Does interprofessional education improve professional practice and health care outcomes?

Patient care is a complex activity which demands that health and social care professionals rendering services work together in an effective manner. Prior research suggests that health professionals may not communicate or collaborate well together in providing health care. Interprofessional education (IPE) is seen as an opportunity to enhance communication and collaboration between professionals to ultimately improve professional practice and health care outcomes.

Key messages

• Studies conducted in high income countries provide low quality evidence on the effects of interprofessional education (IPE).
• IPE may improve departmental culture, collaborative team behaviour, and health professional competencies, as well as reduce clinical error rates.
• The effect of IPE on patient satisfaction, the quality of care and clinical outcomes is uncertain.
• Factors that may need to be considered in the applicability of IPE in LMIC settings include resource and time requirements to implement such interventions.
• Further rigorous research is needed to demonstrate evidence of the impact of this type of intervention on professional practice and/or healthcare outcomes.