and teamwork through the MT-SET exercise.

Conclusions:

• Systematic approaches are needed to facilitate cross-unit communication and coordination in patient care transitions.
• The MT-SET shows promise in enhancing teamwork and addressing coordination gaps.
• Further research should expand MT-SET application to diverse teams and evaluate generated interventions.