Shared Experience in Trauma Teams Links Directly to Improved Patient Outcomes

A new study published in Organization Science titled “Transactive Memory Systems and Hospital Trauma Team Performance: Shared Experience in Action Teams” reveals that trauma patients have better outcomes when they are treated by hospital trauma teams that possess a strong collective awareness, known as a transactive memory system (TMS). Building strong TMS among the members of hospital trauma teams improves the quality of care that patients receive. The research team, Linda Argote and Ki-Won Haan (Carnegie Mellon University); Jerry Guo (Frankfurt School of Finance and Management); Matthew R. Rosengart (Washington University in St. Louis); Cindy Teng (Virginia Hospital Center); and Jeremy M. Kahn (University of Pittsburgh), set out to determine how the group dynamics of hospital trauma teams affect outcomes for patients.

The researchers analyzed 121 video recordings of real-life trauma resuscitations at a Level 1 Trauma Center and patient outcomes such as length of stay and readmissions. The researchers discovered that a team’s ability to coordinate effectively relies heavily on shared experience working together, which enables them to develop a transactive memory system (TMS). The TMS acts as the specific mechanism that links team experience to improved patient outcomes. While previous studies suggested that teams working together frequently perform better, this research pinpoints exactly why that improvement happens. Team members who “know who knows what” can match tasks to the most qualified individuals instantly and consult the right experts without delay. This rapid coordination is most important in trauma bays, where medical professionals must diagnose and stabilize patients with severe injuries in minutes.

The data reveal a striking relationship between strong TMS and patient recovery times. Patients treated by trauma teams with well-developed TMS spend, on average, 1.9 fewer days in the ICU and 3.3 days in the hospital than patients treated by teams with weak TMS. Spending fewer days in the hospital benefits both patients and hospitals.  The researchers controlled for or accounted for factors such as the severity of the patients’ injuries, the size of the trauma teams, the individual experience of team members, and the workload in the emergency department, and found that the effect of TMS was robust. These findings suggest that the cognitive connections between team members are just as important, or more so, as these other factors. 

Jeremy M. Kahn, vice chair and professor in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Department of Critical Care Medicine and an intensivist at UPMC, comments, “As physicians, we all feel that teamwork is important in health care. However, the term ‘teamwork’ is a bit of a platitude. We like to say it’s important, but we don’t really understand it, and we don’t know how to improve it. This study provides concrete evidence about health care teams and how to improve them in one of the most important arenas—trauma.” This is vital because trauma is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. Improving outcomes for these patients would have immense benefits for individual patients, hospitals, and society at large.

Linda Argote, the Thomas Lord Professor of Organizational Behavior and Theory and Director, Center of Organizational Learning, Innovation and Knowledge of Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, notes that “Hospitals can use this information to design stronger trauma teams, directly leading to better outcomes for severely injured patients.” The authors suggest that administrators should design schedules to keep teams together for longer periods or implement training programs that allow staff to learn about their colleagues’ specific areas of expertise. By fostering these professional bonds, medical centers can enhance team stability, reduce healthcare costs, and improve outcomes for trauma victims across the country.

The study received support from the National Institutes of Health (R35HL144804).

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Summarized from an article in Organization Science, “Transactive Memory Systems and Hospital Trauma Team Performance: Shared Experience in Action Teams,” by Linda Argote and Ki-Won Haan (Carnegie Mellon University); Jerry Guo (Frankfurt School of Finance and Management); Matthew R. Rosengart (Washington University in St. Louis); Cindy Teng (Virginia Hospital Center); and Jeremy M. Kahn (University of Pittsburgh). https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2024.19022