What’s a Good Team?
You:
the driving force behind the effort. Projects need personalities: people who keep things going. That’s where you come in, Dr. Vision!
Executive Authority:
Someone who can throw the support of the organization behind the effort and has the authority to not just suggest but to enforce decisions. Having this person engaged will help get things done. Its great to motivate people, but there’s nothing better than someone saying: this is how we will be doing it!
Physicians:
This should include those who work in any area implementing SBIRT: those working in the outpatient clinics (family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, gynecology) and in the emergency department. In the future, SBIRT may become a standard procedure for all admissions, in which case the hospitalist service may need to be involved.
Your initial group should involve people from each level of the organization that will be affected. This can include:
Mental health providers:
You have to have people to refer to or it won’t work. This may include social workers with training in substance abuse, counselors (and other trained staff who may go by other titles), and psychiatrists.
Information tech/data folks
Someone’s in charge of paper and electronic records. Engage them. They can help you decide how best to track your results. They will also help you create forms if you use paper documents.
Got Team? Terrific! Now what? How about a timeline?