Focus on Volunteer Engagement, Enhanced Data Management Methods to Increase Sustainability and ROI

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Due to the unique goals and timeframe of development of the Mobile Health Initiative (MHI) at UMN, we faced challenges in developing this program starting in 2020 amidst COVID-19 while serving our unique patient population. There is a national average of a $14 ROI per $1 invested in a mobile clinic; however, we wanted to know if it was possible to maintain this positive ROI amidst these challenges. To overcome these challenges, we focused on establishing a volunteer-run system that worked with community partners. By having infrastructure set up with our community partners, the healthcare providers’ administrative duties decreased, and we had a large interest in this program, with over 1607 volunteer hours in 2021. To assess efficacy, we analyzed the financial and access-to-care ROI during the events held in 2021. Financial ROI was calculated through QALYs and ED/UC visits saved by preventative services (Oriol et al., 2009). Access-to-care ROI was determined by analyzing the percentage of elevated lab results as well as the number of total patients seen and services performed throughout the year. We learned it is necessary to have a comprehensive data collection system in place. As a response, we created a series of forms through the REDCap system to allow for continual collection, analysis, and referral tracking. We are developing a web application that will take the place of this form to more completely meet our goals. Through these technological tools, we can better monitor our patient population’s health and access to care over time.

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