• Illustration of stethoscope and heart monitor
    Minnesota

    Mayo Clinic Health System Receives Grant to Improve Rural Health Care

ROCHESTER, Minn. — July 30, 2012.   Mayo Clinic Health System Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN) is sharing in an $11 million government grant to lead the creation of a national learning collaborative among rural health care providers. The effort is part of a national partnership using the Health Care Innovation Award funded by the Affordable Care Act.

Illustration of stethoscope and heart monitor

"This is a great opportunity for us to share health care knowledge and best practices with our colleagues to improve health care in rural communities nationally," says Paul Targonski, M.D., Ph.D., who leads the Mayo PBRN. "It's also a great important way for us to learn from our partners' expertise and experiences in rural health care, as well as leverage research to help solve the nation's health care problems."

The network is partnering with rural clinics and communities to help them work together to deliver better health care. It is leading the efforts within the grant to create and evaluate the outcomes of sustainable local learning collaboratives that will drive health practice improvements.

Partners in the project include Mineral Regional Health Center, Superior, Mont.; The Appalachian Osteopathic Postgraduate Training Institute Consortium, Pikeville, Ky.; iVantage Health Analytics, Portland, Maine; and Montana's frontier and rural health care communities. The specific award, the "Frontier Medicine Better Health Partnership," is intended to develop and implement a network to standardize operations and efficiencies across Montana's medical practices, including tertiary care centers, critical access hospitals, and rural health clinics. Training will be provided to participating sites, and support will include health improvement specialists, electronic health record specialists and data analysis.

The Health Care Innovation Award supports innovative projects nationwide designed to deliver high-quality medical care, enhance the health care workforce, and improve health care value. Mayo Clinic Health System Practice-Based Research Network, funded in part by the Mayo Clinic Center for Translational Science Activities, works with government, academic and other sectors addressing health problems affecting communities and the nation. Mayo Clinic Health System is a family of clinics, hospitals and other health care facilities serving more than 70 communities in Iowa, Georgia, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

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About Mayo Clinic:

Recognizing 150 years of serving humanity in 2014, Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit 150years.mayoclinic.orgwww.mayoclinic.org and newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org.


Media Contact: Colette Gallagher, 507-284-5005 (days), newsbureau@mayo.edu

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