Which patient-safety outcome has improved with effective interprofessional teamwork?

• A. Increased adverse events
• B. Longer hospital stays
• C. Higher readmission rates
• D. Reduction in medication errors

Answer: (D)

Collaborative practice across disciplines enhances safety by improving medication management. When physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other team members actively coordinate, they engage in medication reconciliation, verify orders, review dosages, check for allergies and drug interactions, and confirm appropriate administration. These shared checks help catch mistakes at prescribing, dispensing, and administration stages before they reach the patient, which lowers the likelihood of medication errors.

The other options describe outcomes that would signal worse safety or efficiency, not improvements. An increase in adverse events would indicate deteriorated safety, and longer hospital stays or higher readmission rates reflect less efficient or effective care. While teamwork can positively influence those areas as well, the direct patient-safety improvement highlighted here is the reduction in medication errors.