By Kaitlin Ugolik Phillips

In our ever-changing health care environment, team-based and similar terms, like integrated care and interprofessional education and collaboration, have become buzzwords. The concept seems simple enough: work together within your practice, just like you’ve been taught to do since kindergarten. But when it comes to health care, working as a team can be anything but simple.

In the latest issue of the North Carolina Medical Journal, experts take a deep look at what really makes a team a team.

“While evidence suggests that a team-based, patient-centered approach can increase patient and health care provider satisfaction, few providers are formally trained to share skills, responsibilities, and roles that maximize both personal and patient outcomes and satisfaction,” writes guest editor Meg Zomorodi, assistant provost and director of the Office of Interprofessional Education and Practice in the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “Instead, health care professionals are trained to work as team members ‘on the job,’ where each microsystem, unit, or clinic may have different cultures, values, and expectations around team-based care. In other words, not all interprofessional collaboration is created equal.”

Here’s what else to expect from the Team-Based Care issue of the NCMJ:

Let’s Work Together: Interprofessional Training of Health Professionals in North Carolina by Anne Derouin, Mary E. Holtschneider, Katherine E. McDaniel, Kimberly A. Sanders, and Diana B. McNeill

Is North Carolina’s Workforce Prepared for Team-Based Care? by Lisa de Saxe Zerden, Brianna Lombardi, and Erica L. Richman

Implementing an Integrated Team-Based Model of Care by Janet G. Campbell and Angela Richard-Eaglin

Alternative Payment Models and Team-Based Care by Jason N. Mose and Cheryl B. Jones

Redefining the Team in Team-Based Care: Role of Public Health by Susan M. Kansagra, Sally Herndon, Kelly S. Kimple, Cathy Thomas, Sarah Tomlinson, Zack Moore, Mina Shehee, Marshall Tyson, Tara Lucas, and Dennis R. Joyner

Faith-Based Assets and Multi-Sector Community Teams: Tapping into Deeply Woven Roots by Gary Gunderson, Sanne Magnan, and Alina Baciu

A Model of Enhanced Primary Care for Patients with Severe Mental Illness by Jacob Perrin, Brie Reimann, Jeff Capobianco, Jack Todd Wahrenberger, Brian B. Sheitman, and Beat D. Steiner

Strategies for Integrating Technology as a Team Member by Nandita S. Mani, Terri Ottosen, Sarah T. Wright, Rebecca C. McCall, Jamie L. Conklin, and Karthik Adapa

Primary Care Behavioral Health Integration: Promoting the Quadruple Aim by Eric Christian, Valerie Krall, Stephen Hulkower, and Sue Stigleman

The Patient and Family as Part of the Health Care Team by Rachel Williams and Jean Williams

A Team-Based Approach to Delivering Person-Centered Care at the End of Life by Ashley Albers, Lindsay Bonsignore, and Michelle Webb

Medical-Legal Partnership in Western North Carolina: Addressing Social Determinants of Health Through Team-Based Care by Anne S. Salter, George T. Anderson, Joshua Gettinger, and Sue Stigleman

Philanthropy Profile: The Cone Health Foundation: Expanding Integrated Care for the Uninsured by Maggie A. Bailey

Spotlight on the Safety Net: The Mobile Area Health Clinic: Addressing Community Needs Through a Wellness Model by Mari Moss

Head over to ncmedicaljournal.com to read the whole issue.