Convener Initiatives
Alley Institute gathers together the broad expertise in the health industry to discuss and develop creative, proactive, solution-oriented approaches to key challenges. Each of these Convener Initiatives provides a collaborative forum for payers, consumers, providers, manufacturers, and other parties to achieve a consensus position on the approach to a particular issue. Typically, these projects take 1-5 years to complete and result in a report that is available to the public.
Past Initiatives
Recent Activities
Recent Projects
Past Initiatives
- Measuring Cost Effectiveness: A Road Map of Health care Value
- Committee on Research Report
- Technology Task Force
Helping our community understand how to address fragmented processes throughout the health care system. Finding ways to encourage more students to pursue health care careers. Looking for options to improve end-of-life care for all of us. These are huge health care issues and current examples of initiatives being highlighted by LifeScience Alley's action-oriented affiliate, Alley Institute.
Alley Institute is positioned to make a difference and positive impact. The Institute seeks grants from large local and national foundations to help community and national experts study significant health care issues facing the U.S. and world today.
Minnesota Palliative Care Partnership: www.mn-palliativecare.org
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Recent Activities
MAC-CIM (Medical Alley's Consumer - Coverage Interface Model)
An Alpha test of the model using people's personal values to design the benefits of their health care coverage (using a Delphi process) was conducted with the adult population of Hibbing, Minnesota. The "anonymous discussion" of the Delphi approach enabled individuals to respond candidly and elicited responses from those not typically drawn into the community decision making process.
Alley Institute received an initial grant of $50,000 from the City of Hibbing with a goal to gain attention from national organizations following the completion of the alpha test in order to move on to a larger test stage. This successful test of a truly unique community engagement model has enormous potential to address the high health care costs issue that continues to face the country.
Workforce shortage
There is a major health care workforce shortage impacting the life science industry across the country. Alley Institute is uniquely positioned to provide actionable outcomes in this problem area.
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Recent Projects
Class in a Box™
Less than 13% of Minnesota's kids in 7th and 8th grade know there are health care occupations other than a nurse or doctor. To raise their awareness, we partnered with WomenVenture to develop "Class in a Box - Health Care Revealed!" geared to be taught and experience by middle school students. The materials allow kids to experience and learn about what a career in health care might be - such as an electrical engineer, a biochemist, a medical illustrator, or a lab tech, etc. We piloted our first box in 12 classes in the Minneapolis public school system in 2003.
Managing Small Med Tech Companies
LifeScience Alley and the University of St. Thomas partnered to develop an 11-week Mini MBA course in med tech management to help entrepreneurs understand how to turn an idea into a company, offering the course several times each year.
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