The significance of effective interprofessional teamwork to improve the quality of care has been widely
recognised. Effective interprofessional teamwork calls on good collaboration between professionals and
patients, coordination between professionals, and the development of teamwork over time. Effective
development of teams also requires support from the wider organisational context. In a Dutch village,
healthcare professionals work closely together, and mutual consultations as well as interprofessional
meetings take place on a regular basis. The network was created as a precondition for sustainable
interprofessional teamwork in elderly care. However, several external barriers were experienced regarding
the supportive structure and cooperative attitude of the healthcare insurer and municipality. The
aim of the article is to examine these experience-based issues regarding internal organisation, perspective,
and definition of effective teamwork. Complicating factors refer to finding the right key figures, and
the different perspectives on team development and team effectiveness. Our conclusion is that the
organisation of healthcare insurance companies needs to implement fundamental changes to facilitate
an interprofessional care approach. Furthermore, municipalities should work on their vision of the needs
and benefits of a fruitful collaboration with interprofessional healthcare teams. The challenge for
healthcare teams is to learn to speak the language of external partners. To support the development
of interprofessional teams, external parties need to recognise and trust in a shared aim to provide
quality of care in an efficient and effective way.