The option of giving patients a clinician team roster increases recognition and involvement

Patients were able recognize the names and faces of their clinicians by having them on their care team, which was the result of research that was presented at the American College of Cardiology Quality Summit Virtual September. 29-Oct. 1st 2021. Facial recognition is even more crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients could see the person behind the mask by using a roster.

Patient care teams are often comprised of multiple clinicians fulfilling different roles and with varying levels of expertise. This team approach is critical for providing quality care to patients however, having to interact with multiple people can be confusing for patients who are trying to engage with and establish relationships with their entire care team. Researchers have created a roster of clinicians, including the names, photos and roles of each team member for patients admitted to cardiology primary.

The study was restricted to patients who spoke English and were admitted to the progressive unit between December 14 in 2020 and April 5, 2021 for longer than 24 hours. Patients with documented delirium/dementia or altered mental state were excluded. Patients who were eligible from February 9, 2021 to April 5, 2021, then received a questionnaire 24 hours after admission to determine their ability to identify team members and their defined roles, and to assess, using five-point Likert scales, the importance of recognizing team members was to their treatment.

Patients assessed the importance of being able to identify their primary physicians as 4.67 out of 5. 5 being the most important. For patients who were admitted for more than eight days, the average increased to 4.75 out of five. Patients responded to a question on the importance of understanding the role of primary physicians with an average score of 4.57 out 5.

Paul K. Han MD who is the lead author of the study and a resident physician at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Internal Medicine, stated that the simple, cost-effective intervention could improve the relationship between patientsand their doctors, and patient involvement, and possibly lower health care costs.

Studies have proven that patient satisfaction is linked to lower rates of hospital readmissions. This helps save money by keeping patients healthy and out of the hospital. Our initiative could encourage patients to be more involved in their health, which will increase compliance and aid in the provision of medical care that is high-quality.

Paul K. Han MD is the principal author of this study

Prior to receiving the team rosters (from December 14, 2020 to February 8 2021) patients reported the ability to recognize the attending, fellow resident, and intern as 4.31, 4.08, 4.23, 4.38 out of 5 on average, respectively. After receiving the rosters (from February 9, 2021 until April 5 2021) patients reported being able to recognize the attending resident, fellow, and intern as 4.63 (7.42 percent increase), 4.50 (10.29% increase), 4.38 (3.55% increase), 4.00 (8.68% decrease) out of 5 on average, respectively.

Researchers said they recognized there was logistical challenges in implementing the protocol for rosters as they only observed a 27.59 percent rate of distribution of rosters and survey collection.

Han stated that there is a need to take an approach that is multi-disciplinary when applying the Team Roster tool. “In future iterations, we aim to further simplify the process for ease of implementation.”