Creating an Online Interprofessional Collaborative Team Simulation to Overcome Common Barriers of Interprofessional Education

Abstract

Introduction: Coordinating student schedules, physical space, and faculty time are commonly reported barriers to successful interprofessional education. Use of online technologies to overcome these barriers and support online team simulation is a topic that deserves serious academic review. Methods: The Interprofessional Plan of Care - Simulated E-hEalth Delivery System (IPOC-SEEDS) is a student-directed online simulation where students experience a collaborative plan of care meeting with simultaneous team electronic health record utilization. The authors describe the IPOC-SEEDS simulation to serve as a model for replication or modification. IPOC-SEEDS objectives address Interprofessional Education Collaborative competencies (IPEC), electronic health record (EHR) navigation, simulation effectiveness, and technology utilization. Results: Overall, IPOC-SEEDS objectives were effectively met through simulation evaluations, student-led debriefing evaluations, in-person student feedback, and faculty feedback results supporting the online simulation and technology evolutions. The objectives, based on IPEC and informatics competencies, were achieved. Students from nursing, nutrition, pharmacy, occupational therapy, and health information management participated in the simulation using EHR and online meeting software, receiving valuable interprofessional practice. Technology utilization results were adequate, but did improve in subsequent simulations after modifying the technology selected. Discussion: The simulation provided an experience where students demonstrated interprofessional collaborative skills that they can use in their future practice. Online technologies can provide a platform for the high-quality interprofessional simulation to address common interprofessional education barriers and provide access to interprofessional education for distance-learning students and providers. Online simulation developers (hospitals, health departments, universities) can use the authors’ process steps as a model for online simulation replication.