IPR Global Pearls: Interprofessional collaboration: A public policy healthcare transformation call for action - National Academies of Practice

Interprofessional collaboration: A public policy healthcare transformation call for action

Irma Ruebling, Terry Eggenberger, Jody Shapiro Frost, Ellayne Ganzfried, Annette Greer, Hossein Khalili, Jessica Ochs, Julie Ronnebaum, Susan M. Stein (National Academies of Practice)

Journal of Interprofessional Education and Practice (2023)

The United States faces a health system crisis from evolving and lingering social, economic, and political issues complicated by a global pandemic. However, it is the same crisis that presents opportunities for transformation as the nation evaluates how best to address the vulnerabilities, inequities, and inefficiencies of fragmented healthcare exposed during a period of extreme systemic strain on the healthcare system. The National Academies of Practice (NAP) is well positioned as the oldest interprofessional health sciences organization, to lead advocacy efforts in a comprehensive approach for inclusive care that is modeled on interprofessional collaborative practice. NAP recognizes that the scope of healthcare extends traditional hospital boundaries into communities and homes. Further, NAP advocates for intentional interprofessional education of pre-licensure and post-licensure health professionals as a requirement to foster a paradigm shift in healthcare where the patient and family are central and active members of decision making. The purpose of this paper is to provide an explanation of the ongoing strategic goals, initiatives, and core tenets of NAP that are focused on Interprofessional Collaborative Practice (IPCP), Interprofessional Education (IPE), and now Interprofessional Education for Collaborative Practice (IPECP). Further, NAP examines current healthcare system issues in a defining manner and offers viable action plans for NAP and others to support a paradigm shift in the framework for health system transformation.

LINK: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2405452623000770

CITATION: Ruebling, I., Eggenberger, T., Frost, J. S., Ganzfried, E., Greer, A., Khalili, H., Ochs, J., Ronnebaum, J., & Stein, S. M. (2023). Interprofessional collaboration: A public policy healthcare transformation call for action. Journal of interprofessional education & practice, 33, 100675. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xjep.2023.100675  

IPR Global Establishes New Strategic Alliances with National Academies of Practice and Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative

Interprofessional Research Global (IPRG)'s Partnership Development Working Group engaged in a systematic process using a defined rubric to evaluate potential relationships with other interprofessional organizations globally. Organizations were explored based on information available through their websites to determine potential alignment and the feasibility of pursuing a potential working relationship. The Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative (CIHC) and the National Academies of Practice (NAP) were two of the organizations that were identified which appeared to have strong alignment with the mission, vision, and interprofessional values of IPRG. 

In December 2022, IPRG approached NAP and CIHC to explore the possibility of engaging in a collaborative relationship on issues of mutual interest. In January 2023, leadership from NAP and leadership from CIHC each virtually met with the leadership of IPRG (President and members of the Partnership Development Working Group) to learn more about each other’s organization and to explore if, and specifically where, there might be areas of mutual synergy, interest, and strategic benefit between both organizations. 

Following these two meetings, the IPRG Partnership Development Working Group drafted a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding the specific initiatives and information sharing that the leadership of both organizations had identified as potential areas for collaboration during the virtual conference call. A draft MOU was also shared with the leadership of IPRG to assess the feasibility of engaging in the specific initiatives and information sharing proposed for inclusion in the MOU. Following several iterations and revisions, the MOU between NAP and IPRG and CIHC and IPRG were finalized in May and signed by the leaders of each organization. 

NAP and CIHC will discuss next steps with IPRG toward operationalizing the partnership agreements. Specifically, they will consider how best to proceed with defined areas of mutual interest in the MOU - including priorities, timelines, communications and outreach, and overall coordination. We are excited about these two new strategic alliances with IPRG and look forward to initiatives of mutual benefit that can advance all of these organizations in the future!

For more information on Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative go to: https://www.cihc-cpis.com/

For more information about the National Academies of Practice go to: https://www.napractice.org/

For more information about Interprofessional Research Global go to: https://interprofessionalresearch.global/