Sustainability of an IPCP program within a federally qualified health center including interprofessional student team placements.

In an effort to improve teamwork and collaborative care at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), the Midwest Interprofessional Practice, Education, and Research Center (MIPERC) collaborated on the implementation of an interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) program that included placement of multidisciplinary student teams. The MIPERC IPCP program supported staff, preceptor and student teams through interprofessional education and structured interprofessional activities for students, including daily huddles, interprofessional student team visits, and nurse triage phone calls. Results from the project's first year were previously reported (Nagelkerk et al., 2017b). Ongoing effects of IPCP on staff morale, IPE knowledge and practice efficiency were measured. Study tools included demographic forms, pre/post module knowledge tests, focus groups and program evaluations. The mean number of clinic patient visits per hour per medical provider was calculated to evaluate practice efficiency. Students (n = 26) and staff (n = 30) demonstrated improvement (p ≤.05) in knowledge test scores for Patient Safety, Team Dynamics and Tips for Behavioral Changes. Providers increased the number of patients seen per hour. Program evaluations and focus group data from providers, staff, and students indicated IPCP programs can be sustainable with ongoing intentional team care strategies.

Improving outcomes in adults with diabetes through an interprofessional collaborative practice program.

In 2014, the Midwest Interprofessional Practice, Education and Research Center partnered with a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) to implement an interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) education program to improve the health of adult patients with diabetes and to improve practice efficiency. This partnership included integrating an interprofessional team of students with the practice team. Twenty-five students and 20 staff engaged in the IPCP program, which included completion of educational modules on IPCP and implementation of daily huddles, focus patient visits, phone calls, team-based case presentations, medication reconciliation, and student-led group diabetes education classes. This study used a sequential mixed methods design. Tools used for collecting data from staff and students included demographic forms, the Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS), the Entry-level Interprofessional Questionnaire, the Collaborative Practice Assessment Tool, and pre/post module knowledge tests completed at baseline and at one-year post implementation. Patient clinical indicators included HgbA1c, glucose, lipid panel laboratory assessments, body mass index, blood pressure, and documentation of annual dental, foot, and eye examinations. Practice efficiency was measured by the average number of patients seen per provider per hour. Both students and staff showed significant knowledge gains in IPCP on Team Dynamics and Tips for Behavioural Changes knowledge tests (p < .05). Patients who had an HgbA1c of ≥ 7% significantly decreased their HgbA1c (p < .05) and glucose (p < .01). However, BMI and annual dental and eye examinations did not improve. Providers demonstrated an increase in the number of patients seen per hour. This IPCP intervention showed improvement in practice efficiencies and select patient outcomes in a family practice clinic.