Task Delegation and Interprofessional Collaboration: Needs Assessment and Inventory among Social Insurance Physicians and Socio Medical Nurses to Create a Toolbox of Evidence-Based Tools, Services, and Professionalization for Socio Medical Nurses

Marlinda Dekker MD, Trees Juurlink PhD, Jennifer Coffeng PhD, Sylvia van der Burg-Vermeulen MD PhD, Han J.R. Anema MD PhD.

Project Description

Due to the ongoing shortage of social-medical professionals, social-medical service delivery is under pressure. It is therefore essential that the social insurance physician (in Dutch: verzekeringsarts, VA) delegates tasks from a leadership role to other disciplines, such as the social medical nurse (in Dutch: sociaal medisch verpleegkundige, SMV). In the context of task delegation, it is important that other professionals at UWV, including SMVs, are competent and act in accordance with generally accepted insurance medical research methods. The 'Guidance on Task Delegation by Insurance Physicians in the Public Domain' from the NVVG (Dutch Professional Organization of Insurance Medicine) provides a framework within which a VA can delegate tasks, but scientifically supported tools for implementing task delegation are lacking. This chair project aims to contribute to the use of task delegation, following the guidance, by developing a toolbox of tools for task delegation and ways to promote the implementation of task delegation by addressing the needs of the practice.

Research Objectives

The objectives of this chair project are twofold:

• A needs assessment is conducted among VA and SMV to determine what they believe is necessary for the implementation of task delegation. Based on the needs assessment, goals can be set to support VA and SMV in:

1. Assessing changes in the customer;
2. Using (evidence-based) tools and services;
3. Professionalizing SMV.

• Promoting the implementation of task delegation by examining the level of support for collaboration through task delegation and drawing lessons from successful task delegation examples from other domains.

Publications

In preparation.

Contact

More information Marlinda Dekker: m.c.c.dekker@amsterdamumc.nl