A new commentary by George E. Thibault, MD and Stephen C. Schoenbaum, MD, MPH of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation describes the promise offered by interprofessional education (IPE) to improve teamwork and patient outcomes.
As part of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Learning Health System Commentary Series, Forging Collaboration Within Academia and Between Academia and Health Care Delivery Organizations: Importance, Successes, and Future Work, touches on several concepts central to continuously improving care, including the potential gains from:
- Broad, national investment in IPE program development;
- Collaborative efforts to design and implement coordinated, streamlined IPE competencies;
- Alignment of IPE with clinical practice redesign to incorporate interprofessional learning and team-based care into health professions education reform; and
- Engagement of patients, families, and communities in acceleration of the design, implementation, improvement, and evaluation of efforts to link IPE and collaborative practice.
We encourage you to read the commentary and share your thoughts below.