by: The National Center

Today the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education (NCIPE) proudly announced the University of Southern Indiana as the winner of the first-ever Nexus Award. In recognition of exemplary interprofessional, team-based practice in the US, the Nexus Award celebrates those who are thinking and acting differently through innovation to connect higher education and health care.  

Unveiled at the 2016 National Center Summit, the University of Southern Indiana is the first winner of the Nexus Award. With this award, the NCIPE recognizes an educational institution, health system, clinic, and/or community organization for extraordinary contributions to transform care delivery, improve health outcomes, and decrease costs.

The National Center received a number of strong submissions for the award. Barbara Brandt, director of the NCIPE remarked “We were overwhelmed at not only the number of submissions we received, but also even more with the quality of the teams and programs that incorporate students and currently making real-world change.  There are so many extraordinary stories to tell about the groundbreaking work happening right now, it made our selection process a difficult, but inspiring challenge.”

The University of Southern Indiana distinguished itself among submissions by engaging multiple professional disciplines in urban and rural underserved practice environments in order to foster better access to healthcare in Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois. Interprofessional team members include health profession students, faculty clinical coaches, practice professionals at the USI Community Health Centers and Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Center Community-Based Outpatient Centers (CBOCs). The work of the interprofessional teams in multiple settings provide teams of students under the guidance of faculty and clinicians opportunities for culturally sensitive learning experiences.  Students participate in the continuum of primary care, including prevention, diagnosis, treatment, surveillance, health communications, and disease management.

The National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education is honored to recognize the University of Southern Indiana as the 2016 Nexus Award recipient.