Marlene Miller, LCSW

Marlene Miller currently serves as the Center for Rural Health’s Interim Co-Director, focusing on external relations and general oversight of the Center. She is the program director for the North Dakota Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program and the Small Hospital Improvement Program (SHIP) at the Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota (UND) School of Medicine and Health Sciences, in Grand Forks, N.D. Miller has been with the Center since 2003.

Miller directs and coordinates the activities of the Flex Program in North Dakota which assists rural hospitals to maintain access to health services in rural communities. Miller provides technical assistance to rural hospitals through strategic planning, performance improvement planning, community assessments, staff surveys, focus groups, and workshop development. Through the Small Hospital Improvement Program Miller assists hospitals with accessing federal funds that support health information technology and quality of care.

Miller’s past experiences include emergency room social work for Altru Health Systems where she conducted mental health and child abuse assessments, provided medical social work to all departments of the hospital related to services, referral, and advanced directives. She has also worked at the Community Violence Intervention Center as the program coordinator for both the Domestic Violence Offender Treatment Program and the Public Education and Training Program. In this position she was responsible for completing offender treatment assessments, conducting treatment groups, supervision, program development and evaluation in addition to providing both professional and public training related to domestic violence and sexual assault. Miller worked at Winnipeg Child and Family Services in Manitoba as a special needs coordinator. In this position she coordinated the activities of the special needs program for Northwest Winnipeg which included financial management and grant writing.

Miller chairs the North Dakota Rural Hospital Flexibility Program’s Steering Committee, and serves on the National Organization of State Office of Rural Health Flex Subcommittee, and the national Advisory Committee for the Technical Assistance and Service Center.

Miller received her Master of Social Worker degree with an emphasis on children and families in 2001 and her Bachelor of Social Work degree (summa cum laude) in 1999 from UND. She is originally from Winnipeg, Canada and is a licensed certified social worker in the state of North Dakota (#3285).

Established in 1980, the Center for Rural Health is one of the nation's most experienced rural health organizations. It has developed a full complement of programs to assist researchers, educators, policymakers, health care providers and, most importantly, rural residents to address changing rural environments by identifying and researching rural health issues, analyzing health policy, strengthening local capabilities, developing community-based alternatives, and advocating for rural concerns.

Contact Information:

Tel:	(701) 777-4499
Email:	marlenemiller@medicine.nodak.edu
Web site:	http://ruralhealth.und.edu

Projects

• Building Research Infrastructure and Capacity -- The Building Research Infrastructure and Capacity (BRIC) program provides funding to support the development of health services research.
• Flex Program -- Assist small rural hospitals to maintain access to health services for rural residents.
• SHIP -- Provides funding to small rural hospitals to help them pay for costs related to the implementation of PPS, comply with provisions of HIPAA, and reduce medical errors and support quality improvement.

Publications

• North Dakota Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program Annual Report, Miller, M., February 2009
  Year 9: September 2007 - August 2008
• The Small Hospital Improvement Program Report: Fiscal Year 2007–2008, Miller, M., March 2009
  
• 2008 North Dakota Flex Program and Critical Access Hospital State Rural Health Plan, Miller, M., Gibbens, B., Lennon, C., & Wakefield, M., November 2008
  
• 2008 North Dakota Flex Program and Critical Access Hospital State Rural Health Plan Summary, Miller, M., Gibbens, B., Lennon, C., & Wakefield, M., November 2008
  
• Implementing Patient Safety Initiatives in Rural Hospitals: An Evaluation of the Tennessee Rural Hospital Patient Safety Demonstration, Klingner, J., Moscovice, I., Wakefield, M.K., Miller, M., August 2007
  A project of the Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center, the Tennessee Rural Hospital Patient Safety Demonstration project included: 1) the implementation of three patient safety initiatives in eight rural Tennessee hospitals using a collaborative model and 2) an evaluation of the process and tools used in the implementation to inform future rural patient safety initiatives. Staff from the Tennessee Hospital Association, Q-Source (the state quality improvement organization), BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee and the University of Southern Maine all provided technical assistance and resources to the hospitals. The Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center evaluated the project.
• Flex 2006-2007 Annual Report, Miller, M., October 2007
  
• Small Hospital Improvement Program Grant Report, Miller, M., November 2007
  
• North Dakota Rural Hospital Quality Improvement Report, Miller, M., and Medalen, R., June 2006
  
• Small Rural Hospital Improvement Program Grant, Miller, M.
  Since the program began (2002) each of North Dakota’s 33 eligible small rural hospitals has received an average of $9,000 each year. To date, the total impact to North Dakota is $1.6 million.

Presentations

• North Dakota Flex Program 09-10 Plans
  Presented by Blasl, T., & Miller, M. on Sep 9, 2009 at the North Dakota Healthcare Association annual convention, Bismarck, ND.
  
• North Dakota Flex Program Progress & Plans
  Presented by Gibbens, B., & Miller, M. on Aug 13, 2009 at the Flex Advisory and Steering Committee meeting, Grand Forks, ND.
  
• North Dakota Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program: Quality
  Presented by Miller, M. on May 6, 2009 at the National Rural Health Association's Annual Conference, Miami, FL.
  
