Examining team creativity in primary care.

Abstract

Background: Primary care teams are essential to high-quality patient-centered care but face persistent challenges. In other industries, team creativity is well-studied and is gaining traction in health care, particularly in primary care, where it may foster innovation and improvement.

Purposes: The aim of this study was to adapt and refine the concept of team creativity for primary care, using management literature to develop a context-specific framework.

Methodology/approach: A three-stage empirical design was used. First, team creativity dimensions were identified through a review and thematic analysis of management literature. Second, a panel of 15 primary care experts adapted these dimensions for primary care. Third, a survey of 648 primary care team members in a large health system was followed by exploratory factor analysis to identify core dimensions.

Results: Five dimensions of primary care team creativity emerged: team orientation to creativity, team creative processes, job-required creativity, team creative outputs, and leveraging team creativity.

Conclusion: Team creativity can be conceptualized and measured in primary care.

Practice implications: Primary care teams can apply these five dimensions to generate creative ideas in daily work. Managers can support this by allocating resources, implementing supportive practices, and recognizing creative contributions.