| Join Our List |
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| Enrollment Numbers
As of December 31, 2009 |
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Senior Care Options Program
= 2437 members
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| Contact Information |
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Commonwealth Care Alliance
30 Winter Street
Boston, MA 02108
Telephone 617.426.0600
Enrollment Fax 617.830.0534
Clinical Fax 617.507.0416
MS Fax 617.426.1311
Claims Information
Commonwealth Care Alliance
148 State Street, 10th floor
Boston, MA 02109
ATTN: Claims Department
1.800.306.0732
Cheryl M. Snyder
Member Services Manager
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| Staff Spotlight |
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Linda Barnard
Nurse Practitioner
Linda Barnard is a nurse practitioner at Commonwealth Care Alliance Clinical Group working primarily with Cambridge Health Alliance. We interviewed Linda to find out a little more about her:
Tell us about yourself:
I live in Framingham with my husband Paul. We have 2 children, Juliet who is 13, Joe who is 16, and a crazy labradoodle named Martha.
Tell us about your professional background:
I started as a registered nurse in 1986 and later went back to school to become a nurse practitioner. I am dually certified as an adult and geriatric nurse practitioner. I have worked in numerous settings including acute care, long term care, and home care. I served as clinical instructor and coordinator of the geriatric specialty at UMass Worcester, Graduate School of Nursing prior to joining Commonwealth Care Alliance. What does a typical workday look like for you?
The day usually starts with meetings and emails, then patient visits beginning at midday. My day ends with following up on patient issues and needs.
What is the best part of your job?The relationship that develops between me and my patients.
What makes Commonwealth Care Alliance special?
The people who work at Commonwealth Care Alliance all share the same vision to provide exceptional care to our patients. We all encounter challenges to meet the patient's needs but are persistent in our desire to improve and enhance the lives of our patients. What do you like to do when you are not at work?
I enjoy gardening, playing the piano, and going to the beach.
If you could invite any five people to dinner, who would you choose?
Honestly, I would have to say I enjoy having dinner with my husband and sisters ... but I would love to invite Ellen DeGeneres. |
| New Staff Hires
October-December |
Fatima Andrade-Hanoian, Community Health Worker
Commonwealth Care Alliance Clinical Group
Robert Ayala Franco, Community Health Worker
Commonwealth Care Alliance Clinical Group
Jose Henrique Carvalho Oliveira, Community Health Worker
Commonwealth Care Alliance Clinical Group
Ana Costa, Administrative Assistant
Commonwealth Care Alliance Clinical Group
Mary Crosby, Behavioral Health Specialist
Commonwealth Care Alliance Clinical Group
RoseDorly Dossous, Community Health Worker
Commonwealth Care Alliance Clinical Group
Elizabeth Figueroa, Community Health Worker
Commonwealth Care Alliance Clinical Group
Leitza Freitas, Community Health Worker
Commonwealth Care Alliance Clinical Group
Natalie Hill, Social Worker
Commonwealth Care Alliance Clinical Group
Jenny Jelliffe, Nurse Care Manager
Commonwealth Care Alliance Clinical Group
Anne Koneru, Nurse Practitioner
Commonwealth Care Alliance Clinical Group
John Loughnane, MD, Director of Palliative Care & Hospice Medicine
Commonwealth Care Alliance Clinical Group
Norma Malkiel, Community Health Worker
Commonwealth Care Alliance Clinical Group
Renata Morales, Community Health Worker
Commonwealth Care Alliance Clinical Group
Fabiola Nazaire, Outreach & Marketing Specialist
Commonwealth Care Alliance
Celeste Oria, Behavioral Health Care Manager
Commonwealth Care Alliance Clinical Group
Suanne Petroff, Nurse Practitioner
Commonwealth Clinical Alliance
Precious Pamphile, Community Health Worker
Commonwealth Care Alliance Clinical Group
Bonita Quick, Community Health Worker
Commonwealth Care Alliance Clinical Group
Yolaine Rosarion, Community Health Worker
Commonwealth Care Alliance Clinical Group
Vivian Trotta, Physical Therapist
Commonwealth Care Alliance Clinical Group | |
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Dear Network Provider:
Without a doubt, 2009 was a challenging, exhausting, exhilarating, and successful year for Commonwealth Care Alliance. Here are just a few of our achievements over the past 12 months:
Our Senior Care Options membership increased by around 22%; our primary care site network expanded to 21 practices; our group of administrative and clinical employees grew to over 160 individuals; we developed the Department of Health Education and Caregiver Training to expand our local consumer meetings and Chronic Disease Self-Management Programs in collaboration with our primary care site partners; we celebrated 5 years of our Senior Care Options program; we began a number of quality measurement and improvement initiatives, including care transitions, diabetes management, congestive health failure, and end-of-life care; we weathered a challenging national economic environment; and we participated actively in the creation of the Health Reform bills in both houses of Congress.
In 2010, we look forward to forging new partnerships and strengthening our existing relationships with primary care practices around the state. We look forward to our collaboration with Network Health to deliver the Network Health Alliance program to 1,500 adults with complex medical needs. We are also excited to be teaming with Prevention and Access to Care and Treatment (PACT) to deliver care to these populations. See the article below for more information on this unique venture.
Happy New Year! 
Robert J. Master, MD
President & CEO |
| Contracts Corner |
Please join us in welcoming the following providers to Commonwealth Care Alliance's network:
Questions? Please contact Provider Network Management at 617.426.0600 ext. 234 |
| Consumer Involvement |
 Holiday Celebration
Commonwealth Care Alliance enjoyed a lunchtime holiday celebration on December 21 with a number of its members. The guests were graduates of the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program, as well as their families and caregivers, and program leaders.
