Rural Project Examples Addressing Inpatient care

Added April 2021

Need: Population health approach to decreasing area deaths from cardiovascular disease.
Intervention: A health system-level investment in level II cardiac catheterization services and the required specialized cardiology workforce.
Results: Since August 2018, the Avita Health System in north central Ohio has provided local cardiovascular services that have decreased hospital transfers, increased care coordination, and provided education and prevention activities that, with time, will impact population health cardiovascular outcomes.

Updated/reviewed March 2021

Need: Impact patient care and safety issues related to antibiotic use in southwest Colorado.
Intervention: Pharmacy-led antibiotic stewardship program for inpatient, outpatient, and long-term care settings.
Results: With antibiotic use guidelines, refined infection diagnostics, and first-choice antibiotic selections, all care settings now see decreased days of treatment and decreased resistance patterns.

Updated/reviewed December 2019

Need: Improve readmission rates for rural patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
Intervention: COPD Inpatient Navigator program implementation in a rural hospital in Oregon.
Results: With navigator assistance, COPD-associated readmission rate has decreased by almost 50%, with a continued improvement trend.

Rural Project Examples: Inpatient care