Introduction
A team in CAREFUL represents a clinical unit (like "Emergency Department" or "General Surgery") where patients and healthcare users come together. Teams are the foundation of CAREFUL's care coordination, enabling multiple clinicians to collaborate on patient care while maintaining clear responsibility assignments.
Before You Start
- You must be a member of at least one team to view team information
- Team Owners and Administrators have additional privileges for managing teams
- If you cannot see any teams in your sidebar, contact your organization administrator
Understanding Teams
What is a Team?
A team is simultaneously:
- A collection of patients being cared for by that team
- A collection of users (called "team members") who collaborate on patient care
This creates a many-to-many relationship:
- A single user can be a member of multiple teams
- A single patient can be cared for by multiple teams
This flexibility gives CAREFUL much of its power for coordinating complex patient care across different clinical units.
Key Team Concepts
Responsibility: At all times, at least one member of the team is designated as "responsible" for each patient. This ensures clear accountability while allowing the entire team to view and contribute to patient care.
Team Visibility: All team members can see all the information for all patients who are being cared for by that team. This transparency supports coordinated care.
Discharge: When a patient is discharged from a team, team members no longer have access to that patient's information (unless the patient is readmitted to that team later).
Viewing Your Teams
Accessing a Team
- Look at the left-hand sidebar navigation menu
- Find the Teams section (it displays as an accordion that can be expanded)
- Click on any team name to open that team's view
- You can also click "All teams" to see a complete list of all teams you have access to
When you click a team name, CAREFUL opens the Team View for that team.
The Team View
The Team View is organized into six tabs:
Patients Tab (default)
- Shows all patients currently being cared for by this team
- Search and filter patients by name or status
- See who is responsible for each patient
- Print patient lists for handovers
- Add new patients to the team (via the dropdown menu)
Members Tab
- Lists all team members
- Shows each member's role (Owner or Standard)
- Search for specific team members
- Click a member to view their profile
Actions Tab
- Displays all outstanding actions for patients in this team
- Shows overdue action counts
- Sort and filter actions
- Quickly close or reassign actions
Chat Tab (if enabled)
- Team communication room
- Real-time messaging between team members
- Track unread messages and mentions
Referrals Tab
- View incoming referrals to your team
- See outgoing referrals sent to other teams
- Accept or reject referral requests
Log Tab
- Complete audit trail of team activities
- Track patient admissions, discharges, and handovers
- Review team setting changes
Team Actions Menu
Click the kebab menu (⋮) in the team header to access team functions:
Available to All Team Members:
- Add patient - Admit a new patient or readmit a previous patient
- Handover all my patients in this team - Transfer responsibility for all your patients to a colleague
- Take responsibility for all patients - Assume responsibility for all patients in the team
Available to Team Owners and Administrators:
- Rename team - Change the team name
- Add user to team - Invite a colleague to join this team
- Manage Handover Categories - Organize handover workflows
- Update Team Memo - Set a message visible to all team members
Available to Administrators (if chat enabled):
- Update Team Chat Settings - Configure team chat features
Team Ownership and Roles
Standard Team Member
Can view all team patients, complete actions, perform handovers, and take responsibility for patients.
Team Owner
Has all standard member privileges, plus the ability to:
- Rename the team
- Add or remove team members
- Manage handover categories
- Update the team memo
- Change user roles within the team
Organization Administrator
Has all team owner privileges across all teams, plus the ability to:
- Create new teams
- Configure team chat settings
- Access any team in the organization
Tips
- Team colors: Each team has a unique color (generated from its ID) to help you quickly identify which team you're viewing
- Patient search: Use the search bar on the Patients tab to quickly find a patient by typing their first or last name
- Badge counts: Tabs show badge counts (e.g., number of patients, overdue actions, pending referrals) to highlight important information
- Print functions: Use "Print MY patients in this team" for your handover list, or "Print ALL patients in this team" for the complete team census
Related Features
- Team Owner Functions - Learn more about managing team members and settings
- Handovers - Understanding how to transfer patient responsibility
- Referrals - How to refer patients between teams
- Actions - Creating and managing tasks for patient care