TeamSTEPPS Training Program

Teamwork in health care has been identified as an important skill for orthopaedic surgeons, other physicians, nurses, physician assistants, and other operating room personnel. Improving teamwork leads to reducing errors and enhancing communications within teams. Reducing errors through enhancing communications leads to better outcomes.

The AAOS has made a commitment to educate orthopaedic surgeons, other physicians, and allied health professionals providing musculoskeletal care to patients in the hospital, ambulatory surgery center, and clinic. The AAOS Board of Directors has committed funds to conduct 80 TeamSTEPPS workshops from June 2012 – December 2014.

The AAOS Team Training Program is a commitment to educate orthopaedic surgeons, other physicians (e.g. anesthesiologists), and allied health professionals about teamwork and its impact on musculoskeletal care for patients. Orthopaedic surgeons should strive to improve their teamwork skills as better teamwork can lead to better outcomes.

Orthopaedic surgeons can to learn from interdisciplinary teams of experts in order to develop expert teams.

Areas of Potential Benefit

• Better collaboration, coordination, and communication among surgeons, anesthesia providers, nurses, technicians and patients/families across the continuum of care
• Proactively sharing accurate information across disciplines and including patients
• Decreased errors such as wrong-site surgery, retained foreign objects, protocol deviations for peri-operative antibiotics, staff or patient misunderstandings about optimal post-operative course
• Increased patient and staff satisfaction due to enhanced teamwork
• Decreased rates of infections, major complications, morbidity and mortality
• Decreased barriers to communication, improved quality and safety, decreased malpractice risk
• Improved reputation of orthopaedic surgeons, units and facilities
• Greater efficiency and effectiveness, decreased cost of care

There are different kinds of teamwork programs for physicians and allied health professionals. Crew Resource Management is a teamwork program derived from the airline industry. TeamSTEPPS is a teamwork program designed specifically for health care by the US Government Department of Defense.

The AAOS has trained a select group of 20 orthopaedic surgeons to serve the fellowship as TeamSTEPPS trainers. Many of these orthopaedic surgeons are mentors in the AAOS Communications Skills Mentoring Program. These mentors will use the experience of conducting communications skills workshops to present the TeamSTEPPS training program.

TeamSTEPPS workshop participants (interdisciplinary teams comprised of orthopaedic surgeons, other physicians, (e.g. anesthesiologists), and allied health professionals) will gain new insight into how teams communicate and work effectively for the benefit of patients. The AAOS awards up to a maximum of 4 CME credits for completion of a TeamSTEPPS training workshop.*

*The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education (CME) for physicians.

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons designates TeamSTEPPS Training Workshops for a maximum of 4 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits. ™ Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.