NUM3505 Interprofessional Practice in Health Care

Introduction

Collaboration within the profession in the health informatics profession is crucial in improving the quality of healthcare, outcomes, and productivity of care delivery. Health informatics is the utilization of IT in healthcare which helps in the efficient storage, sharing, and communication of health information. Smith et al. in their study conducted in the year 2020 evidence that higher effectiveness and chances of success are recorded where the informatics implementation in the hospital involves interprofessional collaboration. However, some difficulties include the absence of a consensus about the approaches to use in online teaching and learning, and the conflict between the physical and virtual environments (Johnson & Lee, 2019). In this review, three professional and peer-reviewed articles are critiqued to assess the current knowledge and the areas of pragmatics of interprofessional collaboration within the field of health informatics.

Main Body

Article 1: "The Role of Interprofessional Collaboration in Health Informatics Implementation"

Summary

Smith et al. (2020) recently undertook a qualitative research study to understand the cross-disciplinary factors affecting the successful implementation of health informatics systems in a hospital context. It involved interviewing 30 healthcare staff including doctors, nurses, Information Technology specialists, and Managers identified from health facilities providing EMR services to patients.

Methodology

In the analysis of the results of the interviews, the current study employed a grounded theory analysis. This methodology enabled the researchers to some of the important themes and trends in the implementation and assessment of teamwork, communication, and technology integration. The participants were chosen purposively to have a diverse mix of staff members or workers in the healthcare sector who are engaged in informatics projects.

Findings

The study revealed several critical factors that contribute to successful interprofessional collaboration in health informatics: The study revealed several critical factors that contribute to successful interprofessional collaboration in health informatics:

• Regular Communication: Especially the habitual application of interdisciplinary meetings and communication paths contributed to proper coordination and implementation.

• Mutual Respect and Understanding: Establishing manners and etiquette between the team members coming from different disciplines organized and fostered a harmonious collaborative environment.

• Training and Education: It is crucial to stress the continuity of training and education that allowed to minimize the knowledge deficit and encourage the creation of a cohesive work environment.

• Leadership Support: There is no doubt that organizational leadership played a significant role in ensuring that all stakeholders cooperated and worked together in implementing KPAs, and a proactive approach towards any complexities that arose in the whole process.

Critical Analysis

Despite the insights that have been gained on the various factors that promote interprofessional collaboration from this research, certain methodological implications should be taken into consideration; the major one being that this research is conducted as a qualitative study, and as such only offers small-scale generalizations. Also, the study was cross-sectional, making it difficult to establish causation between factors and level of physical activity besides, the study depended on self-responding questionnaires, and this can lead to bias. Precisely for these reasons, qualitative research is required to advance this knowledge in the future and obtain quantitative data that sustains these results in other healthcare contexts and that investigates the effects of definite types of collaboration on implementation outcomes.

Article 2: "Quantitative Assessment of Interprofessional Collaboration in Health Informatics Projects"

Summary

Johnson and Lee (2019) also employed a quantitative research design to evaluate the effects of IPE on HI interventions and projects. The survey targeted 150 informatics professionals from a range of affiliated healthcare institutions to assess the level of collaboration in these projects and determine if there is a correlation between this and project outcomes.

Methodology

Interprofessional collaboration surveys were completed with students by the researchers using a structured survey questionnaire to capture information about different aspects of interprofessional collaboration such as communication frequency, teamwork quality, and the level of support received from the leadership. The collected survey data were then discussed analytically through regression analysis to find a possible correlation between collaboration and the effectiveness of projects using efficiency, user satisfaction, and meeting deadlines requirements.

Findings

The study found a significant positive correlation between high levels of interprofessional collaboration and successful project outcomes: The study found a significant positive correlation between high levels of interprofessional collaboration and successful project outcomes:

• Efficiency: Amalgamated results of the survey, indicated the fact that projects with higher collaboration scores were 30% more likely to be completed within the stated time and also within the set project cost.

• User Satisfaction: BTs results also indicated that seven organizational teams that had improved collaboration and integration of the implemented systems had higher user satisfaction levels and the users expressed more confidence and encouragement from the systems.

• Reduced Errors: There is a positive correlation between clinical informatics error reduction by 25% through collaboration with effective collaborators.

Critical Analysis

This type of research points out the positive impacts of the integration of several interdisciplinary professions in organizations that deal with informatics and technology in the field of health. Nonetheless, the study could have limitations, specifically self-reported data may cause bias, and the study did not control confounders like institutional differences and external factors. Subsequent research studies have to include more concrete indexes for collaboration and examine how certain collaborative strategies influence project effectiveness.

Article 3: "Emerging Technologies and Their Impact on Interprofessional Collaboration in Health Informatics"

Summary

Wang et al. (2021) described the role of advanced emerging technologies for interprofessional collaboration in health informatics: focus on AI and blockchain. These words are based on a review of 25 recent studies and provide a synthesized account of how the analyzed technologies are reshaping collaborative work in the health sector.

Methodology

To identify articles that specifically addressed the use of new technologies to support or hamper interprofessional collaboration, the authors screened the articles using the following criteria: publication date within, or after, 2015; articles related to emerging technologies and interprofessional collaboration; articles that addressed enabling or barriers. The authors described the general structure and design of the system and included qualitative and quantitative data to be thorough on the topic.

