Improve Healthcare Collaboration with A Checklist

I never imagined suboptimal healthcare collaboration would happen to me. Twenty-four hours before a group presentation, we were arguing over the format of our presentation rather than putting the final touches on it. We had spent so much time gathering data that we never talked about our expectations for how we would work together.

In medicine, good judgment comes from bad experiences. From then on, I resolved to discuss process issues up front and teach healthcare colleagues to do the same. We use checklists all the time when doing procedures. Why not use them at the start of meetings or other group projects?

Here is the checklist I use with healthcare professionals at the start of meetings and task forces. I find it a helpful starting point for discussion about necessary issues, such as expectations for tactful discussions and maintaining confidentiality of proprietary data:

As team members, we resolve to:
· Show up on time for meetings and notify leader in advance when unable to be present
· Actively listen and participate
· Openly exchange ideas and viewpoints
· Build on one another’s ideas
· Refrain from personal criticism
· Remain focused on the tasks for which we are responsible
· Monitor our progress at regular intervals
· Share responsibility for deadlines and ownership of results
· Develop win-win solutions
· Respect members’ confidentiality

Checklist reprinted with permission from “Surgeon frustration: Contemporary problems, practical solutions.” Contemporary Surgery. 2003;59(2):76-85, Dowden Health Media.