The Clinical Practice Model (CPM) work originated in 1983, with the mission of “co-creating the best places to give and receive care” by addressing the realities and concerns faced by many committed, intelligent and caring healthcare providers. There was growing gap between what was believed to be individualized, quality healthcare and what was being lived in their workplace every day. Clinical patterns, rituals, routines and expectations of practice had devolved into the “doing of tasks” and away from delivering services that embodied professional Scope of Practice and healthy relationships between clinicians and patients. These patterns were symptoms of an unhealthy care culture that interfered with the health of both providers and recipients of care.
Bonnie Wesorick, our founder, visionary leader and now Chairman Emeritus, began this work by developing an evolving, systems thinking framework- CPM, or Clinical Practice Model. It was designed to create healthy, healing cultures and integrated healthcare systems for recipients and providers of care. The CPM Framework was designed to unravel the complexity of factors impacting culture and care and address them holistically, rather than to provide a quick fix for individual issues.
The initial work was carried out in a three-year pilot process in a 529 bed community hospital. The success led to a six-year pilot with multiple hospitals across the country.
Co-creating the Clinical Practice Model with others became a solid foundation of its evolution, intention and purpose. The scholarly work has consistently been led by practitioners from diverse rural, community, university, profit, non-profit and academic settings. During the initial phases of this work, the practitioners were only nurses. Now, contributions flow from all manner of healthcare providers and interdisciplinary integration has become part of its signature strength.
During the pilot years, great insights were discovered related to the nature of change and the fundamental processes and structures essential to create quality integrated health systems that foster healthy care cultures. The CPM International Consortium was developed, and the First International Conference was held in 1991. CPM, as we know it today, was founded in 1992.
The evolution from a nursing professional practice model to an interdisciplinary model took deeper root as the Consortium hosted its first International Interdisciplinary Consortium Gathering (1997). During this meeting, delineation of the Scope of Practice process was initiated for Nursing, Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Speech Language Pathologist, Respiratory Therapist, Chaplain, Social Work, Dietitian and Pharmacist. These statements were completed in 2000, culminating in a Scope of Practice Summit in Ontario, Canada in 2002. Today, the CPM Clinical Content Solutions are interdisciplinary and continue to be intentionally designed to strengthen interdisciplinary integration, care coordination and documentation at the point of care.
CPM has become internationally renowned as point of care, evidence-based practice experts, with a unique understanding of the polarities of professional practice, intentionally designed automation and technology integration. We have advanced our own knowledge developing our CPM CarePoints™ in electronic health records. Our Practice Transformation Services™ have evolved into best practice methodologies, integrating our clients’ experiences into their ongoing improvement.
