Topics

• Interprofessional Education (IPE)
• Impact of Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice (IPECP)
• Patient Advocacy
• References

NURS 410 - Health Care Delivery Systems & Informatics

Module 9: Interprofessional Collaboration and Patient Advocacy

Impact of Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice (IPECP)

According to the Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative, “interprofessional collaboration is a partnership between a team of health providers and a client in a participatory collaborative and coordinated approach to shared decision making around health and social issues” (Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative, 2010, p. 8).  This means that interprofessional collaborative practice is an active and dynamic process which includes communication and decision-making, enabling a synergistic influence of grouped knowledge and skills. Elements of collaborative practice include responsibility, accountability, coordination, communication, cooperation, mutual trust and respect (Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative, 2010, p. 8) and advocacy. It is this partnership that creates an interprofessional team designed to work on common goals to improve patient outcomes. Collaborative interactions exhibit a blending of professional cultures and are achieved though sharing skills and knowledge to improve the quality of patient care. Is interprofessional collaboration effective? Does care developed and delivered via these interactions reduce health care costs or improve patient outcomes?

Early results demonstrating the success of teams in the healthcare delivery system suggest team training is integral to interprofessional team success as well as improved (Salas et al., 2008a).  Salas, Gregory, & King (2011) conducted a study to evaluate impact of TeamSTEPPS on improving patient safety in a medical intensive care environment. The overall rate of patient safety event reports did not decrease significantly. However, the types of errors attributable to communication issues decreased significantly by 65%. In addition, there was a marked decrease in the rate of medication and transfusion errors (83%) suggesting implementation of  TeamSTEPPS training improved staff communication and patient care (Salas, et al., 2011, p. 340).

Like teams that work together well, Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH), or health home, care delivery model has contributed to better care, coordination, and cost savings. (Strickland, Jones, Ghandour, Kogan, & Newacheck (2011) noted that pediatric patients receiving care in medical homes were less likely to have unmet medical and dental needs and were more likely to have annual preventive medical visits (p. 610). Moreover, pediatric patients not only used the medical home for their care but their family members used the home to access care and referral services (Strickland et al., 2011).

The Medical Services Initiative program, a safety net based system of care in Orange County, California, is a novel interprofessional collaborative program. The program assists the uninsured and low-income residents of the country to gain needed health care using the patient-centered medical home model. The medical home provides case management services and team-based approaches for treating disease as well as connecting patient to primary and specialty care providers. Patient’s in this program, as compared to not being part of the program, were less likely to have any emergency room (ER) visits or multiple ER visits (Roby et al., 2010).

Nurses have a role in implementing effective models of care and actively participating as a member of an interdisciplinary care team. Nurses can advocate for their professional and for patients when they focus their attention on the patient, theirs needs, desires, and wishes.