Investigators have designed a novel algorithm that allows determination of the familiarity of all staff members in an emergency department. In this setting (emergency care), familiarity is defined as the hours worked together over a given time period. Shift schedules are the main source of data for this measure.

Stage of Development
The algorithm has been tested in a recent study of one large academic emergency department. This department employs greater than 160 clinicians. Our team is now examining the association between familiarity and clinician perceptions of teamwork with all teammates.

Copyright

Background
Familiarity of teammates has been shown in aviation to be associated with teamwork behaviors and performance. For example, from 1978 to 1990, greater than 70% of commercial aviation crashes were linked to crews working together on their first day. Like aviation, the Emergency Care setting is high risk. Lack of familiarity with teammates is common due to absences, trades in shifts, employee turnover, and last minute disruptions in scheduling. Lack of familiarity may lead to poor teamwork behaviors (e.g. limited communication) and subsequently poor patient or provider outcomes. This association is supported by literature in aviation and other fields examining teamwork.

File Number: 2415