Measuring interprofessional collaboration in fluid healthcare teams through the lens of teamness

Health professionals often need to work together to provide team-based care. With increasing healthcare complexities and manpower shortages, more health professionals are working in multiple, fluid teams instead of one stable team, to provide care to patients. However, there is currently no validated instrument to measure the quality of interprofessional collaboration in fluid teams. One approach is to assess team members’ perceived level of teamness (qualities that make clinical teams effective). This study aimed to examine the validity evidence of using the Assessment for Collaborative Environment (ACE-15) in fluid teams and investigate if teamness varies among health professions and clinical settings. Content and response process validity were gathered through consulting experts and cognitive interviews, resulting in revisions to 11 of 15 items in ACE-15. Through exploratory factor analysis of 194 responses on the revised ACE-15, a 13-item instrument, ACE-13F, with strong validity evidence for use in fluid teams was developed. A two-factor fixed effect ANOVA model revealed that the clinical setting that health professionals work in has a significant impact on the level of teamness (F[3,170] = 6.15, p < .001, η2 = 0.09). ACE-13F can be used as a rapid instrument to measure interprofessional collaboration in fluid healthcare teams.