4 Steps to Strengthening Interdisciplinary Communication & Care
The relationship between emergency medicine (EM) and hospital medicine (HM) teams is a critical aspect of delivering seamless patient care. Historically, the dynamic between these clinical specialties has been characterized by tension and low trust – often due to significant differences in processes and performance goals. Though data has repeatedly shown that collaborative care environments yield healthier, more satisfied patients, the diligence and dedication it takes to cultivate an integrated, interdisciplinary culture can be a barrier to implementing change. Still, healthcare leaders are increasingly realizing that failure to address challenges between EM and HM groups can lead to adverse outcomes—particularly in cases where clinical complexity is high and collaborative communication is essential.
In this blog post, you’ll get actionable steps for fostering effective collaboration between EM and HM teams. These are the strategies that Aligned Providers recommends and relies on in our consultative, contract management, and managed services work.
Step 1: Understand the Challenges
To address ongoing tension and trust issues between EM and HM, you must dig into the root causes. Start with a thoughtful, methodical audit of current procedures, tools, trainings, and KPIs, as well as past complaints, exit interviews, and any other information at your disposal. While the details and demands that surface will be specific in some ways to your organization’s unique topography, we often see at least one or two of the following challenges emerge from an audit:
- Communication Gaps: Lack of standardized handoff protocols and delayed information sharing.
- Misaligned Management: When medical directors are at odds, their departments will be too.
- Performance Metrics: Conflicting metrics like door-to-room time (EM) vs. length of stay (HM).
- Repetitive or Siloed Processes: Patient experience feels disconnected and duplicative, particularly when it comes to key processes like intake.
These challenges are frustrating on any given day, but when you have a complex clinical case to collaborate on, the stakes feel far higher. For that reason, the acuity level, case mix, and social determinants of the population/community that your hospital is situated within are important to consider as you seek to understand the pressures and problems that your EM and HM teams are facing.
Step 2: Include Diverse Perspectives at All Stages
If your goal is to create long-term change in working relationships between EM and HM, collaboration must be woven in from the start. This often means gathering a team of diverse stakeholders to assess the audit results, envision alternative workflows or care models, and create meaningful action plans.
While diversity is often interpreted solely in the sense of racial or gender composition, a truly diverse team of decision influencers will also include individuals of various education and expertise levels, roles and responsibilities within the organization, personal and professional backgrounds, etc.
The benefits of building a diverse group of decision makers are numerous. When the individuals influencing decisions at your organization reflect the experiences and identities of those who are providing or receiving care via your organization, you increase the likelihood of designing solutions that work in practice.
Step 3: Implement Strategies for Effective Collaboration
The following four strategies provide examples of the actionable steps that executives, leaders, clinicians, and staff can use to build or reinforce a solid foundation of collaboration between EM and HM teams. No matter who is on the schedule or what time of day it is, you want to know that a complex patient coming through the doors will receive exceptional quality care and experience a positive overall journey from check in to handoff to discharge.
- Establishing Shared Goals and Metrics
Collaboration begins with a clear understanding of shared objectives. By developing a unified dashboard that tracks critical performance indicators—such as case mix index and readmission rates—teams can stay aligned on what success looks like. These metrics not only provide transparency but also create a common language for evaluating progress. To further strengthen this alignment, consider designing incentive structures that reward teamwork and mutual accountability. When clinicians and staff are working toward the same goals and are equally invested in outcomes, collaboration can feel like a natural extension of daily operations rather than an added burden. - Standardizing Communication Protocols
Effective communication is the backbone of any collaborative effort. Implementing structured tools like SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) increases the likelihood that handoffs are seamless and communication is clear. This reduces errors and fosters trust between departments. Regular alignment meetings provide another layer of cohesion by creating a forum to discuss challenges, celebrate successes, and outline actionable next steps. These meetings serve as a touchpoint to recalibrate efforts and ensure everyone remains on the same page. When deciding who to include in alignment meetings, remember to ensure diverse perspectives are considered. - Fostering a Culture of Mutual Respect
Collaboration thrives in an environment where mutual respect is not just encouraged but actively cultivated. Cross-departmental training and shadowing programs can help break down silos by allowing team members to experience each other’s roles firsthand. This builds empathy, understanding, and appreciation for the unique challenges each team faces. Recognition is another powerful tool for fostering respect. Celebrating collaborative successes—whether through awards, shout-outs in meetings, or other forms of acknowledgment—reinforces positive behaviors and motivates teams to continue working together effectively. - Leveraging Technology
Technology, when used strategically, is essential to strengthening collaboration between EM and HM teams. Establishing mutually useful and beneficial documentation processes, communication channels, and digital efficiencies ensures that both teams have easy access to the information they need when they need it. Streamlined workflows can reduce frustration and improve efficiency—but only if the benefits are applied equitably across departments. Additionally, adopting advanced analytics like generative AI can bolster patient access and empower clinical decision-making processes. By leveraging technology to bridge physical or logistical gaps, teams can collaborate more effectively in real time.
Step 4: Engage Expert Support
Prepare your medical directors for a successful relationship by investing in training and consultative support that:
- Emphasizes the impact of interdisciplinary respect, coordination, and collaboration
- Provides best practice, situation-specific guidance for overcoming barriers to collaboration
- Ensures that leaders are equipped with the skills needed to navigate complex interpersonal dynamics
- Teaches conflict engagement, management, and resolution tactics to reduce misunderstanding and assumptions and facilitate productive disagreements and constructive discussions
- External expert perspectives could also be useful for revising staffing processes to attract and prioritize candidates who are eager to co-construct a team-based, collaborative environment.
In Summary…
Collaboration between emergency and hospital medicine teams is the foundation of excellent care. No matter your organization’s size or budget, meaningful improvement in interdepartmental alignment is possible. Start by implementing just one strategy above—and if you’d like support putting it into action, we’d love to help.