Research article

An interdisciplinary team communication framework and its application to healthcare 'e-teams' systems design

Craig E Kuziemsky¹ , Elizabeth M Borycki² , Mary Ellen Purkis⁵ , Fraser Black³ , Michael Boyle⁴ , Denise Cloutier-Fisher⁷ , Lee Ann Fox⁵ , Patricia MacKenzie⁶ , Ann Syme^4,5 , Coby Tschanz⁵ , Wendy Wainwright³ , Helen Wong⁴ and Interprofessional Practices Team (alphabetically)

¹Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

²School of Health Information Science, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

³Victoria Hospice Society, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

⁴British Columbia Cancer Agency, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

⁵School of Nursing, University of Victoria, Victoria British Columbia, Canada

⁶School of Social Work, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

⁷School of Human Geography, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

author email corresponding author email

BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making 2009, 9:43doi:10.1186/1472-6947-9-43

Published:	15 September 2009

Abstract

Background

There are few studies that examine the processes that interdisciplinary teams engage in and how we can design health information systems (HIS) to support those team processes. This was an exploratory study with two purposes: (1) To develop a framework for interdisciplinary team communication based on structures, processes and outcomes that were identified as having occurred during weekly team meetings. (2) To use the framework to guide 'e-teams' HIS design to support interdisciplinary team meeting communication.

Methods

An ethnographic approach was used to collect data on two interdisciplinary teams. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the data according to structures, processes and outcomes.

Results

We present details for team meta-concepts of structures, processes and outcomes and the concepts and sub concepts within each meta-concept. We also provide an exploratory framework for interdisciplinary team communication and describe how the framework can guide HIS design to support 'e-teams'.

Conclusion

The structures, processes and outcomes that describe interdisciplinary teams are complex and often occur in a non-linear fashion. Electronic data support, process facilitation and team video conferencing are three HIS tools that can enhance team function.