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For internal use only. Please do not distribute.
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Weekly Newsletter for Employees of VNA Care Network Foundation
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To ensure you're seeing the Connecter in its entirety:
- PC Users: right-click on the download images button at the top of this email.
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CONNECTER
ARCHIVES
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Below is this week's issue of the Connecter newsletter, which is required reading for all employees. The next edition will be published on Monday, December 7, with articles due to connecter@vnacarenetwork.org by Friday, December 4. |
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KEY DATES TO REMEMBER:
- Tuesday, December 1: Flu Shot Compliance Deadline
- Tuesday, December 1: Town Hall Meeting > Danvers
- Saturday, December 5 - Carpet Cleaning > Children's Garden
- Tuesday, December 8: Town Hall Meeting > Worcester
- Tuesday, December 8 - Carpet Cleaning > Charlestown
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IN THIS ISSUE:
SERVICE EXCELLENCE
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPDATES
CLINICAL APPLICATIONS
HUMAN RESOURCES
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
QUALITY AND RISK MANAGEMENT
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November 30, 2015
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Volume 4, Issue 48
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Service Standard of the Week:
Employee Empowerment
We are all a part of the customer experience. We are empowered to use resources and training to enhance our customer's experience as well as our own professional goals and growth. Attributes of Employee Empowerment: - Each employee is empowered. For example, when a patient/customer has a problem or needs something special you should break away from your regular duties, address and resolve the issue.
- You are empowered and accountable for your professional growth, use your internal resources and training to enhance the patient experience.
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Empowered Employee
By Ann Bohac, Human Resources Recruiter and Service Excellence Champion
Employee empowerment means feeling valued, having the opportunity to be involved in decision making/ planning processes and having the support and training needed to be successful.
A great example of employee empowerment came about last spring with a change in the dress code policy. Toes across the Network felt the squeeze with the new "no sandals allowed" policy. That is until employees expressed how they felt and they were heard.
At VNA Care Network Foundation we have many resources to voice our ideas and suggestions; huddles, team meetings, suggestion boxes and the connector to name a few. The Employee Advisory Team and the Service Excellence Champion Group are fantastic ways to be involved, be heard and to implement change. As a new member of the Service Excellence Champion Group I am impressed with the number of employee concerns/processes that are reviewed and targeted for improvement. Ideas are shared, tossed around and when feasible put into action. It is very rewarding to know your voice matters. By investing in employee training the company helps build our confidence in decision making and ability to provide the best services and practices possible. Utilize the internal resources and training to be an empowered employee, the company's best asset.
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Service Excellence Champion Group
The Service Excellence Champion group meets monthly to discuss ways to further our organization's commitment to exceptional service excellence.
Key Initiatives Being Worked On:
- Streamlining communication methods and tools
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- Town Hall Meetings
- Service Excellence training for new employees
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- Improving the patient experience
- Huddle strategies
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Please contact the Champions listed below if you would like to have an initiative or issue reviewed at the next meeting. Thank you!
- Ann Bohac
- Debbie Brown
- Katie Callahan
- Jen Casper
- Simone Charpentier
- Lori DeRosa
- Wendy Drake
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- Jill Enwright
- Kelly Frew
- Dave Hanley
- Brielle MacDonald
- Cheryl Milas
- Mary Ann O'Connor
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- Adele Pike
- Lorraine Potter
- Dave Rose
- Kathy Souleotis
- Geri Spina
- Charlvic Williams
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Submitted by Judy Walsh, Director of Rehabilitative Services
Extending a big THANK YOU to ALL of our clinicians who go the extra mile for their patients EVERY DAY. Recently, we received this comment from a patient in Merrimac, MA:
"I just wanted to let you know that I recently had 4 weeks of in home PT from Calvin Marshall and that he did an excellent job. I can't say enough about his professionalism, competency and bedside manner. It was a pleasure to have him as my physical therapist. You are fortunate to employ such a valuable asset to your organization. I would not hesitate to request his services if the need ever comes up."
