Role of Physicians in Interprofessional Health Care

Physicians bring distinctive clinical and scientific expertise to interprofessional health care while sharing responsibility with other health professionals, patients, families, and communities for achieving optimal health outcomes. Effective interprofessional practice recognizes the unique and complementary expertise of each profession and is grounded in mutual respect, shared accountability, collaborative decision-making, and person-centered care.

The roles of physicians in interprofessional health care include:

• Contributing medical expertise in health promotion, disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management while recognizing and integrating the expertise of other health professions.
• Partnering with patients, families, and other health professionals to establish shared goals and develop coordinated, person-centered plans of care.
• Engaging in shared and situational leadership, recognizing that leadership may appropriately shift among team members based on their expertise, the needs of the patient or population, and the circumstances of care.
• Communicating and collaborating effectively across professions, including actively seeking, valuing, and incorporating the perspectives and expertise of other members of the health care team.
• Contributing to the assessment and interpretation of clinical, scientific, and population-health information to support evidence-informed, collaborative decision-making.
• Partnering in quality improvement, patient safety, outcomes assessment, research, and evaluation to improve health outcomes, health equity, patient and clinician experience, and value.
• Participating in interprofessional education, scholarship, and continuous learning that strengthens collaborative practice across the health professions.
• Advocating for systems, policies, and models of care that support effective interprofessional collaboration and enable all health professionals to contribute fully within their areas of expertise and scope of practice.