UND Center for Rural Service Delivery receives $100,000 The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has made a donation of $100,000 to the University's Center for Rural Service Delivery for a project to provide telemedicine services and links to local Community Health Representatives (CHRs) on Indian reservations. The grant will fund a project on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe reservation, which is situated in North and South Dakota. Glenn Miller, director of Center for Rural Service Delivery, described the project as a collaboration of health with technology. The project will combine efforts of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences and the College of Business and Public Administration. A complete and enhanced electronic patient record system will allow CHRs to have reliable, up to date information. A prototype at Fort Yates put the system into a laptop and then data can be transferred into a supervisor's laptop. It can generate sample reports, track visits and needed follow-up care, and keep track of medications and doctor instructions. “This will expand and solidify the information Community Health Representatives acquire. Previously this was all done on paper. We’ve gotten good results so far,” Miller said. “We remain committed to improving Indian health. The health of a tribe is impacted by the quality of its tribal health program. The quality of the tribal health program is determined in part by the effectiveness of its CHRs, who require the tools and resources to be effective.” The model communities project links government, health care, and information services electronically to rural communities to increase rural community vitality, improve community health practices, make broader use of government benefits, and provide social services. There is a four-part collaboration between the Government Rural Outreach Initiative, Social Security Administration (Denver region), Health Information Technology Center, the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and the Indian Health Service. The Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, Trenton Indian Service Area, and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa are also currently involved in this project, with future expansion planned for other tribes. -- Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, 2330 Sioux Trail NW, Prior Lake, Minn. Tribal office: 952-445-8900, Fax: 952-233-4225. For more information contact Tessa Lehto at 952-496-6160.