Resource Center

Most experts, including the conference sponsors and the IPEC panel, believe that in order to deliver high-quality, safe and efficient care, and meet the public’s increasingly complex health care needs, the educational experience must shift from one in which health profession students are educated in silos to one that fosters collaboration, communication and a team approach to providing care. The goal of the conference was to energize leaders to pave the way for a future in which interprofessional health teams will provide care that leads to better health outcomes, improved patient experiences of care, improved efficiency and increased job satisfaction for health professionals.

The conference was designed to both inform participants and to engage them in a shared vision of the competencies necessary for interprofessional education and practice. Plenary talks were interspersed with work sessions in which small groups, led by facilitators, debated the issues and, in the end, crafted a set of action strategies aimed at moving the United States toward the goal of interprofessional collaboration in education and practice.

This report provides a summary of the conference discussions, a list of conference participants, and the conference agenda, as well as references and resources for additional information.