Main Body
Team Science and Transformational Leadership in the Healthcare Field
Elizabeth Hustead
Introduction
Complex healthcare environments, such as large, geographically dispersed hospital networks, specialized treatment centers, and research facilities, require strong leadership with multidisciplinary teams of healthcare professionals and scientists to work towards solutions (Stokols et al, 2008; Gadlin et al., 2010; Vogel et al., 2013; NRC, 2015). Modern healthcare problems cannot be solved in the traditional, linear manner because as new solutions to the problem are considered, the definition of the problem evolves (Stokols et al., 2008). A complex healthcare question, such as how to improve patient outcomes while reducing burden on a hospital, requires healthcare experts from many disciplines working together under the appropriate leadership. Having input from these healthcare professionals is vital in reaching a long-term, meaningful solution; each brings their own unique perspective based on their area of expertise (Stokols et al., 2005). Having the appropriate leadership in place is critical to a team’s success and productivity. Without the correct leadership at the helm, even teams of the brightest professionals can run aground or flounder. As treatment centers and patient care become more complex, the need for collaborative research, team science, and team leadership will continue to grow.
This chapter describes the current state of team science and collaborative patient care in the field of healthcare. Using classic papers on collaboration, team science, and transformational leadership, we will review and critique several large-scale team science initiatives in the healthcare field from the Cleveland Clinic to Aligning Forces for Quality Program. We will also discuss the transformational leadership aspects of each initiative and how those leadership tactics contributed to the programs’ overall success. Based on the current literature and the state of the science, recommendations will be made on the direction of future research in the healthcare field. The reader should finish the chapter with a thorough understanding of prior team science healthcare interventions and how transformational leadership can be employed to effect change at both the individual and team levels.
Background
One approach to solving complex modern organizational problems, including those in the field of healthcare, is called team science: a collaborative, multidisciplinary research process that brings independent researchers or healthcare professionals together into a collaborative group (Gadlin et al., 2010, Vogel et al., 2013; NRC, 2015). This has been a natural fit for healthcare organizations, such as hospitals or public health departments, as they shift their focus from disease treatment to preventative, whole patient care, and populations health (Zocchi et al., 2015). One example of this shift took place during the 2007 reorganization of the Cleveland Clin