Medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States, and it is generally agreed upon by experts in the field that interprofessional teamwork is a key to reducing such medical errors. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, teamwork has been found to be one of the key initiatives within patient safety that can transform the culture within healthcare. Patient safety experts agree that communication and other teamwork skills are essential to the delivery of quality healthcare and to preventing and mitigating medical errors and patient injury and harm.
    
As the University of Chicago prepares to open a new level 1 trauma center, leadership has identified interprofessional teamwork as a key feature to the success of the new venture to provide the highest level of care to trauma patients. Through observation, they have identified teamwork as an area in need of improvement.