| Course | HCR 321 Advanced Concepts for Health Care Coordination |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 6 |
| Paper type | Short paper |
| Length | About 316 words, 4 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Arizona State University |
| Program | BS in Health Care Coordination |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HCR 321 Module 6
Making Teams Work: Interprofessional Collaboration in Care Coordination
Student Name
BS in Health Care Coordination, Arizona State University
HCR 321: Advanced Concepts for Health Care Coordination
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Making Teams Work: Interprofessional Collaboration in Care Coordination
What Interprofessional Teamwork Means
Interprofessional teamwork occurs when professionals from different disciplines, such as nursing, medicine, pharmacy, social work and care coordination, work together toward shared goals for a patient, each contributing their expertise. For coordinators, teamwork is the job: most of what a coordinator achieves happens through other professionals.
What the Evidence Shows
Research supports the idea but shows modest effects. A Cochrane team pooled randomized trials of workplace tools meant to help professions work together, including interprofessional rounds, team meetings and checklists, and concluded that such tools might produce small gains in how well patients function, how closely clinicians follow recommended practice and how resources are used, though the certainty of evidence was low (Reeves et al., 2017). Within care coordination, the Medicare programs that actually lowered admissions for their highest-risk enrollees had coordinators who sat down with physicians in person and passed information among them (Brown et al., 2012).
Barriers
Hierarchy. Junior staff and coordinators may hesitate to raise concerns with physicians.
Time. Busy clinicians have little time for meetings.
Unclear roles. When no one knows who calls the patient after discharge, everyone assumes someone else did. Bodenheimer (2008) describes how such gaps leave patients to coordinate their own care.
Different languages of practice. Each profession uses its own terms and priorities.
Tools a Coordinator Can Use
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| Daily 10-minute huddle | Reviews high-risk patients and assigns tasks |
| Shared care plan in the record | Gives every team member the same goals and roles |
| Closed-loop communication | Confirms that a request was received and completed |
| Role agreements | States who owns each step, such as post-discharge calls |
| Structured handoff format | Keeps information complete when responsibility changes |
Conclusion
Interprofessional teamwork is essential to care coordination, though evidence for specific interventions is modest. Coordinators can strengthen teams with simple, structured tools that clarify roles and keep information moving.
References
Bodenheimer, T. (2008). Coordinating care: A perilous journey through the health care system. New England Journal of Medicine, 358(10), 1064-1071. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMhpr0706165
Brown, R. S., Peikes, D., Peterson, G., Schore, J., & Razafindrakoto, C. M. (2012). Six features of Medicare coordinated care demonstration programs that cut hospital admissions of high-risk patients. Health Affairs, 31(6), 1156-1166. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2012.0393
Reeves, S., Pelone, F., Harrison, R., Goldman, J., & Zwarenstein, M. (2017). Interprofessional collaboration to improve professional practice and healthcare outcomes. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2017(6), CD000072. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD000072.pub3
What the HCR 321 Module 6 instructions ask for
In Module 6 the course moves from patients to the people who serve them: staff and the interprofessional team. The fifth short paper, worth 50 points, answers the teamwork questions your instructor posts in Canvas. Expect to stay between 500 and 750 words, roughly two to three pages, counting only the body of the paper. Three primary sources or more must support the answer in addition to course materials, and the paper goes into the assignment template formatted in APA 7th edition. Teamwork prompts tend to want a definition, an honest look at what supports collaboration and what blocks it and a recommendation a coordinator could act on, so you will define, weigh and recommend in very little space. Workplace examples help, provided no colleague or patient can be identified from them.
How this HCR 321 Module 6 example is built
The sample defines interprofessional teamwork and explains why it is central to coordination, then reports the evidence: a Cochrane review with modest effects and low certainty, and evidence from Medicare programs that in-person contact and a communication hub mattered. Four barriers are named with a source on coordination gaps, and a table of five practical tools gives the paper an applied finish. The conclusion balances the modest evidence with the practical value of structure. Three primary sources meet the requirement, and the paper uses its limited words on analysis rather than background. Every tool in the table answers one of the named barriers.
Reading the HCR 321 Module 6 grading rubric
Fifty points ride on the Canvas rubric for this paper. Readers credit a definition of collaboration that is tied to care coordination work, evidence reported with its limits intact, barriers that are specific and sourced, strategies a coordinator could start next week, three or more primary sources and a paper inside the length rule with clean APA. Marks fall away when teamwork is praised in general terms, when a review with low-certainty findings is presented as proof, when strategies such as "communicate better" stay vague and when the word count runs over. One further pattern separates strong papers from adequate ones: a visible match between each barrier and the tool that answers it. If hierarchy is named as a barrier, the recommendations should say what reduces its effect, so a reader can trace every recommendation back to a problem.
HCR 321 Module 6 help with common mistakes
Answer the module's questions in order and use them as headings. Look for a systematic review on collaboration to anchor the evidence section, and report its certainty honestly. Describe barriers you have seen or read about specifically. Make each recommended tool answer one barrier. Keep examples anonymous. Count words before submitting, since the limit is strict. If you need a starting point for teamwork tools, the desk can suggest resources such as team training programs used in health systems. Name one tool you would try first and explain why it fits your setting best, since a prioritized recommendation reads as more practical than a list. Huddles are often the easiest place to begin because they need no new technology.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Arizona State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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HCR 321 Module 6 questions, answered
Where can I find a free HCR 321 Module 6 sample paper?
The full HCR 321 Module 6 sample is above: a short paper on interprofessional teamwork in care coordination.
Do interprofessional collaboration interventions work?
Possibly a little; the 2017 Cochrane update found small gains on a few outcomes and rated its own confidence in them as low.
What is closed-loop communication?
A practice in which the receiver confirms a request and reports back when it is done, so nothing is lost.
What barriers affect interprofessional teams?
Hierarchy, lack of time, unclear roles and different professional languages are common barriers.
How long is the HCR 321 Module 6 paper?
It shares the 750-word ceiling of the other short papers.