Thanks to Calvin for the care and consideration you provided as you worked with this patient. We are fortunate to have you as a part of our team!
Note from Laura Goodman, ST in the Worcester Office, to Clinical Services Manager Maureen Beauregard
I overlapped with Diane Duncan, OT, during a tx visit today for a patient on team 42. Diane did a fantastic job with helping the family to make a very difficult decision today with regard to getting their dad re-admitted to a SNF. I know the family was very grateful for her patience, kindness, guidance and support. I thought you should know!
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Submitted by Geri Spina, Clinical Services Manager in the Needham Office
Kim Stack and Laura Herzig have added a lot of pride to our environment - and whenever I ask them to raise the bar and keep our place in tip top shape they do!
Their recent challenge was the clean out the fridge!!
Haven't they done a spectacular job!?! Making room for all those Thanksgiving leftovers!
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Submitted by Maria Dunn, Patient Care Program Manager
QI's Pia DesRochers, Clinical Documentation Analyst, was recognized recently by Julie Radzicki, RN when Julie complimented one of Pia's recent Start of Care OASIS Review stating:
"Thanks so much for your diligence. You do a great job fixing things!".
Clinical Documentation Analysts (CDAs) assist clinicians by providing a review of OASIS documentation insuring that the OASIS assessment accurately reflects the patient's acuity. Consistency between the OASIS assessment and clinical documentation supports a plan of treatment insuring optimal patient outcomes.
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Scenes from the Street
Share your pictures from the office or the field with us by sending them to connecter@vnacarenetwork.org!
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| | Staff in the Weymouth office celebrated Thanksgiving a little early this year so they could enjoy it with their work family! |
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| Charlestown staff enjoyed some fresh (although chilly) air during a surprise fire drill last Friday. |
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| ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPDATES |
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Medicare Advantage - Prescription Drug Fraud, Waste, and Abuse
Don't forget to complete the Medicare Advantage - Prescription Drug Fraud, Waste, and Abuse module on the Ed Portal. It is a requirement for ALL STAFF.
Questions or trouble logging in? Contact Brielle MacDonald at 508-786-0693 X5633.
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Town Hall Meeting Dates
See below for Town Hall Meeting dates, times, and locations. A location is still being worked on for the Needham office/Tippett home. All meetings will run from 8:30-10am. Please note that these meetings are an important communication vehicle and provides an opportunity to hear about important agency initiatives and updates, and as such, they are mandatory for all staff to attend. - Tuesday, December 1: Danvers/Gloucester > Danvers office
- Tuesday, December 8: Worcester/Rose Monahan home > Worcester office
- Tuesday, December 15: Southborough/New Horizon > Southborough office
- Tuesday, January 5: Needham/Tippett > location TBD
- Thursday, January 7: Leominster > Leominster office
- Thursday, January 14: Woburn > Woburn office
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This is it...Flu Shot Deadline is Here!!
1,184 staff have received their flu shot or provided a waiver or proof of receiving the vaccine at another, non-VNA location.
Receiving a flu shot or providing an exemption is a mandatory condition of employment. All employees must adhere to the policy. Non-compliance may be cause for disciplinary action up to and including termination
Note that new exemption waivers are required for every flu season. If you submitted a waiver last year and planned to do so again for the 2015-16 season, you must submit a new form to Human Resources.
VNA-sponsored clinics are soon coming to an end. Make sure you are in compliance with the VNA's policy by the December 1 deadline. We need 116 more staff to get their shot or provide a waiver to get us to our goal of 100%!
Congratulations to last week's flu contest winner, Rita Yeboah, Residence Hospice Aide at the Rose Monahan Home!
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Office
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Day
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Date
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Time
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Location
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Needham
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Wednesday
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12/2/2015
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9am to 3pm
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Wellness Area
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Needham
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Wednesday
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12/9/2015
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9am to 3pm
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Wellness Area
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Be on the Lookout...
