Development of a Data Management System to Support Quality Improvement in IPE

It is vital to understand best practices in interprofessional education (IPE) that teaches competencies needed to practice collaboratively to improve patient care.1 Universities are increasingly looking for evidence of their own best practices and a better understanding of the return on investment in IPE. Continuous quality improvement, which seeks to discern what works for addressing a particular problem, for whom, and under what set of specific conditions can support our work in this area but real time and relevant data is needed to support this process.2,3 The Indiana University Center for Interprofessional Health Education and Practice (CIPHEP) brings together students to learn about, from, and with each other while collaborating across professions to improve health and health outcomes. In preparation for the launch of a university-wide curriculum across 9 campuses in August 2017, it is critical that we have a mechanism in place to enable continuous quality improvement. The purpose of this project was to develop a comprehensive data management system while enabling multi-level assessment of learners. As an evaluation-specific sub-component of a larger system, the database tracks metrics such as competencies addressed and assessed, resources utilized, assessment of learners using multi-faceted evaluation measures, and provides learners with an online portfolio demonstrating interprofessional learning outcomes. Given the span of competencies necessary to successfully practice in a collaborative healthcare team, the evaluation data management system hosts an expanding question bank of valid and reliable assessment and reflection questions to tailor evaluations and assessments towards measuring the learners’ connection with one or more interprofessional competencies. CIPHEP’s vision for the data management system is to collect valid and reliable data on both the learners and IPE events in order to systematically assess outcomes, implement quality improvement initiatives, and make data-driven decisions that will serve in the best interest of our learners. Objectives: By the end of this interactive discussion, participants will: 1) Identify the value of evaluating program outcomes in assessing the effectiveness of interprofessional education within a community-based student experience. 2) Describe the value of using a comprehensive data management system for quality improvement purposes. References 1) Institute of Medicine. (2015). Measuring the impact of interprofessional education (IPE) on collaborative practice and patient outcomes. Washington DC: National Academies Press. 2) Berwick, D. (2008). “The science of improvement.” JAMA. 299(10). 3) Bryk, A.S., Gomez, L. and A. Grunow. (2011). “Getting ideas into action: Building networked improvement communities in education.” Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Stanford, CA, 2010