Anna Chytka
After losing her mother-in-law, whom she considered a mother, to stage IV lung cancer, Anna Chytka knew she wanted to change the way people experience healthcare. She founded Community Strong with two simple beliefs: patients deserve support before they reach a crisis, and where someone lives should never determine the quality of care they receive.
As a Board-Certified Provider by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners (AADP), Cognitive Behavioral Therapist, Certified Health & Life Coach and Cherokee Nation citizen, Anna brings a multitude of perspectives and experiences to her grassroots, Wyoming-based business. With her professional and personal experience guiding her work, Anna has dedicated herself to improving access to compassionate and preventative healthcare throughout rural Wyoming.
Anna and her team at Community Strong support patients through Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM), chronic care management, and behavioral health integration. Their model of care centers the patient experience, ensuring they remain connected, supported, and cared for between traditional healthcare visits.
Beyond the numbers and metrics associated with RPM, Anna understands the importance of knowing and understanding the person beyond the patient. This compassionate and person-centered care is what sets Community Strong apart from other services. Anna says “Community Strong was born from loss, built with purpose, and continues with love. I want every patient we serve to know that they matter and that someone is there.”
Anna knows that time is priceless. After her mother-in-law passed away she that things could be done differently. Her desire to change the system, and support people living with chronic conditions, became the mission behind starting Community Strong. After supporting her mother-in-law through her illness, she was acutely aware of the importance of connecting patients to their care team. After learning about telehealth, she immediately understood how it could support her mission to improve care; especially for the rural communities she knows and loves. “When implemented correctly, it can support and strengthen healthcare delivery”, Anna says, though importantly she notes that “telehealth is not meant to replace the human side of healthcare”. Through RPM she is able to support both her patient’s health and lifestyle; ultimately working to maintain their quality of life.
Given Wyoming’s rural and frontier geography, accessing healthcare is often far more complicated than just making an appointment. Long distances and limited access to providers, can feel extremely isolating – especially for people living with chronic conditions. Community Strong wants to help people feel medically supported even when they are not in the clinic. But Anna says that their role does not just stop there, Community Strong provides support between visits. Through real-time RPM, their goal is to identify concerns sooner and support them through the process. Anna says they want to “make someone feel less alone in managing a chronic condition”. She says that the proudest moments for her are when her patients tell them that they feel heard, supported, and safer in their home because of the work they do.
Anna is proud that Community Strong has been able to provide technologically advanced, compassionate, and person-centered care. She says that telehealth is more than adding video visits or technology to a visit. It is a full clinical workflow. Anna says they are intentional that “the technology supports the provider-patient relationship; not replace it. Technology can be the easiest part of implementing telehealth, though it still needs boundaries.” Oftentimes, patients and providers are not familiar with Community Strong’s technology and how it can be integrated into care. Especially common is the connectivity concern, given the limited access to internet in some of our most rural areas. Community Strong has addressed this by intentionally purchasing equipment that is designed for use in rural areas. This forethought ensures their patients receive healthcare regardless of location. Anna said that technology is not something to overcome but something to adapt to and find its strengths. This careful planning and design, and clear communication with patients and providers, allows Community Strong to successfully support a patient’s chronic condition management.
Recently, Anna’s hard work was rewarded. Community Strong was selected to receive funding through the Rural Health Transformation Program, to scale their model to support more Wyoming residents living with chronic conditions.
Congratulations to Anna and her team, we’re excited to see what you will accomplish!
