Medical Teamwork and Patient Safety: The Evidence-Based Relation

The science of team performance and training can help the medical community improve patient safety. This report, commissioned by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), assesses the status of relevant team training research from aviation and other domains and applies this research to the field of medicine. It additionally provides a comprehensive review and evaluation of current medical team training initiatives and their effectiveness.

The available evidence suggests that training teams of health care providers constitutes a pragmatic, effective strategy for enhancing patient safety by reducing medical errors.