Leadership through interdisciplinary teams: a case study of an acute pain service.
Interdisciplinary teams are rapidly becoming the standard for the organization and delivery of acute care services. Increasingly, research is showing that an interdisciplinary approach has the potential to improve patient care. Implementing a team approach, however, has challenges because of the various perspectives that different disciplines bring. In this paper we present a case study of an Acute Pain Service to illustrate how an interdisciplinary team can work to improve pain management in hospitals. The development of the Acute Pain Service will be described along with a discussion of the challenges that were faced. Key lessons will be presented that may lend direction for the implementation of an Acute Pain Service or for any other interdisciplinary team.