UWEC unveils alliance to focus on improving access, outcomes, cost in rural healthcare

EAU CLAIRE — With health care providers, entrepreneurs and community partners gathered in the Dakota Ballroom during lunch on Thursday, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Chancellor James Schmidt announced the start of a collaboration: the Rural Health Innovation Alliance.

“We’re focused on addressing rural community challenges related to healthcare, specifically how to improve healthcare access and outcomes at a reduced cost,” said Schmidt. “Three-pronged approach: better access, better outcomes, lower cost. That is the future.”

Initiating the alliance, UW-Eau Claire and the Chicago-based Health Equity Innovation Partners look to bring those providers, businesses and leaders into a “sandbox” model of collaboration. Innovation is encouraged in an environment where things like data and technology are shared, as Schmidt said it is about bringing the right people to the table to unlock further collaboration and research.

Schmidt also referenced the construction of the University’s anticipated Science and Health Science building, saying that it is what is going to be inside the building in regards to research, technology and resources that will help contribute to a community need.

In tackling this topic through this approach, he also said it addresses an issue which is seen on a national scale.

“The research is very clear that the outcomes for people in rural parts of the country in health care are significantly worse than in an urban environment. There is an issue of access, and there is an issue of behavior — people’s willingness to seek that healthcare,” said Schmidt. “Early on, we said we wanted to put a flag in the ground and be a center for rural health innovation.”

The University began having talks of this vision after connecting with people at Chicago ARC in the late summer and early fall.

Schmidt said the closures of HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s in Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls was not a motivation for the Rural Health Innovation Alliance, or RHIA. But as the closures have had a direct impact on rural communities’ access to healthcare, he said it adds urgency to the notion of coming up with solutions to cover the aforementioned three-prong approach.

“We in no way want to interfere with the great work of people coming together to solve those immediate issues, but we know that much of what created this was this notion of the economics of healthcare and how badly broken it is,” he said.

In regards to their mission, Ken Bahk, co-founder of Chicago ARC, said, “The idea is: how do you use the next six months to build something that improves access to care but then builds that as the MVP — minimum viable product — for an ecosystem that you can use in the future? To turn this into and use as the center for rural health?”

For one of their first steps, Chicago ARC Executive Director Kate Merton said the plan is to look into and create “microsites” where efficient structures can be delivered to provide effective health care in rural areas. Additionally, they would incorporate in-person care and telehealth as a means to easily communicate with healthcare providers and deliver care.

As the goal is to ultimately create solutions which could scale to help rural care on a national or potentially global scale, Schmidt and Tim Nelson, director of the Todd and Karen Wanek Family Program for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome at Mayo Clinic, said students will play a pivotal role in that.

“People often get used to a certain way things have to be done, and we’re constantly being challenged by structures and the way that we’ve always done it. Young people are imaginative; they’re creative; they’ve been challenged in the classroom; they have got great critical thinking skills and they are going to say, ‘Why don’t we do this?’...” said Schmidt. “Those kinds of questions, I believe, will result in the kind of answers we need to solve the problem.”

“We need the young people that are at this University, in the faculty from nursing to computer science, to pre-med to be able to be inspired that we don’t have it figured out,” said Nelson. “Nobody in this room has the solution or the answers, and we need to invite young people to be part of this; to be inspired; to be empowered; to be part of the solution and co-create the future.”

With many faces at Thursday’s announcement, Schmidt said it is a chance to extend an open invitation and welcome everyone to the table to pursue the alliance’s vision.

“We know that it is not just a one-sided conversation; we do need to be collaborating with other health care organizations around this and the community members…” said Jeri Koester, Marshfield Clinic Health System chief information and digital officer. “Thinking about other organizations and bringing this kind of process with the university and with the community members — I think is going to be a very powerful combination that could really have an impact on healthcare.”