Interprofessional Competency Management and Its Effect on Clinical Quality Across Healthcare Disciplines

Abstract

IPE and collaborative practice have emerged as essential imperatives in modern healthcare delivery systems due to increased complexity of patient care needs and recognition that optimal outcomes require coordinated efforts across professional disciplines. This state-of-the-art review examines the systematic management of interprofessional competencies and analyzes their documented effects on clinical quality across diverse healthcare disciplines and practice settings. Using critical review and synthesis, this study explores established competency frameworks including the Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative framework, the Interprofessional Education Collaborative core competencies, and the Curtin University interprofessional capability framework. The review further investigates educational interventions employed to develop collaborative practice competencies, including both traditional in-person approaches and innovative virtual modalities that gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic.

These findings suggest that formally structured, theoretically-informed interprofessional competency development programs significantly improve collaborative practice capabilities, attitudes towards teamwork, and understanding of role and communication among students and practitioners of health professions. Evidence of effectiveness also seems to occur when educational interventions have been tailored to various delivery modalities such as simulation-based learning, clinical placement, telehealth experiences, and hybrid events that combine both virtual and in-person elements. Challenges abounding, however, are considerable in their complexity at a practical, implementational level, including organizational issues, resource limitations, scheduling complexity, faculty development issues, and assessment challenges. Additionally, whereas proximal outcomes suggest a positive trend, it is difficult to create a direct causal link between interprofessional competency development and health outcomes. This represents a critical design issue.

The article concluded interprofessional competency management with sustained institutional commitment, evidence-based pedagogies, a policy environment conducive to this activity, and on-going research into its long-term impact on clinical quality and patient outcomes of care.