This morning, the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education hosted a celebration of progress toward better health in Minnesota. Nearly 75 faculty, staff and guests gathered over breakfast to learn about both the National Center and the Minnesota Primary Care Transformation Collaborative. 

Special guests Drs. Larry Green and Frederick Chen reflected on the state of the health care and health professions education in the U.S., and the important roles of interprofessional practice and education and primary care in moving those systems—together—toward the Triple Aim of better care, better health and lower costs. Dr. Chen is a project officer for the National Center at the Health Resources and Services Administration, Kerr White Visiting Scholar in the Center for Primary Care Research at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, associate professor in the department of family medicine at the University of Washington, and chief of family medicine at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Dr. Green is professor and Epperson Zorn Chair for Innovation in Family Medicine and Primary Care at the University of Colorado and the founding director of the Robert Graham Center, a research policy center sponsored by the American Academy of Family Physicians focused on family medicine and primary care, in Washington, D.C., and a member of the Institute of Medicine.

University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler also joined the celebration, offering his support for Minnesota’s leadership in preparing a collaborative practice-ready health care workforce, both nationally and for our state.

The breakfast celebration kicks off a busy week for the National Center. Beginning this afternoon, the center is hosting a meeting of colleagues from around the country—many of them members of the Nexus innovations incubator—to set a national research and evaluation agenda focused on building the business case for interprofessional practice and education.