What Is Hot-Spotting & Why It Matters

Five percent of patients consume 50% of healthcare resources in an already overburdened system and now an innovative program at the University of Montana is blazing a path through that challenge.

'HOTSPOTTING' pairs UM graduate students from physical therapy, psychology, pharmacy, public health, speech, language and hearing sciences and social work along with nursing students for six, intensive months of working with a single patient whose needs are more complex. The focus is not so much on medical care as helping the patient navigate a medical system that is not always helpful.

So far, the outcomes have been encouraging -- and the students in the program say the experience has been life changing.

The program in the UM College of Health is funded by a grant from the Montana Healthcare Foundation and the Montana Geriatric Education Center.