Business notebook: Mayo, Select Medical form consulting company

Mayo Clinic announced Tuesday that it has partnered with Select Medical to form a medical consulting company to serve rural hospitals and nursing homes.

Allevant Solutions will provide services that incorporate clinical services, quality improvement and business expertise. This will allow clients to increase the availability of post-acute care and reduce the costs associated with providing rehabilitative services many patients need after an illness or accident, Mayo Clinic officials said in a press release.

“Skilled nursing facilities and rural hospitals are rarely equipped with the resources needed to provide optimal post-acute care for ventilator-dependent or other complex patients,” Allevant developer Mark Lindsay said. “To address this, we chose to work with Select Medical because of its complementary expertise in post-acute care and its built-in, national network of long-term acute care hospitals.”

Allevant Solutions plans to help rural hospitals and similar facilities improve both management and clinical practices to ensure patient access to high-quality care.

The concept is based on a transitional care and ventilator program created by Mayo Clinic Health System that included 11 hospitals in rural areas. A side effect of this program, Mayo Clinic found, was increased employment among rural health care workers.

• Mark Poss of Red Wing was recently elected to the Local Media Association board of directors at its annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga.

“I am honored and excited to be part of such a forward-thinking organization,” Poss said. “LMA has helped guide my strategies over the years, and I look forward to the opportunity to work with some of the best, forward-thinking minds in the media business today.”

Poss is currently the CEO of Red Wing Publishing, which owns and operates 11 community newspapers and websites, a number of lifestyle magazines, two commercial printing plants and a digital advertising agency.

Red Wing Publishing was founded by Arlin and Marilyn Albrecht. Poss and his wife Becky Albrecht Poss assumed ownership of the company in 2011.

“We have experienced incredible changes in the newspaper industry during our careers, and feel both daunted and fortunate to be working in this business during such a crucial time for journalism and media in all its changing formats," Poss said. "Ultimately, we see the role of community newspapers and the digital products and services they are capable of offering growing.”

The Local Media Association is a professional trade association serving the community newspaper industry. Membership is comprised of over 2,000 newspapers. The LMA is dedicated to helping newspapers thrive in the digital age.

• The Minnesota Farm Bureau was recognized by the America Farm Bureau Federation during the AFBF’s annual meeting in Nashville.

As an organization, MFBF earned recognition for offering outstanding programs for Farm Bureau members. MFBF received Awards of Excellence in the following categories: education and outreach; leadership development; and public relations and communications. Accepting the award during a special award presentation on January 13 was MFBF President Kevin Paap.

The AFBF Annual Meeting will continue through today. Farm Bureau delegates representing each state and Puerto Rico will conclude the meeting by discussing national resolutions and setting policies for the year.

Tags: red wing, news, business, minnesota