Physician trust in their staff and proactive engagement play pivotal roles in fostering highperforming teamlets in primary care, offering key insights for optimizing patient outcomes and care delivery, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. Melinda A. Chen, MD, and colleagues, performed qualitative interviews with physicians and teamlet staff members aimed to pinpoint characteristics of high-performing primary care teamlets. Characteristics were defined by low rates of ambulatory care sensitive emergency department visits and hospital admissions. Through qualitative comparative analysis of 26 interviews across 13 teamlets, the researchers defined staff proactiveness in anticipating physician needs, and physicians’ trust in their team members emerged as key factors. This study underscores the importance of fostering a culture of trust between physicians and staff, along with proactive engagement from the team in supporting physicians. It is important to improve patient care, and by enhancing these attributes, it could lead to improved teamlet performance in primary care settings.
