Of all the changes envisioned as part of the transformation to more patient-centered primary care, perhaps none is more promising and more challenging than the transition to team-based delivery of care. Although team-based care may be considered intrinsically patient-centered, some clinicians and patients have expressed concerns that it may disrupt highly valued relationships seen as the foundation of patient-centered care, or splinter care delivery across multiple team members.

This new white paper offers a conceptual framework as well as strategies that providers can use to ensure that team-based care in primary care settings is patient-centered. These strategies are intended to support the development of good relationships between teams and patients, equally strong collaboration within the team itself, and an orientation towards engaging patients as knowledgeable partners in care.

With an increased emphasis on using teams to deliver high quality primary care, abundant and exciting opportunities exist for primary care practices and patients to work together to ensure that such care is patient-centered. This white paper is geared toward primary care practices, practice facilitators, and others who help such practices improve health care delivery, as well as decision makers who are interested in learning more about how primary care practices can deliver better care.