Understanding Teamwork in Health Care

The experts agree: Understanding Teamwork in Health Care is a true must-read

"Our health care can be magnificently effective, but, without constant coordination and cooperation, its technologies and specialization can be the front doors to confusing complexity and risky fragmentation. Better teamwork improves every aspect of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's 'Triple Aim'--patients' experience of health care, the health of our populations,and the cost of providing care. In this book, Dr. Mosser and Professor Begun have given us a superb guide for better teamwork. Their account is based on sound evidence and compelling concepts, but it is also eminently practical. Nearly 100 stories of teamwork—mostly exemplary,sometimes cautionary—illustrate what it means for patients, physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and others to work together in effective harmony." -- Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP, President Emeritus and Senior Fellow,Institute for Healthcare Improvement

"Best health outcomes are often the result of an extremely competent, completely connected team of caregivers, working with an empowered patient who is the absolute central focus and sometimes the team quarterback. Drs. Mosser and Begun grasp the critical importance ofhealthcare team members working as equals despite titles or disciplines of practice. This is an engaging, enlightening, entertaining must-read for clinicians currently working in the field of health care, those considering the profession, people teaching potential caregivers, and anyone interested in the future of how we can deliver best health care at lowest cost throughcohesive teams." -- George C. Halvorson, Chairman and CEO, Kaiser Permanente

"Dr. Mosser and Dr. Begun blend clinical vignettes and science in a highly readable book to help us understand the importance and diversity of health care teams. The authors' conceptual frameworks are intellectually compelling, and their vignettes capture those concepts in action. Members of every type of health care team will find this book to be a valuable resource. Read the first three chapters. You won’t be able to resist the pleasure of reading the rest of the book." -- Linda Cronenwett, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor and Dean Emeritus, School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

"The team-based models developing in progressive health care call for a comprehensive and insightful guidebook. Understanding Teamwork in Health Care meets this need. It provides pharmacists and other health care professionals with the foundational knowledge necessaryto be members of effective clinical teams." -- Joseph DiPiro, Pharm D, Professor and Executive Dean, South Carolina College of Pharmacy

Gordon Mosser, MD
In 1983, he founded and led an interprofessional healthcare group that includes physicians, nurse practitioners, optometrists, and others. He later co-founded and led the Institute of Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI), a collaboration of 100 medical groups and hospitals doing quality improvement together in Minnesota and adjacent states. For several years, he was Associate Professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, where he taught interprofessional teamwork, leadership, and quality improvement. He continues as a Senior Fellow in the Division of Health Policy and Managment, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Univeristy of Minnesota Medical School.

James W. Begun, PhD
Hamilton Professor of Healthcare Management in the Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota. He was educated at the University of North Carolina. His 100+ publications include the book, Strategic Adaptation in the Health Professions: Meeting the Challenges of Change. Professor Begun has been active nationally in promoting competency-based education, serving as Chair of the Accrediting Commission on Education in Health Services Administration. He was awarded the Gary L. Filerman Prize for Innovationin Healthcare Management Education in 2008 by the Association of University Programs in Health Administration.