Redesigning interstitial lung disease clinic care through interprofessional collaboration.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Interprofessional Education
• Patient-Centered Care

Background:

• Need for effective interprofessional collaboration (IPC) models in specialized healthcare settings.
• Current gap in understanding the practical implementation of IPC in interstitial lung disease (ILD) clinics.
• Importance of person-centric care delivery across outpatient and community settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the transformation of a normative ILD clinic into an IPC model.
• To describe the initiation, actions, and supporting processes of establishing IPC in an ILD clinic.
• To understand the patient and caregiver perspectives on this IPC transformation.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative research approach utilizing participants-as-co-researchers.
• Unstructured interviews with founding physicians and preliminary interviews with patients/carers (N=30).
• Thematic content analysis to interpret the transformation process and patient experiences.

Main Results:

• IPC demonstrated potential to enhance patient quality of life and end-of-life care.
• Observed reduction in acute care utilization and hospitalizations among patients.
• Successful realization of patient preferences for end-of-life care location.
• Identified resistance from larger institutional and political forces impacting the IPC model.

Conclusions:

• IPC in ILD care can significantly improve patient outcomes and align care with patient preferences.
• The transformation to an IPC model requires dedicated effort and faces systemic challenges.
• Further research is needed to address barriers and optimize IPC sustainability in specialized clinics.