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Healthy Nevada

Healthy Nevada

Like many rural communities in the state, the town of Nevada, Missouri is struggling in more ways than one.

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Healthy Nevada Promo
Nevada’s adult obesity rate has reached 30 percent; 11 percent of the population has diabetes. In 2012, nearly 20 percent of Nevada’s residents participated in government assistance programs, and in 2010 nearly 40 percent of children were eligible for a free or reduced price lunch. Improving health outcomes in Nevada will take more than convincing a few residents to adopt a healthier lifestyle.





According to some health policy experts, an approach that could save Nevada and other rural communities like it is a concept called population health – programs that target the health of an entire community. And now the health technology company Cerner, based in Kansas City, is looking to develop and market a population health model that could successfully improve outcomes in any rural town in America. To do this, Cerner has partnered with the town of Nevada on a new population health experiment it’s calling “Healthy Nevada.”

Since 2011, Cerner has been a quiet presence in the Nevada community - supporting public works projects, sponsoring health initiatives and encouraging changes in healthy behavior. But navigating the new partnership hasn’t exactly been easy. Time and again Cerner has been met with resistance by a community slow give up the status quo, which has left some wondering whether Cerner’s investment in Healthy Nevada will have been worth it.

KBIA’s Health & Wealth Desk explored Cerner’s population health initiative in a five-part series on Healthy Nevada.