The concept of healthcare being a team sport has been expressed on numerous occasions by many leaders in healthcare.1 The role of hospital medicine in the US healthcare system has been on the ascendancy over the past two decades. The initial stages of this change in the practice of inpatient medicine in the US was fraught with concern, suspicion, and several other challenges from some of the more dominant sectors of our healthcare system. The gains obtained from the adoption and implementation of hospital medicine specialty is evident to all. It’s a gratifying to read about the perspectives of seasoned primary care physicians who were early adopters of the role of hospitalists in healthcare delivery.

The effect of the pandemic and its positive effect on telehealth has brought into focus increasing discussion about the concept of Acute Care hospital at home. This new frontier in healthcare delivery is a new member of our Team. Just as all teams have many members, each with defined roles and working congruently to achieve the teams’ goals’, we will need to adopt key team building concepts to help achieve and maintain our set goals. Yes, there are many players in the healthcare system, and we belong to the same team. To ensure the success of every component of our healthcare system we need to have TEAM mindset to optimize patient care.

Teamwork: We need to get to that point of understanding that the increasing complexity and demands of our healthcare system prevents any individual from addressing all the needs of our patients. We need to embrace the concept of teamwork and actively propagate its value to ensure his success. Role clarification and the setting of expectations are critical foundational blocks for any team’s success.

Encouragement: We need encourage each other to help attain and maintain our required roles to optimize patient care. This involves acceptance of new initiatives we sometimes may not be in congruent with some of our long-held beliefs. Encouragement to adopt and engage in the team’s new initiatives are required to ensure buy-in and ultimate success. Encouragement allows for a better appreciation of other roles and lays the foundation for the infusion of empathy under challenging circumstances.

Acknowledgement: Team members need to acknowledge the fact that there will always be new members and/or new initiatives to enhance their collective objectives. The vital roles played by new members need to be acknowledged and appreciated since these are roles other members cannot effectively assume and achieve desirable outcomes. Acute care hospital at home initiative is based on strict eligibility criteria with the Doctors and other healthcare personnel coordinating cares with patients’ Primary Care Providers.

Motivation. We need to motivate ourselves to do better irrespective of which aspect of the healthcare system we’re engaged in. Motivation comes in the way of providing the resources needed for each of us to do better. Enhanced communication about pertinent changes in patients and the timely provision of information to ensure safe hand-offs in the inpatient setting or Acute care hospital at home setting are essential success factors.

Teams’ successes are dependent on the adherence to these basic but core principles. Expecting only the best of team members lays the foundation for success avoiding the Pygmalion or the Rosenthal effect.2,3

Conflicts of Interest/Disclosures

The author has no conflicts of interest to disclose

Corresponding Author

Kwame Dapaah-Afriyie, MD, MBA
Professor of Medicine, Clinical Educator
Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University
Division Director, Division of Hospital Medicine,
The Miriam Hospital, 164 Summit Avenue, Providence, RI 02906