Approaching collaboration in primary care differently: Exploring boundaries and boundary objects.

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Organizational Studies
• Primary Care Policy

Background:

• Current primary care policy often defines collaboration by its outcomes (e.g., team-based care), which is difficult to implement.
• This outcome-focused approach has created challenges in achieving effective collaboration in practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce concepts of constructing boundaries and boundary objects to analyze the collaborative process in primary care.
• To offer a new perspective on understanding and improving collaboration by focusing on the process itself.

Main Methods:

• Employed qualitative methods including semi-structured interviews and discourse analysis.
• Utilized member-checking for data validation.
• Compared primary care collaborations across three time periods during the early COVID-19 pandemic in Interior British Columbia.

Main Results:

• Analysis revealed dynamic shifts in the nature of boundaries and boundary objects over time.
• These changes provided significant insights into the intricacies of the collaborative process.

Conclusions:

• The study proposes a process-oriented approach to collaboration, utilizing boundary and boundary object concepts.
• A deeper understanding of the collaborative process can potentially lead to enhanced collaborative outcomes in primary care settings.