Xergia SA1,2, Xanthos T3, Papageorgiou G4
1School of Health and Welfare, Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Western Greece, Department of Physiotherapy, Aigio, Greece, 2European University Cyprus, Department of Physiotherapy, Nicosia, Cyprus, 3European University Cyprus, School of Medicine, Nicosia, Cyprus, 4European University Cyprus, Department of Management and Marketing, School of Business Administration, Nicosia, Cyprus
Background: Inter-professional relationships and education constitute a great opportunity for the effective management of healthcare organizations. In the last decade, the development of innovative inter-professional educational systems occurred. Inter-professional education (IPE), as well as inter-professional collaborative practice (IPCP) can both serve as educational tools for the effective development of attitudes, knowledge, skills and behaviors of healthcare professionals.
Purpose: To collect the appropriate depended and independent variables that may influence the quality of healthcare service through the IPE and IPCP.
Methods: A literature review was performed to collect the independent, mediating and moderating variables potentially associated with IPE and IPCP. Then a theoretical framework was created.
Results: As showed by the theoretical framework, IPE and IPCP influence the quality of healthcare service but this relationship is moderated by other variables. These moderating variables can be arranged in two categories related to the healthcare organization and aspects to do with the IPE and IPCP respectively. Particularly the proposed organizational factors in the presented theoretical framework are organizational size, organizational structure and organizational climate. The second category of moderating variables include the quality of IPE and IPCP programs, the level of investment by the healthcare organization in IPE and IPCP, as well as the willingness of healthcare staff to adopt, adapt and promote IPE and IPCP in their everyday work routine. Also, the quality of healthcare service is a mediating variable and can be analyzed with clinical indicators.
Conclusion(s): IPE and IPCP in healthcare constitutes a very important opportunity to enhance the effectiveness of healthcare management systems and to provide patients with low cost and high-quality healthcare. Healthcare organizations need to focus not only on the assessment of profitability and productivity, but also on the quality of life experience of employees at the workplace as well as on patients' quality of life experience under hospitalization or under healthcare programs. For this reason, effective healthcare management needs to consider specific variables that influence the quality of healthcare. A good understanding on the variables involved means that, inter-professional education and practice programs may have positive results for healthcare systems and can provide higher quality healthcare outcomes.
Implications: This paper presents a theoretical framework that proposes the main factors influencing the quality of healthcare service, as well as the professional healthcare staff' and patients' experience through the institutionalization of IPE & IPCP. As a result, we need to further examine to what extend IPE & IPCP is related to healthcare service. Finally, we suggest to investigate the degree to which IPE & IPCP is related to healthcare service. Note this is moderated by organizational size, organizational structure, level of investment, quality of IPE&IPCP, organizational climate, and adopt and promote IPE & IPCP.
Keywords: Inter-professional education, Healthcare Management,, Healthcare Education
Funding acknowledgements: No funding was provided for the present study
Purpose: To collect the appropriate depended and independent variables that may influence the quality of healthcare service through the IPE and IPCP.
Methods: A literature review was performed to collect the independent, mediating and moderating variables potentially associated with IPE and IPCP. Then a theoretical framework was created.
Results: As showed by the theoretical framework, IPE and IPCP influence the quality of healthcare service but this relationship is moderated by other variables. These moderating variables can be arranged in two categories related to the healthcare organization and aspects to do with the IPE and IPCP respectively. Particularly the proposed organizational factors in the presented theoretical framework are organizational size, organizational structure and organizational climate. The second category of moderating variables include the quality of IPE and IPCP programs, the level of investment by the healthcare organization in IPE and IPCP, as well as the willingness of healthcare staff to adopt, adapt and promote IPE and IPCP in their everyday work routine. Also, the quality of healthcare service is a mediating variable and can be analyzed with clinical indicators.
Conclusion(s): IPE and IPCP in healthcare constitutes a very important opportunity to enhance the effectiveness of healthcare management systems and to provide patients with low cost and high-quality healthcare. Healthcare organizations need to focus not only on the assessment of profitability and productivity, but also on the quality of life experience of employees at the workplace as well as on patients' quality of life experience under hospitalization or under healthcare programs. For this reason, effective healthcare management needs to consider specific variables that influence the quality of healthcare. A good understanding on the variables involved means that, inter-professional education and practice programs may have positive results for healthcare systems and can provide higher quality healthcare outcomes.
Implications: This paper presents a theoretical framework that proposes the main factors influencing the quality of healthcare service, as well as the professional healthcare staff' and patients' experience through the institutionalization of IPE & IPCP. As a result, we need to further examine to what extend IPE & IPCP is related to healthcare service. Finally, we suggest to investigate the degree to which IPE & IPCP is related to healthcare service. Note this is moderated by organizational size, organizational structure, level of investment, quality of IPE&IPCP, organizational climate, and adopt and promote IPE & IPCP.
Keywords: Inter-professional education, Healthcare Management,, Healthcare Education
Funding acknowledgements: No funding was provided for the present study
Topic: Education; Education: clinical; Education: methods of teaching & learning
Ethics approval required: Yes
Institution: European University Cypru
Ethics committee: Bioethics Committee of the European University of Cyprus
Ethics number: Bioethics Committee of the European University of Cyprus
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
