Health Service Quality and its Relationship to Team Collaboration and Communication during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In the search for innovative methods to improve the quality and efficiency of health services, integrated clinical pathways (ICPs) have been introduced. AIM: As there is a gap in research on ICP efficiency, the aim of the study was to investigate the role and impact of collaboration and communication among three interprofessional ICP teams on the self-assessment of efficiency of ICPs. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a descriptive quantitative with a survey (N = 152) and qualitative methods with a focus group (N = 27) and in-depth interviews (N = 22) in a typical general hospital in Slovenia. RESULTS: The results showed that health care professionals found patient health care and the work of health care professionals’ better quality with ICP than without ICP. The ICPs team members assessed communication, cooperation and effectiveness in the ICP team as relatively good but identified the lack of staff as the main reason for their limitations. The impact of ICP team collaboration and communication on ICP safety exists but it does not explain a sufficient proportion of the variance and the corelation is medium strong. The result also revealed that the Covid-19 pandemic did not primarily affect ICP team members' fear of possible infection, as studies have shown in the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, but rather staff shortages leading to increased fear of errors and possible complaints and lawsuits from patients and relatives. CONCLUSION: Measures are needed for the additional employment of team members and the retention of current staff through financial compensation and the promotion of supportive workplace characteristics.