TeamSTEPPS™ is an evidence-based teamwork system aimed at optimizing patient outcomes by improving communication and other teamwork skills among health care professionals. It includes a comprehensive set of ready-to-use materials and training curricula necessary to integrate teamwork principles successfully into your health care system.
TeamSTEPPS™ was developed by the Department of Defense (DoD) in collaboration with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
Background
In 1999, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reported that medical errors caused as many as 98,000 deaths each year—it suggested that systemic failures were important underlying factors and that better teamwork and coordination could prevent harm to patients. The IOM recommended that health care organizations establish team training programs for personnel in critical care areas such as emergency departments, intensive care units, and operating rooms.
The DoD was quick to pick up this challenge by developing medical team training
programs using team training principles developed in military aviation and
in private industry. AHRQ and DoD sponsored a literature review and an in-depth
review in the form of three case studies of DoD-sponsored medical team
training programs. The case study report, conducted by the American Institutes
for Research in Washington, DC, concluded that these programs represent a first
generation of what it believes will be continuous, sustained advancement in
medical team training over the next decade and beyond.
The TeamSTEPPS™ Tools
TeamSTEPPS™ is presented in a multimedia format, with tools to help your health care organization plan, conduct, and evaluate its own team training program. It includes:
- An Instructor Guide that explains how to conduct a pretraining assessment
of an organization's training needs, how to present the information effectively,
and how to manage organizational change. The Guide also provides an evidence
base for each lesson. Availability.
- A Multimedia Resource Kit with contents of the Instructor Guide
in electronic form plus high-quality video vignettes of teamwork situations.
This comes as a CD-ROM with the printable files (Word®, PDF, and PowerPoint®)
that comprise the Instructor Guide and the Pocket Guide, plus a a DVD that
contains nine video vignettes about how failures in teamwork and communication
can place patients in jeopardy, and how successful teams can work to improve
patient outcomes. Availability.
- A
spiral-bound Pocket Guide that summarizes TeamSTEPPS™ principles in a portable,
easy-to-use format. Availability.
- PowerPoint® presentations that convey basic TeamSTEPPS™ principles.
Available online and on CD-ROM.
- A 17- x 22-inch poster that tells your staff you are adopting TeamSTEPPS™. Availability.
How to Order TeamSTEPPS™ Materials
Instructor Guide: A
limited number of assembled toolkits (including the CD, DVD, and printed
materials in a 3-inch looseleaf binder) are available from the AHRQ Clearinghouse,
on a single-copy basis, at cost.
Multimedia Resource Kit, Pocket Guide, and Poster: You may obtain single copies of the CD-ROM and DVD disks (distributed in a disk wallet as the Multimedia Resource Kit), the Pocket Guide, and the poster free from the AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse. DoD requests should indicate the order is "DoD/TRICARE."
TeamSTEPPS™ Web Site
All TeamSTEPPS™ tools—except for the high-resolution video vignettes—can
be accessed online at the Web site of the Uniformed Services University of
the Health Sciences:
http://dodpatientsafety.usuhs.mil/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=31. (Mouse over "Training" in the navigation bar on the left.)
More Resources on Team Training and Patient Safety
PSNet features essential resources on patient safety, with
weekly updates of patient safety literature, tools, and meetings. Go
to http://www.psnet.ahrq.gov/
Department of Health and Human Services
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Department of Defense
TRICARE
Current as of November 2007
Internet Citation:
TeamSTEPPS™: Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety. November 2007. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/teamstepps/
540 Gaither Road Rockville, MD 20850