The impact of team science collaborations in health care: a synopsis and comment on “Interprofessional collaboration: effects of practice-based interventions on professional practice and healthcare outcomes”

The eighth column on evidence-based behavioral medicine is a synthesis of the study of Zwarenstein et al. (1). which examines the effects of practice-based interventions to improve interprofessional collaboration. Poor interprofessional collaboration may have deleterious effects on quality of care. The purpose of the systematic review was to investigate whether interventions aimed at improving interprofessional collaboration affect patient satisfaction and/or the effectiveness and efficiency of care. Five randomized controlled trials were reviewed, examining studies that differed across setting, interventions, and outcomes. Of the five studies reviewed, three showed improvements in patient care, one found no effect, and one had mixed findings. Findings indicate that interventions aimed at improving interprofessional care may improve outcomes, but interpretation of these findings is limited due to the small sample size and heterogeneity across studies reviewed.