Resource Center

Understanding the impact that interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPECP) might have on triple aim patient outcomes is of high interest to health care providers, educators, administrators, and policy makers. Before the work undertaken by the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education at the University of Minnesota, no standard mechanism to acquire and report outcome data related to interprofessional education and collaborative practice and its effect on triple aim outcomes existed.

Editorial

OBJECTIVE:

To identify differences among faculty members in various health professional training programs in perceived benefits and challenges of implementing interprofessional education (IPE).

METHODS:

A 19-item survey using a 5-point Likert scale was administered to faculty members across different health disciplines at a west coast, multicollege university with osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, and physician assistant programs.

RESULTS:

Context

High blood pressure is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke, the leading cause of death in the U.S., and a substantial national burden through lost productivity and medical care. A recent Community Guide systematic review found strong evidence of effectiveness of team-based care in improving blood pressure control. The objective of the present review is to determine from the economic literature whether team-based care for blood pressure control is cost beneficial or cost effective.

Evidence acquisition

Objective. To evaluate pharmacy and nursing student self-perceptions of interdisciplinary communication skills, faculty member perceptions of interdisciplinary communication skills, and changes in those skills after increasing the interdisciplinary education content.

This is a review of Interprofessional Clinical Case Study Competition, sponsored by a medical school (AT Still University/Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine: medicine and dentistry) with collaboration from an undergraduate health professions program (Truman State University: nursing, public health, speech-language pathology, and athletic training).

OBJECTIVE

Describe a model of inpatient care and measure its impact.

DESIGN

A quantitative assessment of the implementation of a new model of care. The graded implementation of the model allowed us to follow outcomes and measure their association with the dose of the implementation.

SETTING AND PATIENTS

Inpatient medical and surgical units in a large academic health center.

INTERVENTION

We live in two inter-related worlds of interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPECP) by simultaneously implementing and evaluating the University of Minnesota IPECP program, across 21 schools and programs on three campuses and in our work in the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education. We are constantly grappling with “on the ground” challenges and national issues that arise in the center; therefore, we are gaining a unique perspective about IPECP.

There is a current emphasis on interprofessional education in health care with the aim to improve teamwork and ultimately the quality and safety of care. As part of a Health Resources and Services Administration Advanced Nursing Education project, an interprofessional faculty and student team planned and implemented the first didactic coursework for nurse-midwifery and medical students at the University of California, San Francisco and responded to formative feedback in order to create a more meaningful educational experience for future combined cohorts.

Scheduling interprofessional team-based activities for health sciences students who are geographically dispersed, with divergent and often competing schedules, can be challenging. The use of Web-based technologies such as 3-dimensional (3D) virtual learning environments in interprofessional education is a relatively new phenomenon, which offers promise in helping students come together in online teams when face-to-face encounters are not possible.