On November 15, Healthcare published the third in a series of National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education peer-reviewed articles that present the center’s national research agenda and methodology. According to Frank Cerra, MD, senior advisor to the center, “This trilogy of papers begins to address the skepticism that a national research network could actually be established and provide meaningful, standardized information and evidence for interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPECP). We are now well on our way to laying the foundation to demonstrate whether there is a positive connection between IPECP and positive health outcomes.”

"With accumulating data from real world projects conducted at Nexus Innovation Network sites, we will have the ability to rigorously study the links between exposure to and engagement in interprofessional education, true interprofessional team practice and Triple Aim outcomes," added James Pacala, MD, MS, co-author and professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

The first National Center article, published by Healthcare in March 2015, describes the National Center’s Nexus Innovation Network and its data repository, focusing on the research capability resulting from the creation of these entities. The second article, published in the Journal of Interprofessional Care in July 2015, describes the components of National Center’s research agenda and how it focuses on the interface - the nexus - of interprofessional education and collaborative practice. 

Now, Healthcare has published, “The Application of Informatics in Delineating the Proof of Concept for Creating Knowledge of the Value Added by Interprofessional Practice and Education." This article establishes that the National Center’s methodology meets the criteria for “proof of concept,” including preliminary data from the National Center Data Repository. The paper is organized around the concepts of data, information and knowledge – the three conceptual foundations of informatics. 

May Nawal Lutfiyya, PhD, senior scientist for the center, continued, “Our knowledge generation strategy has three components - the research agenda, the Nexus Innovation Network and data repository and informatics. These articles are contributing to a research platform that can be used for professionals to advance their own interprofessional initiatives.”

The three articles are available in the Resource Center:

Pechacek J., Cerra F., Brandt B., Lutfiyya M.N., Delaney C. (2015). Creating the evidence through comparative effectiveness research for interprofessional education and collaborative practice by deploying a national intervention network and a national data repository. Healthcare, 3,146-161.

Lutfiyya M.N., Brandt B., Delaney C., Pechacek J., Cerra F. (2015). Setting a research agenda for interprofessional education and collaborative practice in the context of US health system reform. Journal of Interprofessional Care, Early Online: 1–8. DOI: 10.3109/13561820.2015.1040875.

Cerra F., Pacala J., Brandt B., Lutfiyya M.N. (2015). The Application of Informatics in Delineating the Proof of Concept for Creating Knowledge of the Value Added by Interprofessional Practice and Education. Healthcare, 3, 1158-1173.