And check with your patient if their INSURANCE is changing for 2016.
It's open enrollment again and so important that we ask our patients if there have been any changes to their health insurance, as certain health plans have authorization requirements. If you have a patient that expresses a change to their health plan, please notify the Insurance Verification Department at 508-658-7711 or at X5511. We can also be reached via email at InsuranceVerification@vnacarenetwork.org.
Do you have a patient whose insurance has change? You can't remember or find the Insurance Verification phone number? No need to worry, check the back of your ID badge and you will see it, located right underneath Human Resources! |
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Delta Users: Pay Source Information Form
By Christine Day, Clinical Application Specialist
At admission all clinicians should be asking the patient what insurance (s) they have and updating the Verification Department as needed. In addition, there is required information that must be completed within the Pay Source Information form.
Instructions for accessing and filling out the Pay Source Information screen can be found by clicking FULL ARTICLE.
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Worcester Driveway/Entrance Construction
Please be aware that the roundabout driveway at the Worcester office will be unavailable through Friday, December 4. Repairs will be happening between the hours of 8a-4p, but the area will be inaccessible for the entire week. Questions? Contact Lorraine Potter, Director of Facilities, at lpotter@vnab.org or 508-751-6826.
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New AC Unit Being Installed in Worcester
A new air conditioning unit for the server room will be installed in the Worcester office beginning on Wednesday, December 2 at 8 AM. On Thursday, December 3 there will be a large crane removing the old unit from the rooftop and putting the new one in its place. We will be blocking off part of the parking lot from 5:30 AM to 8 AM. The rest of the work will be done during the day in the server room and may continue into Friday.
Questions? Contact Lorraine Potter, Director of Facilities at lpotter@vnab.org or 508-751-6826.
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Carpet Cleaning
The Facilities Department will begin cleaning carpets this week. This will mostly take place on weekends or after hours to minimize the inconveniences involved. The schedule for the carpet cleanings as follows: - December 1 - Needham 4:30pm-8:00pm
- December 5 - Children's Garden 8:00am-10:00am
- December 8 - Charlestown 8:00pm-10:00pm
- December 11 - Danvers 4:30pm-8:00pm
These dates are weather permitting. If we need to, we will reschedule as soon as possible. We will let you know when we schedule the other locations as well. If you have any questions, please contact Tim Anderson at 508-756-7176 X6961.
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Open Enrollment
We are in the final stages of determining health insurance benefit information for 2016. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more information in the Connecter as well as in-person sessions that will be scheduled in our office locations.
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Employee Referral Bonus Program Expanded to Include LPN, PTA, and COTA!
The referral bonus program has been expanded to include employee referrals for RNs, LPNs, PTs, PTAs, OTs, COTAs, and SLPs. If you would like to refer a friend, family member, or colleague, please inform the appropriate Human Resources Representative at your location prior to the applicant coming in for an interview. Please note, when two or more employees refer the same applicant, the referral bonus will be split equally amongst the employees. Referral bonuses are paid out after the referred employee's three and six month anniversary, as long as they are in a paid status at those intervals. Please contact Cheryl Milas at cmilas@vnacarenetwork.org or Debbie Brown at dbrown@vnab.org for more information.
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Job Postings - VNAB and VNAHC
To learn more about career opportunities listed in the links above, contact Debbie Brown, Human Resources Manager at dbrown@vnab.org.
