Abstract
Since most medical accidents are due to team problems, teamwork has been recognized as a key initiative to improve patient safety. Communication and other teamwork skills are essential to mitigate medical errors. TeamSTEPPS is an evidence-based teamwork system to improve communication and teamwork skills among health care professionals. It produces highly effective medical teams that optimize the use of information, personnel, and other resources to achieve the most optimal clinical outcomes for patients. Teamwork skills are important because teamwork is not innate and must be learned.
