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The University of Montana and Missoula-based St. Patrick Hospital, part of the Providence health system, are working together to develop evidence-based, research-driven care model strategies that prioritize the specific needs of rural providers and patients.
Rural caregivers, researchers and philanthropic partners are invited to join them in reshaping how health disparities are addressed by creating a blueprint for transforming rural healthcare from within, according to a joint announcement about the new RESOLVE initiative.
WHY IT MATTERS
By combining Providence's clinical expertise and the university's research infrastructure, the partners said they will implement a "ground-up" innovation strategy that is locally relevant and culturally responsive and addresses specific rural community challenges.
Community voices will steer RESOLVE's governance and decision-making processes.
"We’re embedding community-engaged research into the fabric of rural care, ensuring that the people who know their communities best are leading the way," said Matt Fete, dean of the College of Health at the University of Montana, in a statement. "Partnering with Providence allows us to scale these ideas into meaningful change across the region."
Shared data and joint research can make a meaningful impact on rural care, added Dr. Daniel Spoon, Providence Montana's chief medical officer and director of cardiovascular research.
Early projects co-led by Providence clinicians and the university's researchers include studies on cardiovascular outcomes and air quality, cancer rehabilitation and emergency response to extreme weather events.
Providence Montana and the university's medical researchers hope that community-engaged research will ensure "that the people who know their communities best are leading the way," Fete explained.
The new collaboration is "an engine to connect clinical practice with research in a way that’s immediate, locally driven and deeply relevant," Spoon added.
While the partners are still seeking additional philanthropic support to build the initiative's foundation, they aim for RESOLVE to be self-sustaining through industry and government funding by 2026, they said.
THE LARGER TREND
Traditional care models often disregard key variables that rural communities face.
For example, the scarcity of post-treatment support in some regions may slow rehabilitation for cancer patients. Historically, rural areas have had higher rates of cancer deaths than urban areas.
In 2020, the American Society of Clinical Oncology Virtual Scientific Program looked into that disparity and suggested that telehealth contributed to improving cancer care for rural patients.
Fast forward to 2025, and $50 billion is to be allocated to states through the 10-year Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) to leverage technologies, including telehealth, to address rural care disparities and sustain care delivery in these areas.
"People living in rural areas have higher rates of mortality when compared to their urban counterparts," according to Abe Sutton, deputy administrator Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services and director of its Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.
While speaking about the RHTP at a forum for state public health leaders held in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 30, Sutton explained that the tech-focused funding program is not only "about giving states a limited time opportunity with the capital needed to rebuild and reshape the supply of healthcare in rural communities."
But it's also about lowering costs for rural care and delivering "care in a reliable manner that expands capacity."
"I don't know exactly what things should be embraced, but that's where we're turning to you, with your expertise, with your engagement with the communities, with your understanding of what providers want to adopt in your states and local markets," to think through this at the state level, he told the room full of state healthcare leaders applying for the funding.
The CMS program required states that applied for the funding by Nov. 5 to describe how they would use technology to improve healthcare delivery across 11 categories, even as overall federal spending on healthcare is reduced.
It's a scenario, however, that could exacerbate disparities among states, specifically rural hospitals, policy experts told Healthcare IT News earlier this month.
ON THE RECORD
"No large academic medical center is going to come save rural healthcare – it’s up to us," said Spoon in a statement. "With two committed partners, we have the opportunity to build something innovative and organic, at a time when rural communities need it most."
Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.
