This Lightning Talk describes a new collaboration between the Medical School and School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota. “The Minnesota Way” refers to a problem solving curriculum taught to Master’s of Healthcare Administration students. A fieldwork project introduced four students to a quality improvement project in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences regarding complex clinical documentation.
The MN MHA Minnesota Way of problem solving consists of three main phases; Define, Study, Act. The define phase focuses on stakeholder analysis and problem definition which lends itself to interprofessional perspectives and learnings. The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences invited MHA-student collaboration on a one-year project to improve documentation of complex care to accurately capture complexity of patients served and services provided. This metric was chosen not only to improve clinical quality but also financial reimbursement.
Over the course of eight weeks, students partnered with preceptors to refine the scope of their work and hone their deliverable. This project required the students to demonstrate knowledge of all IPEC competencies. Communication was paramount as they navigated numerous stakeholders. Roles and responsibilities within behavioral health are complex and overlapping. Students needed to manage their own teamwork skills as they divided and delegated a large project into a realistic project. Finally, students encountered values and ethics as clinicians struggled with questions about financial implications of this work for their patients.
This Lightning Talk presents a novel interprofessional initiative highlighting two professions less consistently involved in IPE - healthcare administration and psychology. The talk will be informative for Nexus Summit attendees interested in addressing the realities of healthcare financing within the clinical learning environment. The pilot project summarizes symbiotic benefits to both MHA students and clinical preceptors of forming new collaborations. Behavioral health patients and providers are often underserved - partly a result of financial realities. This abstract showcases work aimed at improving the value of care for an underserved population while educating future healthcare professionals. Presenters will discuss future opportunities to expand upon this pilot with additional initiatives.
