Minneapolis -- The National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education announced that the University of New England (UNE) has joined its Nexus Innovation Network, a national research partnership testing new approaches to health care delivery and health professions education.

UNE joins 87 projects in 33 states already testing new models and methods of integrating health care practice and education. Each of the projects in the Nexus Innovation Network focuses on the real-world testing of effective interprofessional team-based strategies with the potential to improve the experience, outcomes and costs of health care.

In joining the Nexus Innovation Network, UNE will work with Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC) to study the impact on students, clinicians, and patients of implementing interprofessional education. “At UNE, our students are provided interprofessional team-based competencies while they are still on campus, before their clinical training. As they enter clinical settings that help build those interprofessional team skills, such as at EMMC, we want to determine how those skills are impacting their learning, the way clinicians at EMMC practice, and the health outcomes of their patients,” explained Dr. Mills, vice president for clinical affairs and director of the Center for Excellence in Health Innovation. “We are very excited to partner with EMMC in this ground-breaking research.”

Interprofessional team-based health care occurs when multiple health workers from different professional backgrounds blend their expertise to provide comprehensive health services to patients, families and communities. Patients, and as appropriate, their families, are also members of the health team. The concept is not new, but health systems, governmental agencies and educational institutions are beginning to look at how to fully implement it in practice and measure its outcomes on patient care.

“This research is an excellent match, between an innovative health system and an innovative health and sciences university, with both serving Maine and growing the next generation of health professionals,” said Dr. Felix Hernandez. “EMMC is a major training site for a variety of UNE health professions students, including those from osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physician assistant, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and nurse anesthesia. By training some of these students in teams and researching which elements of team-based care are the most critical, we will be able to better serve our patients.”

This IRB approved project is estimated to take three years. Throughout the process, UNE and EMMC researchers will collect and submit HIPAA compliant data to the National Center where it will be aggregated until data from other projects and shared through reports and peer-reviewed publications, increasing evidence on the effectiveness, and return on investment, of interprofessional models in developing the skills necessary for effective and efficient health care.

Learn more about the work occurring at UNE and other Nexus Innovation Network sites at nexusipe.org/advancing.

About the University of New England. UNE is a health and sciences university grounded in the liberal arts with over 12,000 enrolled students. UNE confers 15 health professional degrees, including osteopathic medicine, nursing, physician assistant, pharmacy, dental medicine, dental hygiene, social work, nurse anesthesia, occupational therapy, physical therapy, master in public health, applied exercise science, and athletic training. As Maine’s largest health educator, more Maine health care providers received their education at UNE than any other higher education institution. Because UNE works with affiliated clinical sites across the state, graduates have a strong tradition of practicing in underserved areas. For instance, UNE’s medical school graduates account for one in eight practicing physicians in Maine, with 61% of them in primary care, and 36% serving in rural areas.

About Eastern Maine Medical Center. Located in Bangor, Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC) serves communities throughout central, eastern, and northern Maine. A comprehensive, 411-bed medical center, EMMC provides three-quarters of the primary-care services offered in the Bangor area, as well as specialty and intensive services to the northern two-thirds of the state. EMMC is the flagship hospital for Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems (EMHS), an award-winning integrated health delivery system serving the state of Maine that has been recognized as a national leader in health innovation, known for reinventing the health care delivery model as well as management and governance in health.

About the National Center. The National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education provides the leadership, evidence and resources needed for the study of interprofessional practice and education (IPE) as an effective health care delivery model. Founded in October 2012 through a cooperative agreement with the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA), the National Center is a unique public-private partnership with funding from HRSA, the University of Minnesota and three private foundations:  Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Learn more about the National Center’s work at www.nexusipe.org.