American Association for Respiratory Care, Five Other Organizations, Found Hospital Care Collaborative
Effort aimed at fostering teamwork, accountability
Dallas, TX (September 8, 2009)—The American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) has joined five fellow organizations in establishing a new group aimed at improving teamwork and accountability in the nation’s hospitals.
All six members of the Hospital Care Collaborative (HCC) represent key practitioners employed in the hospital setting. The HCC includes the AARC, American Association of Critical Care Nurses, American Society of Health System Pharmacists, Case Manager Society of America, Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care, and Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM).
In its first effort, the group has published a list of 13 guiding principles for quality health care. The Common Principles for Healthcare emphasize the need for collaboration, patient centered care, accountability, and information sharing, and they also address systemic issues in hospital care, such as gaps in health care education and the pressing need for a hospital culture that promotes better teamwork.
The final principal states, “The HCC recognizes that today’s hospital cultures do not foster true teams of health care professionals. The HCC calls on all stakeholders (e.g. payers, providers, administrators, patients) to work together to create a new hospital culture that nurtures and rewards high performing teams.”
The principles may be found on the AARC web site.
AARC President Tim Myers, BA, RRT-NPS, believes the HCC principles will provide the framework needed for health professionals to come together for the good of the patient.
“The AARC recognizes that when health care professionals work together in a non-hierarchical model at the bedside, improved clinical and economic outcomes result,” says the registered respiratory therapist. “The collective knowledge, talent, and professionalism of all team members results in improving the value of clinical care to our patients. The AARC staunchly supports the HCC’s Common Principles of Healthcare.”
Scott Flanders, MD, FHM, president of the SHM, calls the initiative a sea change in how health care is delivered at our nation’s hospitals. “Our patients will benefit when the entire health care team is mobilized to provide the best care we can all muster for their benefit. SHM is committed to working closely with our health professional allies – nursing, pharmacy, social work, case managers, and respiratory therapists – to make this happen.”
In addition to publishing the 13 guiding principles, the six HCC member organizations will be working to:
- Identify and promote best practices in multidisciplinary teamwork.
- Promote continued and expanded collaboration among the HCC organizations to develop and implement strategies for teamwork among health professionals.
- Develop methods and tools for teams in hospitals to perform a Self Assessment of Compliance with the Common Principles.
- Develop and promote education programs specifically for interdisciplinary teams.
- Promote the Collective Accountability by Measurement of Performance at the Team, a strategy supporting the HCC’s belief that the best measurement of performance is at the team level rather than individual health professional level.
About the AARC
The American Association for Respiratory Care, headquartered in Dallas, is a professional association of respiratory therapists that focuses primarily on respiratory therapy education and research. The organization’s goals are to ensure that respiratory patients receive safe and effective care from qualified professionals as well as supporting respiratory health care providers. The association continues to advocate on behalf of pulmonary patients for appropriate access to respiratory services provided by qualified professionals. Further information about the AARC and how to become a respiratory therapist are available at www.AARC.org.###
Contact: Beth Binkley
972-243-2272
binkley@aarc.org
