Quality Through Collaboration: The Future of Rural Health
Rural America is a vital component of American society. Representing nearly 20 percent of the population, rural communities, like urban landscapes, are rich in cultural diversity. However, the smaller, poorer, and more isolated a rural community is, the more difficult it is to ensure the availability of high-quality health services. The Institute of Medicine report, Quality Through Collaboration: The Future of Rural Health examines the quality of health care in rural America.
An Examination of the Healthcare Workforce Issues in Rural America
In the Eigth Annual Report of the Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary, Community-Based Linkages (ACICBL), the committee writes that health care professional shortages, insufficient numbers of faculty members, demographic changes in the rural population, a strained delivery system, and emerging health care needs affecting quality of care combine to make unprecedented demands on the rural health care system.
Improving geriatric transitional care through inter-professional care teams
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of the use of an inter-professional care team on patient length of stay and payer charges in a geriatric transitional care unit.
METHODS: An analysis of de-identified administrative records for transitional care patients for the 12-month period (2003-2004) cared for by the inter-professional team (n = 163) and cared for by traditional single provider care model (n = 176) was carried out. We conducted logistic regression on length of stay and charges controlling for patient demographics and acuity levels.
Blended learning: Emerging best practices in allied health workforce development
To remain dynamic and viable, academic institutions preparing the future workforce need to convert to a more accessible and convenient pathway for students. The need for responsiveness is especially true when considering strategies to prepare an allied health workforce in areas of shortages and to meet the needs of the underserved. A blended or hybrid learning model that strategically uses web-based and face-to-face teaching/learning methods is an innovative and strategic way that promotes learner-centered higher education and facilitates a higher learning experience.
1Health, the Center for Interprofessional Education, the University of Minnesota
The Center for Interprofessional Education within the Academic Health Center at the University of Minnesota is launching a new initiative called 1Health. 1Health requires health professional students to participate in courses and/or experiences to achieve competencies set by the Academic Health Center prior to graduation. This new initiative launched with Phase I in the fall of 2010 and includes all beginning health professional students enrolled in participating programs.
Renewed focus in the United States links interprofessional education with redesigning health care
No scholars and practitioners are more aware of the research and debate about interprofessional education (IPE) and interprofessional collaborative care (IPCC) than the readers of the Journal of Interprofessional Care. Since the 1970s, interest in IPE and IPCC in the United States (U.S.) has been characterized by peaks and lows as the major issues in health care have shifted. So, it is exciting to describe what may be a new window of opportunity in the U.S. to fully develop and test this evolving concept that, for so long, has been an exception rather than the “norm”.
Commentary: Reshaping Physician Education
Fragmented care delivery is the product of an outdated approach to medical education.
Is the CME system obsolete?
Changes in medical practice and a greater emphasis on lifelong learning are prompting a closer look at the efficacy of continuing medical education (CME). This article outlines the shortcomings of the current CME system, describes findings from two recent reports about its status, and presents recommendations for a new system to make continuing education more relevant to medical practice.
Investing in research: The impact of one academic health center's research grant program
External research funding provides the core support for a medical center's research enterprise, and is a major or sole criterion for comparing and ranking institutions. Most grant programs are sufficiently competitive that awards are not granted without the availability of preliminary data. Therefore, institutions may find it necessary to supplement external research funds, particularly as matching funds or as seed funds.
Commentary: Educating the present and future health care workforce to provide care to populations
The crisis of the rising cost of health care in the United States is stimulating major changes in the way care is being delivered. New models such as patient-centered medical homes and accountable care organizations are being developed with the expectation that health care professionals will address and improve the health of populations. Electronic health records and interprofessional teams will be critical to achieving the goal of better health.