Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

6 PATIENT SAFETY & OUTCOMES 'No AMC is coming to save rural America': Providence, U of Montana reimagine healthcare innovation By Erica Cerutti F or years, Daniel Spoon, MD, has had a vision about building a better model to support innovation in rural healthcare — one that does not rely on ideas imported from large academic medical centers far removed from the daily realities of delivering care in remote areas. Many of the solutions developed at large AMCs are designed in environments with ample resources, staffing and infrastructure that simply do not exist in most rural communities, Dr. Spoon, chief medical officer of Providence Montana and director of cardiovascular research, told Becker's. It is a fundamental challenge he said continues to impede progress in improving rural health outcomes. "One of the downsides about rural medicine is, for the most part, no large academic medical centers are located in rural environments or truly understand the difficulties of caring for patients in these areas," Dr. Spoon said. "No one from a large AMC is coming to save rural America." His vision is beginning to take shape through a new partnership between Providence St. Patrick Hospital and the University of Montana, both based in Missoula. e initiative, known as Resolve, launched in November and brings together the research capabilities of a major academic institution, the clinical reach of Renton, Wash.- based Providence, and on-the-ground insights from rural providers. e university and health system have described the collaboration as unique. What makes it stand out is that Montana, like many rural states, lacks an in-state academic medical center. e goal of Resolve is to fill that gap by creating a model in which clinicians, researchers and communities can share resources and co-develop solutions that directly address challenges in rural healthcare delivery. "e data capacity of a system like Providence is unimaginable," Dr. Spoon said. "If you can bring together these researchers at the academic flagship institution, the local expertise and care that is provided at our hospital, and the horsepower and large datasets, then we can create the environment that allows us to take the lead on rural health issues and rural healthcare delivery." At the heart of the initiative is a belief that rural health solutions must be driven by those who understand the challenges best. "e content experts about how one would improve care in rural America are rural Americans," he said. "It is the nurses, the techs and the administrators at our critical access hospitals that truly understand their barriers, but they don't have the time, the FTE, the bandwidth, the data capabilities to do the science and implement the program. So what we're really trying to do is be that machinery." In its early stages, Resolve has focused on building philanthropic support to fund its infrastructure. Dr. Spoon said the model was designed to become self-sustaining over time, with its foundation strong enough to attract external grants and research dollars. at moment is now arriving, as clinicians and researchers begin applying for collaborative grants and expanding project pipelines. Early projects are largely focused on identifying and quantifying the unique challenges facing rural providers and patients, which Dr. Spoon said is a necessary first step before building and testing tailored solutions. Among them are systemwide studies led by Providence clinicians and UM researchers examining variations in cardiovascular outcomes between rural and urban hospitals. In Montana, UM researchers and local clinicians have already published a study linking elevated blood pressure levels to periods of heavy wildfire smoke Joint Commission, NQF align safety event reporting By Erica Cerutti T he Joint Commission and the National Quality Forum are aligning their serious safety event reporting frameworks in an effort to reduce redundancy and ease the administrative burden on healthcare providers. Effective Jan. 1, 2027, The Joint Commission will adopt the NQF's Serious Reportable Events, or SRE List, across all accredited domestic and international organizations, according to a Jan. 26 news release from the organizations. Three workplace safety events — homicide, sexual abuse or assault, and physical assault of staff — will be retained as part of the revised SRE list. Leaders of both organizations said consolidating around the NQF list will simplify reporting for clinicians and hospitals while providing a more consistent, standardized framework for measuring and tracking patient safety events across states and health systems. The Joint Commission said it will offer technical support during the transition to help accredited organizations prepare. "This marks a significant step toward simplifying safety event reporting for clinicians, hospitals, and health systems worldwide, reducing duplicative reporting tasks and allowing them to focus more on making care safer," Jonathan Perlin, MD, PhD, president and CEO of The Joint Commission, said in the statement. "Establishing a common standard for measuring and tracking patient safety events will not only reduce reporting burden, it also will enhance the quality and completeness of safety event data. With a clearer, more comprehensive picture of these events, healthcare organizations globally can direct their improvement efforts where they are needed most, making care safer and more effective for every patient." The change stems from The Joint Commission's 2023 affiliation with the NQF. Under the agreement, the organizations pledged to reduce the reporting burden tied to competing quality measures by aligning around common frameworks. n

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