On April 20, 2016, the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) convened a Leadership Summit for Jointly Accredited Providers at the ACCME’s offices in Chicago.
The goal of the summit was to provide an opportunity for jointly accredited providers – as leaders in the continuing healthcare education community – to work collaboratively to identify organizational models that are effective in promoting and improving interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) through interprofessional continuing education (IPCE) and to share success stories that demonstrate the impact of their educational efforts.
A new report, crafted based on the 2016 Joint Accreditation Leadership Summit, shows how IPCE contributes to improving healthcare team collaboration and patient care. The report includes best practices, challenges, case examples, key recommendations, and data about the value and impact of IPCE.
Report Highlights
Inclusive Team
IPCE builds team collaboration across multiple professions, from chaplains to community health workers – from physicians to psychologists – from safety experts to social workers. Additionally, teamwork takes a fundamental, on-going commitment to the principles of IPCE – the secret to collaboration is to actually collaborate.
Patient-Centered Teams
IPCE also creates a safe space where all learners, including patients, have a voice. Education that includes patients as planners, teachers, and learners, motivates powerful and lasting change. The report encouraged participants to ask: how is the structure helping patients? What professions affect patient outcomes? It is important to remember that the purpose and value of the program is to support the patient.
Cultural Care, Compassionate Value
By bringing together teams, IPCE effectively builds skills that are essential for improving care for patients and communities, such as cultural competency, compassionate values, and communications. The report notes that IPCE is a philosophy and that you “have to be a true believer, keep on living it, preaching it,” encouraging leaders to “infuse your enthusiasm into the program.”
Public Health Priorities
IPCE programs partner with institutions and communities to address quality, safety, and public health concerns such as sepsis, obesity, end-of-life care, heart disease, and cancer.
Recommendations
The report also included eight recommendations for creating and sustaining a successful ICPE program: develop buy-in from leadership; support your organization’s strategic mission; build your IPCE team and model best practices; involve patients; implement a phased-in approach; focus on quality; measure outcomes; and communicate the value of IPCE.
Videos
Along with the report a series of videos was released, which feature educators describing their goals and accomplishments, what brings them joy and pride in their work, and advice for creating IPCE programs.
Comments from Leadership
All three jointly accredited provider groups support the report, with each having a representative offer comments on the report.
“This report illustrates how jointly accredited providers are working every day to make a difference. These efforts have made, and will continue to make, a substantial difference to healthcare teams and the patients they serve. Interprofessional continuing education creates empowered teams that think courageously together, solve complex problems, and see the value of their own and their colleagues’ contributions. I encourage health system leaders and other stakeholders to recognize that an investment in education is an investment in people and to think about how they can leverage the power of education to support their community of clinicians and patients.”— Graham McMahon, MD, MMSc, President and CEO, ACCME
“We are not going to change the healthcare system unless professionals in practice learn from, about, and with each other and foster that learning in the students coming up behind them. This report shows the important work being done by jointly accredited providers and documents the benefits and outcomes of their work. As accreditors, it shows us what we need to do better to support that work going forward.”—Peter H. Vlasses, PharmD, DSc (Hon), BCPS, FCCP, Executive Director, ACPE
“As evidenced by this report, our community of continuing education providers has demonstrably improved collaborative care among healthcare professionals and patient outcomes. ANCC is so proud of the enthusiasm, commitment, and dedication that shines through in their examples. We hope that the stories and strategies provide both inspiration and practical tips for educators across the healthcare professions who are striving to benefit patients by building stronger teams.” — Kathy Chappell, PhD, RN, FNAP, FAAN, Senior Vice President, Certification/Measurement, Accreditation and Research, ANCC