eNewsletter
July 2012
In This Issue
Changing Her Relationship with Food
How Do We Get Patients to Be Partners in Their Healthcare?
One System Can Help Provide Better Care... at Home!
Dr. Raczek Visits the White House

  
M.Michelle Hood, FACHE

EMHS, President and CEO 

Bangor Beacon Community

Statewide Advisory Committee

Chair

 

Erik Steele, DO
EMHS, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer
Bangor Beacon Community Principal Investigator
 
          
Leadership
Catherine Bruno, FACHE
Bangor Beacon Community Executive Sponsor
EMHS, Chief Information Officer Lead

Dale Hamilton
Executive Director, Community Health and Counseling Services
Alternate 

Clincial Transformation
Jim Raczek, MD
EMMC, Chief Medical Officer Lead
 
Robert Allen, MD
Penobscot Community Health Center, Executive Medical Director
Alternate

 

Evaluation
Barbara Sorondo, MD
EMMC, Director
Clinical Research Center
Lead 
 
Frank Bragg, MD
EMMC, General Internist
 Alternate

 

Meaningful Use
Dev Culver
HealthInfoNet, Executive Director
Lead

Bob Kohl
Maine Primary Care Association HIT Project Director
Alternate
 
Sustainability
Mike Donahue, MBA
EMHS, Vice President, Payor Contracting and Relations
Lead

Donald Krause, MD
St. Joseph Healthcare
Internal Medicine
Alternate

  
Bangor Beacon Staff
 
Mac Hilton
Program Director
  
Melanie Pearson

Project Manager

 

Lanie Abbott
Senior Communications and Outreach Specialist

Andrea Littlefield
Senior Communications and Outreach Specialist

 

Amy Bates

Project Coordinator

 

Beth Johnson
Project Coordinator
Sharon LaBrie
Data Analyst
Heather Broussard
Data Analyst
 
Samantha Haynes
Administrative Assistant 

 


Stay up to date with the Bangor Beacon Community!

 

The first Academy Health Brief is out

and Bangor is one of the communities featured.

 

 

Have You Watched Our Latest Video?

We are rolling out a series of videos that will help illustrate how we are transforming healthcare. Please feel free to share the link as they reinforce our mission and vision for a  healthy community. 

 

Clinical Leadership 

 

Mental Health

 

HIT / Meaningful Use

 

Rick and Diana's Story

 

Performance Improvement  

 

Patti's Story

 

Bangor Beacon Leadership 

 

Eric's Story

The Proof is in
the Numbers!

 


 

 
The Bangor Beacon Community's care managers see proof that they are making progress with their patients and also providing feedback during their latest forum.

 

Barbara Sorondo, MD, director of Eastern Maine Medical Center's (EMMC) Clinical Research Center, shared data with the group showing significant improvements for diabetic patients' A1C (blood glucose) levels. When the program began, 40 percent of patients had an A1C of greater than nine, now less than 16 percent of diabetics in the program have A1C's greater than nine. Patients enrolled in Beacon are also showing a reduction in emergency department visits, walk in care visits, and hospital admissions.

 

The data proves that Beacon patients also are seeing significant improvements in their quality of life, medication adherence, and knowledge of their disease. Many improvements can be directly linked to care management services and a high percentage of patients are responding to surveys.

 

Kathy Bragdon, RN, care manager at Penobscot Community Health Care (PCHC) says, "I think it was helpful and encouraging to have data shared at the forum. I like that it's done in a non- competitive way. It helps to see where we were, where we are, and how we compare to other Beacon groups!"

"The information Barbara presented was so valuable! We are so focused in the trenches of our daily work that it's nice to see the feedback and results of the work that we're doing," explains Erin Horne, RN, care manager at EMMC's Orono Family Medicine. "Its nice insight to see what's working well and in what areas we need to focus a little harder. But more than anything it's great to step back and see that patients are finding this valuable and that their view of their own health is improving. Because really, at the end of the day, that's why we do what we do every day!"

 

Sandy Wardwell, WHNP-BS, director of clinical excellence at PCHC says, "I am so pleased to see that the data supports the positive and powerful impact of broadening the healthcare team to include care managers, health coaches, and social workers. Our patients are clearly benefiting, and the data shows that.  It is heartwarming and validating to the team to see this."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greetings! 

 

I don't know if it was just my family, but it seems we literally went from sweatshirts to tank tops overnight - summer in Maine is officially here! To kick the summer off right, I enjoyed picking strawberries with my family. It was wonderful to hear my daughters giggling and see their little fingers and mouths dyed red from taste testing the fresh goodies!

