How does teamwork support general practitioners and Allied Health Professionals to work together?

Abstract

A well coordinated health system provides a comprehensive and continuous experience for the patient, promotes teamwork between practitioners, and the coordination of service delivery organisations. Improving teamwork between General Practitioners (GPs) and Allied Health Providers (AHPs) has been an ongoing challenge for Australia due to the split responsibility for primary health care between Commonwealth and State jurisdictions leading to incompatible systems of funding and accountability. Integration of services at the regional level has been identified as a priority in Australia’s Primary Health Care Strategy. This issue of RESEARCH ROUNDup highlights Australian research and systematic reviews that have addressed the role of teamwork in system integration in primary health care.