What is Interprofessional Collaborative Practice
How Leaders Can Intentionally Design Interprofessional Collaborative Practice (IPCP)
Interprofessional collaborative practice is more than multiple professions working in proximity. It is the intentional integration of professionals from different disciplines working together with patients and families to co-design care.
At its best, IPCP is designed.
For leaders, this distinction matters. When collaboration is left to chance, variation increases. When it is intentionally designed, outcomes improve.
What is the official definition of IPCP?
Across organizations, the wording varies slightly. Here is how a couple of leading organizations define IPCP:
World Health Organization (WHO, 2010) “…when multiple health workers from different professional backgrounds work together with patients, families, carers and communities to deliver the highest quality of care.”
National Academies of Practice (NAP, 2022) “…occurs when multiple health professionals from different backgrounds provide comprehensive services by working and collaborating with other health professionals, patients/clients, their carers, and communities/populations to deliver the highest quality of care across settings; this is an extension of interprofessional education into practice environments.”
IPCP Can Occur in Multiple Formats
Interprofessional collaborative practice is not limited to in-person bedside interactions or formal committee meetings.
IPCP can occur:
Synchronously, such as real time rounding or case conferences
Asynchronously, through coordinated documentation, shared care plans, and structured communication tools
Virtually, via telehealth platforms or remote team discussions
Onsite, across clinics, hospitals, community settings, and home-based care
The format is secondary to the integration.
What defines IPCP is not where or when collaboration happens. It is how intentionally professions align their expertise around a co-designed plan of care with the patient and their family or caregiver.
When collaboration is designed to function across formats, it becomes resilient, scalable, and sustainable.
The Spectrum of IPCP
IPCP develops along a continuum of integration among professionals.
In my Spectrum of IPCP Linkedin Post the focus is not on whether collaboration exists, but on how deeply it is integrated into daily work.
At the connected level, professionals are aware of one another and referrals occur. Work remains largely individual, and collaboration depends on personal initiative rather than system structure.
At the aligned level, coordination improves. Communication becomes more intentional. Handoffs are clearer and expectations begin to stabilize at the team level.
At the shared level, collaboration becomes visible. Care planning discussions involve multiple professions, and the patient or client is actively engaged. Roles are clearer and accountability is more collective.
At the designed or optimized integration level, collaboration is embedded into workflows and supported by systems. Roles are clearly defined and optimized. Referrals can occur bidirectionally across professions, reducing hierarchy and strengthening access. Shared accountability becomes the norm rather than the exception.
This spectrum does not label one profession as more important than another. It highlights the progression from individual coordination to system supported integration.
Leaders can assess where their organization currently operates and determine the next intentional step toward deeper integration.
Designing Collaboration Through Referral Systems
Interprofessional collaborative practice is strengthened when leaders examine how work actually flows through the system.
Referral design is one powerful example.
In many organizations, referrals follow traditional hierarchies. One profession must route through another before care can proceed. While this may feel orderly, it can unintentionally delay care and reinforce silos.
Leaders can instead design referral systems that allow any qualified health professional to refer directly to another appropriate profession when clinically indicated.
When professionals understand one another’s roles and scopes of practice, referrals become intentional rather than transactional. A physical therapist may refer directly to a physician. A nurse may initiate referral to a speech language pathologist. A pharmacist may recommend consultation with a nurse practitioner.
This does not remove accountability. It distributes it.
Bidirectional referral systems reflect higher levels of integration on the collaboration spectrum. They reduce unnecessary barriers, increase access, and reinforce shared responsibility for patient outcomes.
When referral pathways are intentionally designed, collaboration becomes embedded into the workflow rather than dependent on personal relationships.
The Connection Between IPE and IPCP
Interprofessional education prepares learners to collaborate. Interprofessional collaborative practice is where those skills are operationalized.
If you have not yet read the companion article, “What Is Interprofessional Education (IPE),” it provides the foundation for understanding how professionals become collaborative practice ready before entering your workforce.
When IPE and IPCP are aligned, leaders are no longer compensating for gaps in preparation. Instead, they are building on a shared foundation of collaborative competence.
Education builds readiness and design sustains performance.
Ready to Strengthen Collaboration in Your System
If you are accountable for system-level outcomes but were never trained to design interprofessional collaboration, this is where the work begins.
You can take the next step by:
Reviewing the 9 Essentials to Design System-Level Interprofessional Collaboration
Working with me one-to-one to design collaboration that is supported by structure, not personal effort.
Collaborate for Health equips department-level healthcare leaders with the skills to structure cross-department/interprofessional collaboration that produces system-level results and positions them for advancement.
Let’s Collaborate for Health. We are better together.
