As the complexity of knowledge and skills required for quality patient care continue to progress and number of individuals involved in the management of a single patient accordingly increases, effective team functioning becomes consecutively more important. Interprofessional education (IPE) and practice deliver team based care that fortifies health systems and improves health care outcomes. There is consensus that health care professionals must have the competency to work in teams to provide safer, quality care to multiple populations in varied health care settings. Interprofessional education and collaborative (IPEC) has published four competencies to exercise into practice. They are values and ethics; roles and responsibility; interprofessional communication and; team and team work. The framework for action on IPE is discussed as i) IPE, ii) collaborative practice and iii) health education and system. IPE is shaped by the mechanism of a) educator and b) curriculum. Collaborative practice level mechanisms are a) institutional support, b) working culture and c) environment. Health and education system deals with the ways services are provided in a) health care delivery and b) patient safety. This paper further encompasses benefits of IPE, and factors affecting the implementation of IPE. It also augments the results of research evidences in highlighting numerous activities that ultimately improves health outcomes.

Keywords: Interprofessional Education; Collaborative Practice; Team Work; Health Outcomes.