University of Montana researchers, in partnership with Missoula’s Providence St. Patrick Hospital Win Award to Study Hospital Discharge Process in Rural Montana

University of Montana researchers, in partnership with Missoula’s Providence St. Patrick Hospital, will use a new funding award to investigate how the hospital discharge process affects the treatment outcomes of patients from rural areas and to explore ways to improve those outcomes.

The $1.85 million award was presented through a highly competitive process by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, an independent nonprofit organization authorized by Congress in 2010. PCORI funds research that provides patients, caregivers and clinicians with evidence-based information needed to make better health care decisions.

"This award will be used initially to understand the experiences people have when they discharge from St. Patrick Hospital to one of the more-rural counties in western Montana," said Craig Ravesloot, director of Rural Health Research with the UM’s Rural Institute on Disabilities. "We worked with the hospitals in Plains, Polson, Deer Lodge and Dillon, which serve large rural counties. The partnership with those hospitals was key to the success of our proposal."

Full Story: http://news.umt.edu/2013/05/052013rurl.aspx

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Grant lets St. Pat’s, UM study outcomes for rural patients

While Missoula’s medical experts know how to fix clogged hearts, perform lifesaving surgeries and remove diseased organs, there is little knowledge about what happens to patients from outlying, rural communities after they leave the hospital.

"Right now, understanding how discharge happens in these rural areas – it’s a black hole," said Craig Ravesloot, director of Rural Health Research with the University of Montana’s Rural Institutes on Disabilities.

"Most recoveries from hospital procedures happen at home these days, but we don’t really know what happens after people leave the hospital," he said. "We do know that people aren’t returning at the same rate, and some are dying instead of coming back to hospitals."

By Betsy Cohen

Full Story: http://www.ravallirepublic.com/news/state-and-regional/article_28b09097-9e47-50f2-9285-2271621a9e50.html