Leveraging Social Science-Healthcare Collaborations to Improve Teamwork and Patient Safety

Effective teamwork is critical to the provision of safe, effective healthcare. High functioning teams adapt to rapidly changing patient and environmental factors, preventing diagnostic and treatment errors. While the emphasis on teamwork and patient safety is relatively new, significant team-related foundational and implementation research exists in disciplines outside of healthcare. Social scientists, including, organizational psychologists, have expertise in the study of teams, multi-team units, and organizations. This article highlights guiding team science principles from the organizational psychology literature that can be applied to the study of teams in healthcare. The authorsʼ goal is to provide some common language and understanding around teams and teamwork. Additionally, they hope to impart an appreciation for the potential synergy present within clinician-social scientist collaborations.