The L.S. Skaggs Institute for Health Innovation (SIHI) in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy (SSOP) consists of three primary components, each providing the potential for integration of direct clinical services for patients, support for healthcare professionals and healthcare institutions across Montana, experiential learning opportunities for trainees (students and fellows), and innovative opportunities for collaborative research:

1. An interprofessional telehealth effort provides telehealth services across the state, while simultaneously providing hands-on training opportunities for Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students and the opportunity to partner with other health professions (e.g. physical therapy, family medical residents) within the College of Health. SIHI provides opportunities for interprofessional team-based care that would otherwise be inaccessible for many Montanans.
2. Precision medicine innovations—such as pharmacogenetics—are integrated into clinical services, and consultations are offered statewide to healthcare professionals via telehealth and virtual access. The University of Montana is a leader in pharmacogenetics with rural and tribal populations. SIHI also provides new research opportunities to both graduate and health professions students in the areas of precision medicine, pharmacogenomics, and implementation science.
   
   
3. Expansion of rural health outreach programs -- we have built upon our successful SSOP ImProving Health Among Rural Montanans (IPHARM) program, helping identify patients with poor access to healthcare services and connecting them to care. Rural outreach programs provide capacity to travel to rural communities for face-to-face care services by interprofessional teams of students and faculty and/or develop innovative telehealth interventions. Patients identified through rural outreach and mobile services are linked into local services and referred for follow-up care.

"Our mission is to be a statewide hub for health education, research, and outreach to improve access to emerging health innovations for underserved populations."

Our goals at SIHI are to maintain a long-term sustainable entity to improve the health of Montanans and reduce healthcare disparities across the state. In addition, SIHI will serve as an enrichment platform for interprofessional education and research. The UM SSOP and CoH are embracing the opportunity to rethink our models of care and methods of training health professionals, with the future of healthcare and health innovations at the center of this vision.

At the L.S. Skaggs Institute for Health innovation, we are committed to the following goals and objectives: 

1. Provide SSOP pharmacy and graduate students with educational and research opportunities in the latest innovations in health, including telehealth and precision medicine.
   
   
2. Establish models of interprofessional training and provision of care to rural settings through clinical/experiential opportunities to students in the health professions, including integration of telehealth precision medicine services into care.
   
   
3. Enhance the SSOP and CoH outreach programs focused on community engagement and community-driven solutions to improving healthcare.
   
   
4. Support and develop partnerships with communities, clinics and healthcare systems, clinical specialists, researchers, and health initiatives across the state to establish innovative models to improve access to and quality of care.
   
   
5. Expand research on health outcomes associated with delivering and implementing telehealth and precision medicine to rural and tribal patients.
   
   
6. Create a sustainable model for the Institute’s clinical services through the development of revenues from billing and reimbursement, extramural grants, and contracts from health systems and government agencies.