Role of Physicians in Interdisciplinary Health Care

Based on the traditional reliance by patients on Physicians as the ultimate health care provider responsible for patient care, the roles of physicians in interdisciplinary health care would include:

• To provide leadership in the delivery of interdisciplinary health care.
• To share knowledge contributed by the numerous specialties and subspecialties of medicine on the theory and practice of health maintenance, disease, diagnosis, and treatment.
• To establish specific goals and objectives for preventive and curative care.
• To analyze and interpret the results of the evaluations of the health status of individuals and populations.
• To gather scientific data on the evolution of health status and diseases in populations.
• To provide guidance in the analysis and studies of quality assessment, outcomes research, evaluation of quality of life, cost effectiveness, and cost benefits of specific interventions.