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Integrating the psychosocial matched care protocol with existing organisational processes, structures and technologies ensures efficiency, reduces duplication of efforts and promotes adoption.

A multidisciplinary team

A multidisciplinary team should endeavour to work in an interdisciplinary manner. The key feature of interdisciplinary work is that it represents a collaboration between the different participants. This manner of working also requires training and should not be taken as a given. There may well be obstacles to be addressed, including possible conflicts in roles and existing processes.

Information technology

Collaboration with IT specialists is needed for successful integration. They should focus on incorporating psychosocial screening tools into existing claim lodgement processes and ensuring that psychosocial data can be easily added to and accessed from case management records. This can include collating and calculating responses into biopsychosocial domains, providing insight (for both claimant and assessor) and guidance to the psychosocial matched care pathway. This will require integration of evidence-based algorithms.

Developing dashboards for easy visualisation of individual and aggregate data and implementing secure data sharing mechanisms between relevant stakeholders are also important aspects of technology integration.

Policies

Organisational policies should be updated to:

•Reflect the principles of psychosocial matched care

•Clarify roles and responsibilities in the new system, and

•Ensure compliance with privacy and data protection regulations.

Also, mapping existing processes can help identify points where the new system can be integrated. This may include claim lodgement and initial assessment, case management workflows, RTW planning and monitoring and healthcare provider communication channels.