The effect of a structured model for XXXX rehabilitation multi-disciplinary team meetings on functional recovery and productivity: a Phase I/II proof of concept study.

@entity1 @entity64
OBJECTIVE: Regular multidisciplinary team meetings are the main way that teams operate, yet our earlier research found they can sometimes be suboptimal. We developed a model to structure multidisciplinary team meetings and assessed the feasibility, acceptability and impact of its implementation on meeting quality and @entity1 outcomes. DESIGN: Longitudinal cohort design with non- @entity1 observation of multidisciplinary team meetings before and after implementation of the intervention. SETTING: @entity64 rehabilitation units. SUBJECTS: Members of the multidisciplinary @entity64 rehabilitation teams. INTERVENTION: A model to structure multidisciplinary team meetings. MAIN MEASURES: Quality of multidisciplinary team meetings (using a predefined checklist); change in independence (Barthel Index) during admission; length of stay; meeting duration and the number of @entity1 discussed. RESULTS: At baseline, meeting quality was generally low. Following implementation, all aspects of meeting quality improved by 5%-58%. This was achieved without loss of staff productivity or additional resources: The mean number of @entity1 treated during the observation periods was 36 (SD 17.6), which was unchanged after implementation. Nor were there any significant changes in the length of meetings (mean   =   76   minutes), time spent discussing each @entity1 (5.4 vs. 7   minutes) or length of stay (26.7 vs. 30.3   days), but there was a greater increase in Barthel Index score after implementation (3.8 vs. 4.7) indicating greater functional recovery. CONCLUSIONS: A feasible and acceptable model to structure @entity64 team meetings has been developed and implemented. This increased meeting quality without increase in resources and may increase @entity1 recovery.
