Rural Health Transformation Program Support

The Rural Health Data Team at the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (UWPHI) has expertise in summarizing measures of health at the community level. The UWPHI data team produces state and county-level baseline datasets, trend summaries, and descriptive analyses of how community conditions affect health outcomes.

UWPHI’s data team provides responsive, short-term technical assistance (typically 1–2 hours per request) to help Wisconsin partners make the most of available data and tools.

We can support you in the following ways:

• Identifying community health data. Identify data to describe the health, wellbeing and community conditions of your community.
• Communicating data effectively. Translate data so it can be easily communicated to a particular audience.
• Interpreting data accurately. Understand what measures mean, including their strengths, limitations and appropriate use.
• Connecting data to action. Frame strategies using social and structural determinants of health frameworks to guide decision-making.

Example TA requests include:

• A short consultation with an organization applying for a grant to identify relevant data and strengthen the case for a community priority.
• A targeted analysis for a health system to reflect service areas that span multiple counties or regions.
• A presentation to a coalition on the UWPHI Model of Health and how to navigate our resources.

The Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality (WCHQ) maintains a unique data repository that aggregates clinical, laboratory, and encounter data from medical and dental practices, from health systems across the state. These measures enable medical groups to collect and report data on all patients, driving internal improvements and fostering cross organizational collaboration.

WCHQ  will provide short-term technical assistance to help Wisconsin organizations effectively implement rural health transformation activities.

Support may include:

• Identify rural health needs and priorities. Use data to identify rural health needs, priority populations, and improvement opportunities.
• Interpret and apply data. Help organizations understand and use health care quality and population health data.
• Share tools and best  practices. Provide relevant resources and quality improvement approaches.
• Communicate data findings. Support clear communication of data and findings.
• Facilitate connections. Connect organizations with rural health care partners and stakeholders.

Example TA requests could include:

• Custom data analysis to identify patient populations with the most opportunity to improve care for a particular condition in your community.
• Analysis and interpretation of health care quality metrics to identify priority conditions for improvement.
• Connections to partners and stakeholders with similar priorities and relevant expertise.

The Wisconsin Office of Rural Health (WORH), in collaboration with evaluation staff from University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (UWPHI), serves as the independent third-party evaluator for RHTP. WORH is responsible for tracking and summarizing progress toward overall project goals, developing data collection tools to be used by grantees and subgrantees for reporting, and providing evaluation support to grantees and subgrantees.

Evaluation support and TA can be provided through 1:1 meetings, weekly evaluation office hours, email/online consultation, and periodic community of practice meetings.

Support may include:

• Developing an evaluation plan and/or logic model to delineate the intended outcomes of your RHTP project.
• Identifying performance measures and data collection methods to assess your intended outcomes.
• Brainstorming evaluation and data collection considerations, challenges, and best practices.

Example TA requests include:

• A 1:1 meeting to discuss your RHTP project goals and identify how program activities can translate to measurable outcomes.
• An email or phone consultation to help establish baseline values and realistic targets for performance measures.