South Dakota Models and Innovations

Women to Women Online Support Network
Updated/reviewed November 2020

Need: Women living in rural areas with chronic illness often face little social support, leading to increased rates of depression and stress
Intervention: Women to Women offered rural women with chronic conditions social support networks via telecommunication
Results: WTW intervention participants experienced positive increases in self-esteem, social support, and empowerment over the control group

Care for Our Elders/Wakanki Ewastepikte
Updated/reviewed June 2020

Need: To provide Lakota elders with tools and opportunities for advance care planning.
Intervention: An outreach program in South Dakota helps Lakota elders with advance care planning and wills by providing bilingual brochures and advance directive coaches.
Results: Care for Our Elders saw an increase in the number of Lakota elders understanding the differences between a will and a living will and the need to have end-of-life discussions with family and healthcare providers.

Avera eCARE
Updated/reviewed November 2019

Need: Rural hospitals and healthcare providers have less access to specialty care support.
Intervention: A service was created at Avera Health that provides 24-hour virtual access to specialty care physicians, nurses and pharmacists.
Results: Rural patients can receive specialty care without leaving their communities, and rural healthcare providers can get needed support in providing quality care to their patients.

SD eResidential Facilities Healthcare Services Access Project
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
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.

Avera LIGHT
Updated/reviewed March 2021

Need: Assistance for urban and rural physicians — as well as other healthcare providers — who are experiencing burnout and other issues associated with well-being.
Intervention: As part of its provider well-being focus in its rural and urban facilities, Avera Health system has created a program which attends to physician wellness issues starting with recruitment with continued support through retirement.
Results: With increasing engagement due to word of mouth, the program creates a culture of wellness where stigma is decreased and providers are encouraged to be proactive in reaching out for assistance for issues related to their personal and professional well-being.

Delta Dental Mobile Program
Updated/reviewed March 2021

Need: Lack of access to oral healthcare for children from limited-income families in the rural and urban areas of South Dakota.
Intervention: Delta Dental of South Dakota launched the Delta Dental Mobile Program in 2004 to expand access to oral healthcare services to children throughout the rural state.
Results: The Delta Dental Mobile Program has provided over $31 million in dental care to more than 58,000 South Dakota children.

Prairie Lakes Healthcare System Physician Recruitment Model
Updated/reviewed February 2021

Need: Localized specialty and surgery services for residents in rural northeastern South Dakota and western Minnesota.
Intervention: Prairie Lakes Healthcare System expanded their services by recruiting specialty physicians and networking with regional community hospitals to increase patient referrals.
Results: Patients receive surgery and specialized care closer to home through Prairie Lakes' specialty medical providers and specialty services.

Simulation in Motion-South Dakota (SIM-SD) EMS Educational Outreach Program
Updated/reviewed January 2021

Need: To provide increased educational opportunities for emergency care personnel in rural and frontier South Dakota.
Intervention: A technologically advanced training was created to enhance the delivery of emergency patient care.
Results: Hundreds of emergency medical services (EMS) staff and volunteers received training that in turn helped them in the field of emergency patient care.

Safe Farming, Safe Living
Updated/reviewed December 2020

Need: In 2014, the Avera St. Benedict Health Center's emergency department experienced a drastic increase in the amount of Hutterite patients with farm-related injuries.
Intervention: The South Dakota Critical Access Hospital created a program to educate Hutterite communities on farm hazards and safe work practices.
Results: Since the program began in 2015, the Avera St. Benedict emergency department has had no life-threatening agricultural injury admissions from the Hutterite communities. Attendees have said their confidence in their ability to identify hazards has increased, and more of them are using safety equipment on a regular basis.

Evidence-Based Examples