Something I have always talked about with classmates, physicians, and really anybody that I discuss healthcare with is the important of collaboration in medicine. This can come in the form of working as a team with other doctors, nurses, PAs, pharmacists, and the list goes on. A team that combines the knowledge and unique perspectives of many provides the ability to see a clinical situation holistically and from many viewpoints. This may not only prevent the missing of important details and allow for the identification of certain factors in each individual case, but also to create a cumulative knowledge of all involved in the team that will find the best possible approach to providing excellent patient care.
I see this sort of collaboration every other week at my LP clinic with Dr. Robert Baiocchi, a hematology/oncology physician at The James. During my first day of clinic with Dr. Baiocchi, I noticed something that I had not seen before – instead of an island of computers where all the physicians work side by side, he worked in a room with his “team”, and he was the only physician in there. His team consisted of an APRN-CNP, an RN, a pharmacist, and a PCRM (patient care resource manager – a nurse case manager). What I immediately noticed was how valuable it is for him to have such a team to work with, and how it likely helps so many of his patients.
From what I have noticed, both with my own observations and from his patient feedback to me, Dr. Baiocchi is brilliant. He has a vast knowledge of the field, has excellent bedside manner, and truly is an excellent physician. While this is all true, he still discusses just about every single case with his team, ranging from the complex to the less complex. This is not to say that they have a huge drawn-out discussion over a patient coming in for a follow-up or check-in, but he makes the team an active part of the clinical decision-making process because each member of the team brings something a little different to the table. Whether this is regarding their history of cancer, the pathophysiology of their disease, their PMHx, drugs that they are taking/should be taking/should stop taking, or anything along these lines – they work as a unit so that their patient is as healthy as possible. Each member of the team constantly treats each other with a mutual respect for their contributions and individual bases of knowledge, with dignity, and with trust, which allows the team to be more effective in their determination of treatment protocols, and I truly believe that this is what contributes to improved outcomes in healthcare. It must be kept in mind that he absolutely does work and collaborate with other physicians, but this core team are always in close proximity and there to discuss and move forward with treatment together.
My experience in the hem/onc clinic with Dr. Baiocchi has shaped my view of clinical practice in that I can see the value of having such a team around me at the hospital. Sometimes, physicians may overlook something, or may forget something, or may not have seen something for years, or may simply have never learned something. Having such a team around them with carries a mutual sense of respect, dignity, and trust will only come to help his patients, as well as make it more enjoyable to go to work and to practice medicine. I hope to emulate this sort of teamwork in my future practice, for the betterment of both myself and the patients I will treat.