Sharing patient care among disciplines: mandates and pitfalls

Patient-focused care has been used to help cut health care costs. This model changes the way work is done, with a focus on processes rather than individual functions of distinct professions, and it implies shared responsibility for patient outcomes. It also requires that different disciplines share patient care. The goal of sharing patient care among disciplines can be quite challenging to accomplish and sustain. This article describes the difficulties encountered when multiple disciplines share patient care, explores in some depth the causes of these difficulties, and gives suggestions on how this aspect of redesign can be proactively managed.