We have also had family visiting from out west. I love it when they come to visit and am reminded how lucky I am to call this great state home by their awe of all the wonders around us. Fresh eyes have a way of seeing those familiar things in new and exciting ways, much like what we are experiencing as we improve healthcare delivery, providing high quality healthcare that is reducing costs and improving lives. In this day and age, that is as exciting as watching your children enjoy a summer treat!

Best wishes for a safe start to your summer,

 Lanie Abbott

Senior Communications and Outreach Specialist 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

Changing Her Relationship with Food

Jean Belanger just celebrated her seventieth birthday and still gets a twinkle in her eye when she talks about her childhood in Jonesport. She is the second youngest daughter of five girls. She was raised in a close-knit family by her dad, the town's barber, and a stay at home mom. "We had so much fun as kids and we really enjoyed each other." Growing up, Jean and her sisters were always on the go. "I am surprised there were any sidewalks left in town. We roller skated so much," laughs Jean. When they weren't doing that, they were swimming, riding bikes, building forts, and in the winter they didn't stop either. They were ice skating and sledding. "My mom made everything from scratch and we ate lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, so we were healthy and active." However, being healthy took a backseat to being thin the older Jean got. "It was the 1970s and being rail thin was the look we all wanted, regardless of the cost."

 

Jean spent decades being very critical about what and how much she put into her mouth. She danced a tight rope between bulimia and anorexia up until nine years ago. "That's when I had a quadruple bypass, then five years ago I was diagnosed with diabetes, and two years ago I had a heart attack." Jean was trying to juggle her disease on top of losing her only son and being injured on the job. But it wasn't going well. In fact, in many respects, her diabetes was growing more and more out of control. When her physician suggested getting some help, Jean accepted it.

 

"Wendy changed my life." When Jean met Wendy Perkins, RN, care manager at PCHC, an instant bond was formed. Jean opened up to Wendy like she was an old friend. "She had many reasons to be concerned about her health: cancer, heart trouble, and diabetes all run in the Belanger family. Jean's parents and two sisters had diabetes," shares Wendy. Both women agreed they were going to work together to fight the disease so that Jean could get back to living her life on her terms.

 

"Jean regularly had blood sugars in the two and 300s in June. That's when she and I first started working together." Wendy provided literature for Jean to read so that she could better understand her disease. Wendy also worked with Jean's provider to get her medication changed because it was causing unnecessary weight gain. "Every step of the way Wendy is right there providing encouragement, guidance, and support. She is like a breath of fresh air." Jean was brought to tears in August when her blood sugar test results came back and they had dropped by 100 points. "I was so overwhelmed, I didn't think I could do this, but I am, and I'm getting better all the time." The past few months have been difficult for Jean as family members have passed away, she fell and hurt herself at the cemetery, and she changed doctors. "I'm proud of her, she really has come a long way and knows how to advocate for herself and how to better manage her disease," shares Wendy.

 

Jean is also learning how to change her relationship with food so that she can eat properly to nourish her body. "Choosing the right food and right portions makes meal times easier, and if I want a treat, I can have that, too, in moderation." Jean is determined to live a long healthy life with diabetes, and she is thankful every day for care management. "Slowly, but surely I am getting stronger, and with Wendy by my side, I know one day I will again be able to walk around the cemetery where my son is buried. I can do this."

 


 

 

   

 How Do We Get Patients to Be

Partners in Their Healthcare? 

Beverly Johnson, CEO for the Institute for Patient and Family Centered Care, spent an afternoon in Bangor sharing real life examples from around the country on how involving patients and families in healthcare decision making leads to better outcomes and a more involved community. It was an insightful day of learning from a national expert about how to get people involved in their healthcare. Maine Quality Counts in collaboration with Maine Primary Care Association recently offered "Partnering, Engaging, and Transforming Healthcare." More than a 150 primary care providers, nurses, office staff, and patients came together for the first time to engage in a working session to effectively build and maintain physician and patient partnerships in primary care.

Ms. Johnson provided guidance on creating and sustaining successful patient and family engagement activities, helped to build on the different approaches to partner with patients and families in order to improve primary care and the health of our communities. Attendees also learned about practical strategies that can meaningfully involve their patients and family advisors in a broad range of quality improvement initiatives. The event builds on statewide, collaborative efforts to partner with patients and families in sustained and effective ways occurring in the Maine Patient Centered Medical Homes (PCMHs) throughout the state. "There is a new way of delivering and consuming healthcare services -  what we are learning in healthcare is how patients and families in other parts of the country and even the world are collaborating with healthcare providers to improve the experience of care to enhance the safety and quality of care," shares Ms. Johnson. She further states, "If we are really going to reform our healthcare system, we need to make change generally with what providers do and what practices do, and also with what the public does. We have to learn a different way to be involved in our own healthcare."

