Evaluating and Improving Interdisciplinary Practice

The Institute of Medicine (IOM), a division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to help the government and private sector make informed health decisions, recommends interdisciplinary redesign and integrated infrastructures to support collaborative practice. Additionally, the IOM suggests evidence-based processes supported by clinical information systems to improve outcomes. Although the best methods for implementing interdisciplinary practice (IP) are unclear, leaders at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), the oldest orthopedic hospital in the United States, recognized that it is essential for providing excellent care. HSS sought to evaluate the extent to which current organizational structures are effective in operationalizing IP and how these structures can be improved. HSS engaged a Capstone team to analyze the current state of its IP, assess the functionality of current organizational structures, identify strategies for the operationalization of IP, and suggest an action plan to advance IP at HSS.