National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education IPE core data set and information exchange for knowledge generation

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ABSTRACT

Since 2012, the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education has worked with over 70 sites implementing over 100 interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPECP) programs in the United States (U.S.). Program leaders have contributed data and information to the National Center to inform an approach to advancing the science of interprofessional practice and education (IPE), called IPE Knowledge Generation. This paper describes how the evolution of IPE Knowledge Generation blends traditional research and evaluation approaches with the burgeoning field of health informatics and big data science. The goal of IPE Knowledge Generation is to promote collaboration and knowledge discovery among IPE program leaders who collect comparable, sharable data in an information exchange. This data collection then supports analysis and knowledge generation. To enable the approach, the National Center uses a structured process for guiding IPE program design and implementation in practice settings focused on learning and the Quadruple Aim outcomes while collecting the IPE core data set and the contribution of contemporary big data science.

KEYWORDS:

• Interprofessional education and collaborative practice
• interprofessional Informatics
• interprofessional core data set
• data repository
• information exchange
• interprofessional knowledge generation

Acknowledgments

We thank the National Center Scientific Review Team, including Carla Dieter, EdD, RN, James Pacala, MD, MS, Amy Pittenger, PhD, PharmD, David M. Radosevich PhD, Teresa Schicker, MPA, Connie Schmitz, PhD and the National Center IPE Information Exchange Advisory Council, including Christine Arenson, MD, Aaron Friedman, MD, Rebecca Freeman, PhD, RN, FAAN, Craig Kuziemsky, PhD, Judy Murphy, BSN, RN, FAAN, FACMI, FHIMSS, and Judith Warren, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI for their commitment to the advancement of IPE Knowledge Generation. We would also like to thank the Nexus Innovation Network members, advisors and program participants from whom we learn every day.

Declaration of interest

The National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education has a conflict of interest policy that requires disclosure of financial relationships with commercial interests. The authors report no conflicts of interest and are alone responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Notes

1. Beginning with its founding, the National Center has advocated for simultaneously redesigning health care and education to be more integrated and interprofessional while documenting outcomes. Calling this vision, the “Nexus”, the center uses the term “interprofessional practice and education” and the acronym, IPE, to communicate that practice and education are inextricably linked, non-linear, and inclusive of formal and informal learning inside and outside of the health workplace.

2. The term “clinical” was selected to communicate the practice setting, recognizing that IPE and learning takes place in many settings serving people and their families such as clinics, hospitals, public health, and community-based settings.

Additional information

Funding

The National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education has received funding from the Josiah Macy Jr Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and the John A. Hartford Foundation, the University of Minnesota, and was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under HRSA Cooperative Agreement [UE5HP25067]. The content and conclusions are those of the authors and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government or private foundations.

Notes on contributors

Connie White Delaney

Connie White Delaney serves as Professor & Dean, School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, and is the Knowledge Generation Lead for the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education. She served as Associate Director of the Clinical Translational Science Institute –Biomedical Informatics, and Acting Director of the Institute for Health Informatics in the Academic Health Center from 2010-2015. 

Ahmad AbuSalah

Ahmad AbuSalah is an Adjunct Research Assistant Professor and Core Faculty at the Institute for Health Informatics at the University of Minnesota (UMN). Dr. AbuSalah was the inaugural lead informaticist at the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education. Dr. AbuSalah has a rich industry and research background in healthcare data management and analytics with focus on large scale healthcare data integration, Informatics Infrastructure Models, Business Intelligence (BI) and value-based models for the support of patient safety, quality of care and cost reduction.

Mark Yeazel

Mark Yeazel serves as the Scientific Review Committee Chair for IPE Knowledge Generation for the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education.  His research focuses on cancer screening and has addressed community and clinic-based interventions, cancer screening research, and cancer survivorship.

Jennifer Stumpf Kertz

Jennifer Stumpf Kertz serves as the deputy director of the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education, providing guidance and oversight for administrative, fiscal, policy and operations functions. She has served in various interprofessional academic administration roles since 2002, including the creation of an interprofessional academic infrastructure linked to practice.

Laura Pejsa

Laura Pejsa has led a number of evaluation studies for the National Center for Interprofessional Practice & Education since 2013 and currently serves and the center’s Director of Evaluation & Organizational Learning.  She also is the lead evaluator on the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration funded Minnesota Northstar Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program, University of Minnesota.

Barbara F. Brandt

Barbara Brandt is the founding director of the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education and served as the Associate Vice President for Education at the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center, overseeing the implementation of interprofessional practice and education programs from 2000 – 2017.  She has served on the strategic advisory board of the Journal of Interprofessional Care and on the editorial board of the Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions.