The Portland Area serves American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) residents of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Considering growing referral costs associated with specialty care, coupled to a chronic shortage in federal funding to fulfill such referrals, The Innova Group was hired to develop an operational model of specialty care delivery at a regional site to serve dispersed rural populations.

The solution grew out of a long-term planning relationship with Portland Area Tribes.  Innova created an innovative market forces tool that measured the impact of distance on demand, allowing appropriate service line planning. The proposed Regional Specialty Referral Center is the first of three such facilities proposed to ultimately form a referral network to serve the specialty care needs of the entire Portland IHS Area.