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Rural Health Information Hub

Minnesota Models and Innovations

These stories feature model programs and successful rural projects that can serve as a source of ideas. Some of the projects or programs may no longer be active. Read about the criteria and evidence-base for programs included.

Promising Examples

SD eResidential Facilities Healthcare Services Access Project

funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed August 2020

  • Need: To increase local health services to rural elderly populations in long-term care facilities located in four Midwest states near a tertiary care organization.
  • Intervention: A non-profit healthcare organization implemented telehealth services to provide acute care evaluations for long-term residents in their home facilities.
  • Results: The program increased local care as evidenced by improved year-over-year provider-determined available transfer data: 33%, 50%, 63% program years 1 through 3, respectively. From the success of the initial pilot implementation, the program has further matured into a long-term care offering that now reaches many other rural facilities located in 10 states across the nation.

The Rural Virtual Infusion Program

funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed April 2020

  • Need: Allow rural cancer patients in a region inclusive of 26 counties in Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota to have access to tertiary-level chemotherapy regimens in rural infusion centers.
  • Intervention: With telehealth-based oversight from a tertiary care oncology team, 3 rural infusion teams were trained to coordinate cancer treatment plans and administer complex chemotherapy regimens.
  • Results: Almost 130 patients were transitioned to receive chemotherapy in a rural infusion center, translating to over 1,000 infusion visits and saving patients/families nearly 65,000 trip miles, 1,800 travel hours and $71,000.

Other Project Examples

Rural Aging Action Network

Updated/reviewed January 2024

  • Need: To connect underserved and isolated older adults in rural Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota to services and supports so they can age in place.
  • Intervention: The Rural Aging Action Network is a collaborative of organizations that offer different services like caregiver support, behavioral health, financial counseling, and assistance with chores and household maintenance.
  • Results: Since 2015, the collaborative has reached over 4,000 older adults and caregivers in over 100 rural communities.

Targeted Rural Health Education Project

Updated/reviewed January 2024

  • Need: Dual platform to both teach health literacy principles to health professions students and disseminate health information to rural populations.
  • Intervention: Writing project using community-specific public health data in order to write a plain language health education article suitable for publication in a rural newspaper.
  • Results: Since program start in 2017, over 60 students have successfully published their plain language health education articles in 17 rural newspapers in 3 states.

University of Minnesota Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Rural Rotation

Added December 2023

  • Need: To address shortages of nurse practitioners and mental health professionals in rural Minnesota.
  • Intervention: The University of Minnesota (UMN) School of Nursing implemented a 40-hour rural rotation for students in the psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner program.
  • Results: 29 students completed rural rotations in communities across the state; several students voiced a new openness to practicing in a rural area after participating in the program.

Tri-Valley Opportunity Council Rural Transportation

Updated/reviewed October 2023

  • Need: Public transportation options in a rural 8-county area in northwest Minnesota.
  • Intervention: A coordinated public transportation and volunteer driver system which serves northwest Minnesota.
  • Results: Increased ridership and affordable access to transportation for residents of 8 counties in rural, northwest Minnesota.

Implementation of a Nursing Veterans' Initiative to Transform Education (INVITE)

funded by the Health Resources Services Administration

Updated/reviewed August 2023

  • Need: To support rural veterans pursuing a career in nursing.
  • Intervention: The INVITE program improved the curriculum and reworked admission requirements to better support veteran students' experiences in the College of St. Scholastica undergraduate nursing program.
  • Results: The number of veterans pursuing nursing has more than doubled since program implementation, and all students have reported an increased interest in serving rural communities.

FirstLink Care and Support Program

Updated/reviewed July 2023

  • Need: To reduce suicide and substance-related deaths in North Dakota and Minnesota.
  • Intervention: The Care and Support program provides support through phone calls, cards, and texting to those who have called suicide helplines or were referred by a healthcare provider.
  • Results: In 2022, FirstLink made 15,624 calls and sent 3,357 cards to program participants.

The Minnesota Integrative Behavioral Health Program

Updated/reviewed May 2023

  • Need: Out of 79 Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) surveyed in Minnesota in 2015, behavioral health was the most frequently cited service requested.
  • Intervention: In response, Rural Health Innovations launched the Minnesota Integrative Behavioral Health Program. This initiative engaged representatives across all sectors in health integration between hospital, primary care, and community services.
  • Results: Strategy sessions resulted in the creation of resource directories to improve care coordination, evaluation measurements to document results, and an overall better understanding of integrative care challenges.

Right Side Up Falls Prevention

Updated/reviewed March 2023

  • Need: Falling is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in adults over the age of 65.
  • Intervention: The Right Side Up program was implemented in rural Otter Tail County to address the prevention and management of falls and risk for falls through in-home assessments given by interdisciplinary healthcare professionals and students.
  • Results: Short-term outcomes revealed 100% of participants found the visit and recommendations for falls prevention to be helpful, and 78% implemented these recommendations.

Last Updated: 1/22/2024