Altru Health System is celebrating the successful completion of its three-year partnership with the American Heart Association’s Center for Telehealth Learning Collaborative and the continuation of that work through a new one-year sustainability and expansion agreement.
Three years ago, Altru was selected as one of only 12 health care organizations nationwide to participate in the American Heart Association’s Center for Telehealth Learning Collaborative. Through the initiative, Altru received $96,000 in grant funding to strengthen and standardize telehealth services across its health system, improving both the patient and provider experience.
During the project, Altru was also selected as one of only five organizations nationwide to be featured by the American Heart Association as a model for telehealth excellence, showcasing its success in implementing standardized telehealth practices that can serve as an example for health systems across the country.
Building on the success of the initial collaboration, the American Heart Association has awarded Altru an additional $17,000 through a new one-year sustainability and expansion agreement. The funding will support continued growth of the telehealth program, with a focus on implementing the same standardized workflows, equipment, and training at Altru Hospital in Devils Lake.
The original initiative focused on standardizing telehealth equipment, workflows, and training to create more efficient and seamless virtual care experiences. Eight telemedicine rooms across Altru’s service region received technology upgrades and standardized equipment, including digital stethoscopes, integrated examination cameras, professional headsets, and other tools that support high-quality virtual care. Upgrades were implemented at clinics in Grand Forks, Crookston, Devils Lake and Thief River Falls.
These enhancements help reduce barriers to care across Altru’s largely rural service area, making it easier for patients to connect with specialists closer to home while minimizing the need for long-distance travel.
Altru’s telehealth model combines advanced technology with in-person clinical support, allowing patients to receive specialty care closer to home while still benefiting from hands-on assistance during their appointments.
“When a lot of folks think about telehealth they think about sitting at their home at their kitchen table with their computer,” said Amber Stokke, Practice Manager at Altru Devils Lake. “Our system is a little different where we’re more of a hybrid system where we are bringing those patients into the clinic, still giving them that one-on-one care that they require, but giving it to them in a different way that provides them with the chance to save time, save money, save all that extra travel to go see that provider close to home.”
The project also included the development of standardized rooming guides, equipment catalogs, and structured staff training to improve consistency across the health system. Throughout the collaboration, Altru worked alongside health care organizations from across the country to share best practices and help shape the future of telehealth-enabled care.
“Our partnership with the American Heart Association Center for Telehealth Learning Collaborative has been incredibly valuable,” said Jessica Piseno, Telehealth Services Specialist at Altru Health System. “Through grant opportunities they’ve supported and established telehealth programs like ours while also creating space for shared learning. We’ve been able to grow our own services and also contribute to what we’ve learned through AHA-affiliated programs. Being part of the collaboration allows us to learn from others, ask questions openly, and share what’s working in a real-world rural setting.”
Altru’s telehealth journey began in 2007 with regional renal dialysis care and expanded significantly following a USDA grant in 2012 that helped establish the foundation for today’s robust virtual care program. Today we offer a wide range of virtual care services, including telestroke, eConsults, telepharmacy, remote patient monitoring, telemedicine, teleradiology, video visits, eVisits, and telephone care. These services span 37 specialties, supported by 141 providers, and reach 53 partner locations, including clinics, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and a correctional facility, extending access to care across northeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota.
“Success is less travel time for patients, better quality outcomes for patients, and keeping patients at the center of our journey to get better with them,” said Josh Deere, MD, President of Altru Health System. “Ongoing investment in technology is really key. We’ve been early adopters to technology at Altru. I think that’s allowed our provider team, our care team, our coordinator team, to continue to work and innovate and change and bring our patient population along with it.”
The new one-year agreement will allow Altru to build on the foundation established through the Learning Collaborative, ensuring more patients have access to high-quality specialty care closer to home while continuing to advance telehealth across the region.