Dyan Walsh, director of community services at Eastern Area Agency on Aging and also a member of our Beacon Patient Advisory Group, was excited to hear about how she can help her clients become better healthcare advocates. "It seems like such an obvious step, but sometimes those are the hardest steps to take. Really, what I heard at the forum with Bev Johnson was that people want good customer service and they want to be heard. That's it. It is pretty basic but still so vital if we want to make improvements in patient care."        

Lori Newcomb, RN, care manager at EMMC's Husson Internal Medicine helps facilitate a very involved Patient Advisory Group and enjoyed hearing from Bev. "There were a few pointers that I took away. Sometimes it is good to hear we are on the correct path."

Wendy Perkins, RN, care manager at PCHC's Brewer Medical Center, found the time spent very useful. "The consensus is that we should start changing out members of our advisory groups every year. We also need to clearly identify people's role in writing and also term limits. We also thought it would be beneficial to use the television monitors in our waiting room to identify those who are on the advisory team along with accomplishments or suggestions that we have implemented. It would help show patients they have a voice and we're listening."

  

 

  

One System Can Help Provide Better Care-

at Home!

Caring for patients in the comfort of their home and in the communities where they live is the goal of Eastern Maine HomeCare (EMHC). Now, thanks to the Bangor Beacon Community grant, homecare nurses from Visiting Nurses of Aroostook County, Hancock County HomeCare, and Bangor Area Visiting Nurses will all be using the same electronic medical record (EMR). Carol Carew, RN, chief of nursing, and Elise Senecal, RN, clinical manager, both at EMHC are excited about what this means for quality and patient satisfaction. Combined, Carol and Elise have more than four decades of homecare nursing expertise. "The new EMR will cut the amount of time it takes to set up an admission from four hours down to two. It will also help streamline the process so that our nurses can spend more quality time with patients and truly make it more patient centered," shares Carol

 

Hancock County HomeCare is the first agency to make the switch with the other two sites going live during the next four months. So far, lots of positive feedback is what we hear from nurses in Hancock county. "The nurses out in the field have real-time information about their patients at their fingertips. It helps us provide better treatment and allows us to teach our patients about how to care for themselves and their illness," smiles Elise.

 

Every year, EMHC serves more than 3,000 home health and hospice patients, covering nearly 10,000 square miles. The new EMR is not only going to help nurses better coordinate care through a patient's primary care provider but it will also track quality indicators so that a real picture of what is happening in homecare can be seen without requiring so many man hours to extract the data. "Homecare is unique - we get to see the realities of how people live and can develop a practical care plan so that they can live at home. This EMR is a huge piece of how we can do that better, more efficiently, and reduce cost" explains Carol. 

 

 

  

Dr. Raczek Visits the White House

On June 19, Jim Raczek, MD, chief medical officer at EMMC and the lead for the Bangor Beacon Clinical Transformation Community of Practice was one of 12 individuals nominated from among the Beacon Communities invited to attend a White House and Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Town Hall regarding health information technology (IT). The meeting focused on how meaningful use of health IT improves quality, safety, efficiency and population health. At this event, local leaders engaged in an open dialogue about the challenges and opportunities health IT presents to help improve care and health in their communities.

 

The Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program is part of a larger movement to modernize healthcare that demonstrates how health IT investments and Meaningful Use of electronic health records (EHR) advance the vision of patient-centered care, while achieving the three-part aim of better health, better care at lower cost. The HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) is providing $250 million over three years to 17 select communities throughout the United States that have already made inroads in the development of secure, private, and accurate systems of EHR adoption and health information exchange. Each of the communities, with its unique population and regional context, is actively pursuing the following areas of focus: building and strengthening the health IT infrastructure and exchange capabilities within communities, positioning each community to pursue a new level of sustainable healthcare quality and efficiency over the coming years.

 

 

Pictured above with Dr. Raczek is a group of folks from different programs around the country Regional Extension Centers (REC), State Health Information Exchanges (HIE) and Beacon Communities, brought together to discuss "Leveraging Health IT for Quality Improvement." This group also attended the White House event together. 

The 12 Bangor Beacon Community partners: