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Abstract

The use of teams in health care has generally relied on the notion that teams must physically meet and function in person in the same location, on a regular, scheduled basis, in order to maximize the value of the interdisciplinary process. This article examines the concept of creating a different kind of team in primary care, out-patient settings--one which relies upon communications technology to link together clinicians from different locations to coordinate and manage the care of patients, particularly those with chronic disease. This approach--referred to as Virtual Integrated Practice--is designed to overcome the barriers of traditional in-person teams by creating a "virtual team" with the potential to function more efficiently, productively, and satisfactorily for clinicians and patients alike.

Validation of an instrument to measure inter-organisational linkages in general practice

“…Although these linkages may vary, there is some evidence that links are stable over the medium term at the level of primary care organisations [ 11 ]. These linkages may be facilitated by communications [ 12 ] or the use of link-workers [ 13 , 14 ], however, the latter are not the principal focus of this measure.…”