2024 SIHI Innovation Fund Awards
The L.S. Skaggs Institute for Health Innovation (SIHI) is dedicated to advancing health education, research, and outreach, ensuring access to groundbreaking health innovations. We're thrilled to introduce the recipients of our 2024 Innovation Fund. The Innovation Fund is a catalyst for pioneering program concepts or the expansion of existing initiatives, with a strong emphasis on fostering collaboration and innovation with pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences.
A summary of funded programs can be found below. We will be sharing periodic updates and highlights throughout the year. Stay tuned for our next call for applications in Spring 2025.
Katie Holick, Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Exploring Indigenous Healthcare Experiences in Montana: Shaping Tomorrow's Healthcare Providers with Immersive Training
A community-based research initiative to develop a storytelling-based virtual reality (VR) experience, focusing on the unique healthcare experiences and challenges faced by the Blackfeet Indigenous tribe of Montana. The pilot planning project will establish a Community Advisory Board (CAB) with the communities of the Blackfeet Tribal Lands, serving as a foundational step in the creation of an immersive VR tool.
Jillian Hull, Western Montana Area Health Education Center
WMAHEC Medstart
A statewide initiative that gives Montana high-school students the chance to explore various health professions through hands-on experiences and college-style lectures. Each year, 30 high school students entering their sophomore, junior, or senior years are accepted into the Missoula camp. Many of these students come from disadvantaged backgrounds, low-income families, rural areas, or will be the first in their families to attend college
Molly Kimmel, Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities
Shawna Hanson, MonTECH
The NeedleEase Initiative, A MonTECH Project
NeedleEase will partner with providers managing community placements (group homes) for Montanans with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and their primary pharmacies and labs. This project will provide assistive technologies (AT), training in the use of AT, and encouragement of ongoing use to decrease fearfulness and increase compliance with critically important blood draws and shots.
Ian McGrane, Staci Hemmer, David Allen III, Department of Pharmacy Practice
Incorporation of Electronic Prescription Claims Data using Medicaid Web Portals and other Commercial Sources into Medication Reconciliation at Critical Access Hospitals in Montana
Electronic Pharmaceutical Claims Data (EPCD) is an important tool in medication reconciliation (MR) during hospital admissions, providing vital information like drug name, strength, and provider details. Programs like Medicaid Web Portals (MWPs) and Surescripts© have proven effective in reducing medication errors, especially when incorporated into MR processes at critical access hospitals. This project will expand education on EPCD and health information exchange programs which could improve patient safety across more hospitals.
Catherine Off, Jenna Griffin-Musick, Kim McKearnan, School of Speech, Language, Hearing and Occupational Sciences
Stroke and Aphasia Rehabilitation at the 老虎机攻略: An Optimal Context for Expanding Interprofessional Education and Practice for Students in the Health Professions
This project will increase the number of interprofessional students in the health professions who engage with the Big Sky Aphasia Program, an outpatient rehabilitation program for stroke survivors and their families. Aphasia is a language disorder that can significantly hinder a survivor’s ability to resume pre-stroke roles and responsibilities. This project will facilitate the formation of an interprofessional planning team consisting of one member each from Speech-Language Pathology, Pharmacy, Occupational Therapy, Counselor Education, and Wildlife Biology.
Julie Olomi, Psychology
Developing an interprofessional training practicum to increase service coordination and improve access to medical, socio-legal, and mental health services for families experiencing domestic violence
This project seeks to turn established practicum opportunities into a sustainable interprofessional training model, and ultimately improve training for students who will work with families experiencing violence. This project will lay the foundation for an interprofessional practicum opportunity for graduate students in law, pharmacy, social work, and clinical psychology. Specific activities will include a comprehensive needs assessment for people accessing services at the 老虎机攻略 Domestic Violence Law Clinic, and planning efforts to define compliance and accreditation requirements across disciplines to support the interprofessional model.
Hillary Powell, Psychology
Gender and Sexual Minority Health E-Consultation Team: A Needs and Feasibility Assessment
This project seeks to lay the groundwork for an interprofessional e-consultation team for appropriate health services that reach rural Montana, with ultimate goals of providing on-demand consultation, tailored training, and an active referral network to improve access to care in rural areas. Specific activities include assessing current training practices for health professions, evaluate training and consultation needs among rural health providers, and gauging the feasibility of the e-consultation model.