Fact sheet: The Center for Healthcare Innovation at Allina

One way Allina Hospitals & Clinics is giving back to the community is through the Center for Healthcare Innovation at Allina.

The Center researches new care models and treatments to transform health and health care and advance Allina's strategic vision to improve patient care and serve as a catalyst for change in health care locally and nationally.

Main initiatives of the Center are:

The Backyard Initiative: Allina extends its commitment to the Phillips and Powderhorn neighborhoods of Minneapolis to improve population health.
Allina's headquarters, its largest hospital, Abbott Northwestern, and the region's only specialty eye hospital, Phillips Eye Institute, are located in the middle of one of the most diverse, but health-challenged, neighborhoods in Minnesota.
Bringing together residents, researchers, policy makers, community leaders, government, local non-profit organizations and others, the Backyard Initiative will forge new models for improving residents' health status and understanding how medical, social, educational and economic factors are interdependent and impact health in "backyard" neighborhoods across Minnesota and the nation.
The Heart of New Ulm: The Heart of New Ulm is an innovative and visionary effort to eliminate heart attacks in the community of New Ulm, Minnesota.
Today, about 90 percent New Ulm residents are patients at New Ulm Medical Center and have an electronic medical record. This record gives Allina a groundbreaking opportunity to identify health risks, track the health of the population and to provide early interventions to improve health and reduce heart disease.
Allina is joining with the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, local government, businesses and residents to create this innovative, focused approach to heart health.
Robina Care Guide Project: In early 2009, Allina received a grant from the Robina Foundation to pilot the use of care guides to help patients stay on track with their care plans and manage their chronic diseases. The first pilot was so successful at the first clinic that Allina is training care guides for six more clinic locations.

The Center will continue to develop new innovations to improve the health of the communities served by Allina Hospitals & Clinics.

Allina's commitment is unique

The Center for Healthcare Innovation will generate innovations and research outcomes that can be translated to improved health for patients and the wider community.

By making this bold investment, Allina hopes to become a national leader in creating innovative, sustainable models of care and sharing best practices and innovation.

The Center will leverage the experiences of others and seek collaborative partnerships as it fosters innovative approaches to providing care.

Potential areas of focus include:

new models for care and coverage for underserved populations
investment in innovative community health improvement initiatives
support for clinical research and other health care innovations
developing new approaches to care and disseminating that knowledge widely.