• Hints for New Flex Coordinators
  Presented by Miller, M. on Apr 1, 2009 at the Rural Health Resource Center's Flex Orientation, Duluth, MN.
  Marlene Miller presented, Hints for New Flex Coordinators, at the Rural Health Resource Center's Flex Orientation. Representatives from a number of states attended including Louisiana, North Carolina, Maine, West Virginia and Colorado. The workshop was held in Duluth, MN April 8-9, 2009.
• Hints for New Flex Coordinators
  Presented by Miller, Marlene on Oct 22, 2008 at the Flex Program Workshop at the Rural Health Resource Center, Duluth, MN.
  
• The North Dakota Center for Rural Health
  Presented by Miller, M. on Aug 8, 2008 at the Critical Access Hospital and Long Term Care Board Training Boot Camp 2008, Dickinson, ND.
  Information focused on philanthropy and planned gifts, operations and reimbursement, quality improvement, corporate governance, survey processes, and networking.
• Performance Improvement: Balanced Scorecard Initiative
  Presented by Miller, M. on Jul 1, 2008 at the National Conference of State Flex Programs, Kansas City, MO.
  
• Optimizing Your State Flex Program
  Presented by Miller, M. on Jul 1, 2008 at the National Conference of State Flex Programs, Kansas City, MO.
  
• Flex Program Overview
  Presented by Miller, Marlene on Jan 31, 2008 at the Critical Access Hospital administrator's orientation meeting, via BTWAN.
  Orientation session for CEOs to learn more about the Flex Program and the organizations that work together to serve critical access hospitals. Please contact Chris Lennon or Marlene Miller for more information.
• House Calls of the Future Keeping Rural ND Healthy
  Presented by Miller, M. & Peterson, C. on Jan 16, 2008 at the 2008 Marketplace for Entrepreneurs, Grand Forks, ND.
  
• Making a Difference: Maintaining Access to Quality Healthcare for Rural North Dakotans
  Presented by Miller, M., Bertsch, D., & Antonson, P. on Dec 11, 2007 at the HRSA administrator, Dr. Elizabeth Duke, Grand Forks, ND.
  
• Working to Achieve HRSA’s Vision in North Dakota, in Partnership with the Center for Rural Health
  Presented by Wakefield, M., Miller, M., & Dickson, L. on Dec 10, 2007 at the meeting with HRSA administrator, Dr. Elizabeth Duke, Grand Forks, ND.
  
• Flex CAH HIT Kickoff Meeting
  Presented by Miller, M. & Dickson, L. on Oct 25, 2007 at the Flex CAH Hit Project participants meeting, Grand Forks, ND.
  
• CAH Quality: Right Place, Right Skills, Right Now!
  Presented by Miller, M. on Apr 4, 2007 at the participants of the North Dakota CAH Quality Network meeting, Bismarck, ND.
  
• Flex Program Workshop: Hints for New Flex Coordinators
  Presented by Miller, M. on Mar 27, 2007 at the new Flex Coordinators orientation meeting, Duluth, MN.
  
• The Center for Rural Health: Serving North Dakota
  Presented by Miller, M., Moulton, P., & Conway, P. on Mar 20, 2007 at the 2007 Dakota Conference on Rural and Public Health, Mandan, ND.
  
• CAH Quality: Right Place, Right Skills, Right Now!
  Presented by Miller, M. on Jan 16, 2007 at the North Dakota Critical Access Hospitals meeting, via Interactive Video Network.
  
• Implementing a Program of Patient Safety in Small Rural Hospitals
  Presented by Knurdson, A., Beattie, S., & Miller, M. on Jul 1, 2006 at the site visits for the 10 participating hospital staff, in Bowman, Harvey, Hettinger, Hillsboro, Mayville, McVille, Park River, Rolla, Rugby, and Watford City, ND.
  This presentation was an introduction to the North Dakota Medication Safety Project. Ten rural hospitals will be part of this year long project, conducted in partnership with the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which is funded through a patient safety grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). University of Nebraska Medical Center project members, Katherine Jones, PhD, and Gary Cochran, PharmD, participated in the site visits at Bowman and Hettinger. Site visits also were conducted at hospitals located in Harvey, Hillsboro, Mayville, McVille, Park River, Rolla, Rugby, and Watford City.
• Strengthening Rural Health Care Facilities through Community Development
  Presented by Gibbens, B. & Miller, M. on Mar 9, 2005 at the Dakota Conference on Rural and Public Health, Bismarck, ND.
  What is community development and why is it important in strengthening rural health care facilities?
• Healthcare Challenges of Rural North Dakota: Successful Strategies for Healthy Communities
  Presented by Offutt, S. & Miller, M. on Mar 8, 2005 at the Dakota Conference on Rural and Public Health, Bismarck, ND.
  Offers a strategy for community engagement based on the process used for the "Rural Health Dialogues."
• North Dakota Critical Access Hospital and Flex Program Survey - 2005
  Presented by Gibbens, B. & Miller, M. on Mar 8, 2005 at the Dakota Conference on Rural and Public Health, Bismarck, ND.
  Discusses results from the Critical Access Hospital and Flex Program Surveys.

Topic Areas

• Community Development
• Domestic Violence
• Emergency Medical Services
• Hospitals and Clinics
• Pharmacy and Prescription Drugs