IPUs are multidisciplinary teams that are structured to meet the needs of well-defined groups of patients, usually with similar conditions, over the full cycle of care.
IPUs represent a profound organizational change in health care delivery and can enable better, more efficient care with shorter cycle times for groups of patients with similar needs.
The IPU structure disrupts traditional specialty-level clinical work practices and lines of authority, as well as the flow of funds through specialty departments common in many health care organizations.
Yet IPUs are becoming more common because they are a logical consequence of progress in medicine.
Chaos that results from the traditional model is inevitable. It leads to inefficiency, highly uneven coordination, erratic quality, and anxious patients and families.
In IPUs, excellence is not defined by the performance of individuals, but instead by the expertise, integration, and coordination of a team with clinicians who can learn as a group from past performance and best practices.
There is growing evidence that IPUs improve the value of care delivered.
RCM Health Consultancy has used the IPU structure and strategy for the last 25 years.
I guess we were a bit ahead of the current trend.
Raymond Rupert patient advocate and IPU leader.