Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Improves Access to Care and Healthcare Quality to Advance Health Equity

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Health Services Research
• Interprofessional Healthcare

Background:

• Healthcare disparities significantly impact cardiovascular care, particularly for heart failure patients.
• Inequitable care contributes to higher heart failure incidence, readmissions, and adverse outcomes.
• Understanding the role of interprofessional teams in healthcare equity and quality metrics is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of an interprofessional collaborative practice model on access to care.
• To evaluate the effect of this model on healthcare quality outcomes in underserved heart failure patients.
• To determine if an interprofessional approach can improve health equity in heart failure management.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of the Heart Failure Transitional Care Services for Adults Clinic, an interprofessional collaborative practice.
• Provision of guideline-directed medical therapy and patient education to underserved populations.
• Utilizing control charts over a two-and-a-half-year period to monitor access and quality metrics.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated improvements in access to care metrics.
• Showcased enhancements in quality metrics for heart failure management.
• Observed consistent results without significant variation over the study period.

Conclusions:

• An interprofessional collaborative practice model is effective in improving access to care.
• This care delivery model positively influences healthcare quality outcomes.
• Interprofessional collaborative practice can serve as a viable strategy to advance health equity in heart failure care.