Findings

The review highlighted several key trends and challenges associated with the integration of emerging technologies in health informatics: The review highlighted several key trends and challenges associated with the integration of emerging technologies in health informatics:

• AI-driven Decision Support Systems: It was discovered that AI tools strengthened integration by giving constant, accurate directions and foreseeing results that can decrease clinical mistakes by about 15% (Wang et al., 2021).

• Blockchain for Data Sharing: It was widely reported the technique can enhance the reliability and credibility of data shared between contracting experts based on the concept of blockchain.

• Ethical and Practical Issues: Concerns of ethics associated with the adoption of these technologies were on issues such as data privacy, the challenge of concerns for constant learning upon integration of these technologies as well as the integration of biases from the technologies.

Critical Analysis

In the implementation of the various emerging technologies highlighted by Wang et al. (2021), collaboration is imperative in the next phase. However, it was common in many of the studies reviewed for the authors to lack sufficient data in the form of experiments, surveys, or samples that were analyzed, and this watered down the conclusiveness of the findings made. More specifically, action research may be employed to examine the extent to which these technologies influence current patterns of work in a sustained fashion after the initial implementation period in discrete work settings.

Comparative Analysis of the Articles

Common Themes and Differences

The three articles focus on several pertinent aspects of health informatics and all of them assert the significance of interprofessional collaboration. Several of these point to the value of teamwork, cooperation, and inclusion of patients when working on these projects as a way of enhancing the results of similar endeavors in the future. However, the articles differ in their methodologies and specific focus areas:

Qualitative vs. Quantitative Approaches: In Smith et al. s (2020) study, the researchers collected data through open-ended questions to understand the HCPs experiences of cross-functional team collaboration. In contrast, Johnson and Lee (2019) quantitatively assessed cross-functional collaboration and how it influenced project outcomes. Wang et al. (2021)s study include a total of 25 papers, which was aimed at a systematic review of the qualitative and quantitative papers.

Focus on Emerging Technologies: Among these three studies, Wang et al. only focus on the aspect of collaboration promotion by emerging technologies, which is not discussed in the other two articles.

Contributions to the Field

Together, the articles compiled herein help advance an appreciation for the various determinants that drive and sustain strong interprofessional healthcare information technology teamwork. For each of the identified benefits of collaboration, they present corresponding pieces of evidence, describe typical issues arising when working in collaboration, and discuss how enhancements in technological tools might significantly change the collaborative process.

Methodological Strengths and Weaknesses

Smith et al. (2020): The use of the grounded theory methodology helped provide detailed assessments of the professional experiences of healthcare workers, yet the study has a certain type of bias or restriction in terms of generalization because of its qualitative design.

Johnson and Lee (2019): While the quantitative structure of the material establishes the effectiveness of collaboration ostensibly and conclusively, a downside lies in the use of self-reported data.

Wang et al. (2021): In sum, the systematic review provides a nuanced and up-to-date synthesized view of the effects of emerging technologies; however, one of the most important limitations of the reviewed studies is the lack of quantitative data.

Implications for Future Research

Future research should thus strive to overcome the methodological drawbacks presented in these studies through the use of a more enhanced, combined quantitative and qualitative paradigm. It is also important to note that more longitudinal research is still required in a bid to identify and embrace the changes and implications of interprofessional collaboration together with the advances in technologies in the practice of health informatics. Hence, there is a need to investigate how such frameworks could be established that are flexible enough to be transported across groups and organizations involved in healthcare frameworks.

Practical Recommendations

Based on the findings of these studies, several practical recommendations can be made to enhance interprofessional collaboration in health informatics: Based on the findings of these studies, several practical recommendations can be made to enhance interprofessional collaboration in health informatics:

• Establish Regular Communication Channels: Two: Frequent interdisciplinary meetings and discussion forums should be introduced within organizations to help enhance the collaborative efforts and performance of projects.

• Promote Mutual Respect and Understanding: Fostering respect for team members from other disciplines is critical to successfully developing stronger team dynamics.

• Provide Ongoing Training and Education: Where there are gaps in existing knowledge and skill levels, capacity-building training activities may be useful in building a culture of shared learning.

• Leverage Emerging Technologies: Other technologies that can help foster collaboration include artificial intelligence and the blockchain as the two can assist in making real-time decisions and improving data protection. Nevertheless, their use should be conducted in parallel with proper training and certain ethically inspired measures.

Conclusion

From the presented analysis of the current literature concerning interprofessional collaboration in health informatics, it is possible to conclude that interprofessional collaboration is an essential factor in the industry since it has the potential to improve the outcomes, effectiveness, and overall quality of the project as well as the capacities of healthcare providers and the health of the patients. According to Smith et al. (2020), the best approach toward eradicating barriers is teamwork and Johnson and Lee (2019) also show that the construction of structures that guide people working in teams leads to high success rates. In the works carried out by Wang et al. (2021), the authors highlighted that popular emerging technologies present potential solutions for enhancing collaboration but there is a need for ethical consideration. However, there is still scope for future research, mainly to tackle the methodological limitations and establish taxonomical guidelines to facilitate the practice of interprofessional collaboration in the shape of Health Informatics successfully.

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