The gathering was a rewarding opportunity for Commonwealth Care Alliance staff to sit and talk with our members. We anticipated that our consumer involvement activities would create a sense of community and self-empowerment amongst our membership, but we have been very pleasantly surprised by the uniquely caring, affectionate, and supportive relationship that has grown between our members and the staff who have coordinated and delivered these programs. The holiday celebration was a wonderful opportunity to share this relationship with the rest of the staff at Commonwealth Care Alliance.
Questions? Please contact Rosa Palacios, Department of Health Education and Caregiver Training, at 617.426.0600 ext. 226 or rpalacios@commonwealthcare.org |
| Program Developments |
Network Health Alliance
Beginning January 7, 2010 Commonwealth Care Alliance assumed responsibility for the care management of approximately 1,500 individuals in a new program, Network Health Alliance. Network Health Alliance is offered by Network Health in partnership with Commonwealth Care Alliance and Prevention and Access to Care and Treatment (PACT) for Network Health members who have complex care needs. The Network Health Alliance program utilizes a unique coordinated clinical team approach of nurse practitioners, behavioral health specialists, and community health workers employed by Commonwealth Care Alliance.
Commonwealth Care Alliance is a recognized leader in the care of medically complex patients and has demonstrated the financial and quality of care benefits of its team model. PACT, founded in 1997 by Heidi Behforouz, MD, trains and deploys community health workers to engage, educate, and counsel individuals in low-income communities to better manage their chronic conditions. Network Health is a Medicaid Managed Care Organization.
In the Network Health Alliance initiative, Commonwealth Care Alliance and PACT will integrate their effective clinical team model and community health worker services to support primary care providers and achieve improvement in the care of these medically complex individuals.
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| New Ethics Committee |
| In January 2010, Commonwealth Care Alliance launched an Ethics Committee to support the work of its clinicians and extend the capacity of its provider network.
Commonwealth Care Alliance clinicians are required to make challenging clinical and resource allocation decisions every day. Some of these decisions also raise important ethical questions that are often outside the scope of clinician training and expertise.
The overall purpose of the Ethics Committee is to create an open forum where primary care providers in the Commonwealth Care Alliance network can raise ethical questions and concerns for consultation, mediation, and recommendations. Members of the committee represent a variety of pertinent specialty areas, including one or more of following: geriatrics/gerontology, philosophy, nursing, and law.
The Ethics Committee will meet quarterly and on an ad hoc basis if an emergent issue should arise. The first meeting will be held on January 11, 2010 at 5:30 p.m. Clinicians and social workers from Commonwealth Care Alliance's primary care sites are encouraged to attend committee meetings and actively participate in discussions.
Questions? Please contact Adam Burrows, MD, Senior Care Options Program Medical Director, at 617.426.0600 ext. 237 or aburrows@commonwealthcare.org |
| Outreach & Marketing Staff Testing & Training |
As part of CMS regulations Commonwealth Care Alliance is required to conduct an annual training and testing of all its internal and external Outreach & Marketing representatives. The test, which must be passed with at least an 85%, is based on Medicare & Medicaid general knowledge, marketing guidelines and specific plan rules such as enrollment, benefits, member rights, complaints, appeals, and pharmacy.
This testing and training is important for a number of reasons -- it enhances our content knowledge of Medicare, Medicaid, and SCO marketing practices and regulations; it meets our regulatory yearly Medicare Improvements for Patients & Providers Act (MIPPA) compliance requirement; it reinforces our understanding of operational rules and member benefits; and it is a commitment to quality, compliance, and member satisfaction.
We are pleased to announce that all of our Outreach & Marketing representative passed the test, which demonstrates how capable and knowledgeable this team is. Congratulations to Yamira Moreno-Escobar, Jessica Gutierrez-Dutra, Neusa Pina, Silai Son (Commonwealth Care Alliance), Aimee Kindorf, Pamela Pattavina, Rosilane Da Silva (East Boston Neighborhood Health Center), Tanya Sloutsky, Kimberly Whitmore, Gina Kupski (Elder Service Plan of the North Shore), and Ilidia Evora (Upham's Corner Health Center). Fantastic effort!
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| Fit-4-Life |
 Fit-4-Life, a seniors' exercise and nutrition program, has been running at Kit Clark Senior Services for the past two years. The program has seen some promising results come from its participants' bi-annual assessments, with recorded improvements in cardiovascular health, and gains in mobility and physical functioning.
Although difficult to measure, an equally important benefit of this program is the opportunity for increased social interaction and peer encouragement that evolves between participants during classes. Feeling part of a group with a common goal of losing weight and improving fitness can boost participants' enjoyment and help maintain their enthusiasm, most importantly for individuals who are isolated or inactive during the day. These participant survey comments demonstrate that social interaction during classes is a highly enjoyable aspect of the program:
"I really enjoy the Fit-4-Life program because of the camaraderie. I like the instructor because he's calm, and I need calmness. I live in such chaos sometimes in my neighborhood that I don't want to leave when I have to leave ..." Fit-4-Life participant
"The program gets me off the sofa, out of my blanket for a few days a week." Fit-4-Life participant
"I enjoy being around a lot of people, helping each other out." Fit-4-Life participant
"I enjoyed making new friends." Fit-4-Life participant
The Fit-4-Life program is available to Commonwealth Care Alliance members in the Greater Dorchester area. Referrals to the program need to be made through primary care teams; details to follow in an upcoming Small Dose.
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If you have submissions or suggestions for this primary care site newsletter, please send me a note via email at nfry@commonwealthcare.org or call me during office hours at 617.426.0600 ext. 244.
Sincerely,
Nerissa J. Fry
Communications Coordinator
Commonwealth Care Alliance |
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