title: Rural communities improving quality through collaboration: the MaineHealth story.
abstract: Small and rural communities face unique challenges in improving healthcare quality. To address these challenges, MaineHealth, an integrated health system serving small and rural communities, leveraged knowledge, resources, and data through collaboration to help providers improve care and outcomes for asthma, heart failure, diabetes, and depression. The programs emphasized patient self-care, used uniform clinical standards, and supported population-based data collection. This collaborative approach provided an effective way to achieve improved outcomes across a geographically and structurally diverse system, and it can help influence improvement efforts in other small and medium-sized rural communities.
authors.affiliation: MaineHealth, USA. letoul@mmc.org
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Letourneau
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Korsen
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Osgood
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Swartz
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000628:therapy; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006764:Hospitals, Community / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008281:Maine; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D012424:Rural Population