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Job Postings - VNACN and VNAHC
To learn more about career opportunities, contact a human resources representative:
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Employee Advisory Team Suggestions
To suggest an area of focus to the Employee Advisory Team (EAT), please email your suggestion to EATSuggestionbox@vnab.org. Suggestions can include ideas to improve current processes and procedures, remove redundancies, or even to provide feedback on something you think is/is not working. Please feel free to discuss any issues that you would like brought to EAT with the following members of the committee:
- Liz Bourne
- Ray Brackett
- Linda Britt
- Kim Dio
- Kelly Frew
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- Mary Helen Mahoney
- Susan Marlin Procter
- Mary McCarthy
- Ilona O'Connor
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- Mary Ann O'Connor
- Mae Powers
- David Rose
- Danny Yang
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EAT is also on the lookout for new members. If you're interested in participating, or for more information on what EAT is all about, please reach out to any of the members listed above. Meetings are held monthly in the Charlestown office.
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Devices Don't Like the Cold Weather Either
Now that cold weather is upon us, please take care not to leave your company-issued electronic device (laptop, iPhone, iPad) exposed to the cold for an extended period of time.
You may find your device unresponsive in these circumstances. And while warming up may be the only remedy the device needs, in doing so there is a risk of condensation occurring inside the device which in turn can put water in contact with electronics - never a good thing. |
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Phishing Emails
The MIS department is seeing many PHISHING emails getting stopped by our antivirus software. We wanted to take this opportunity to remind everyone to be very careful of any emails that come with links or attachments that you are not expecting. They may have subjects like: IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION! FED Wire and ACH Restrictions. IMPORTANT! IMPORTANT! U.S. Treasury Department. There can be many others. Also as we are heading into the holiday season, you may see items pretending to be from UPS or FedEx or online stores such as Amazon. Please remember you should probably be using your personal email accounts for any online shopping, this will assure that if you get anything that looks questionable in your work email can be deleted. Contact your local MIS representative with any questions or concerns.
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Fix for iPad Users Having Webtime Problems
This email is intended for all users trying to access Webtime from their iPads all others may disregard. Some users are experiencing problems using the Webtime payroll system on iPads due to an incompatibility with certain versions of Apple's Safari Web browser. Google's Chrome browser has been found to work well with Webtime. If you are experiencing problems using Webtime on your iPad, follow these instructions to download and install Chrome on your iPad and use that for Webtime instead of Safari. How to download Google Chrome on an iPad: - Tap the App Store icon on your iPad home screen
- In the SEARCH field in the top right corner, type Google Chrome
- You will see a list of several options, choose Google Chrome
- The App you need will be the first listed in the top row. Tap GET, then tap INSTALL
- You must provide your iTunes password if requested. IF YOU DO NOT KNOW YOUR ITUNES PASSWORD, you must reach out to a member of the MIS Dept.
- If any windows pop up regarding Terms of Conditions, tap Agree.
- You will see the circle to the right of the Chrome icon start to 'fill in' or get bolder. When it is done it will change to a box that says OPEN.
- Chrome open. Click Accept and Continue at the bottom of the first screen, scroll (right to left) through the 3 introduction pages. When you get to the Set Up Chrome window, tap SKIP in the lower left corner.
- Chrome is now available to use.
Finally, For further assistance with this procedure, or if experiencing issues, please contact your local MIS representative or call the MIS help desk at (617) 886 6822 on-hours, or (617) 913 3003 after-hours from 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM weekdays.
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MIS Department On-Call Staff for this Week
For Encore issues including communications, Encore laptops, WebVPN and general technology
- Through Friday, December 4 11:59 PM - John Severin: (781) 775-7982
- Beginning Saturday, December 5 12:00 AM - Gary Weller: (774) 239-6064
For McKesson issues including iPads and laptops and general technology (support is provided weekdays 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM, weekends and holidays 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM)
- Through Tuesday, December 1 10:00 PM - Jose' Parra (617) 913-3003
- Beginning Wednesday, December 2 6:00 PM - Cathy Langone (617) 913-3003
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| QUALITY AND RISK MANAGEMENT |
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Coding Non-pressure Ulcers in ICD-10
By Cheryl MacIndoe, Coding Specialist
Since the implementation of the International Classification of Diseases - 10th (ICD-10) Revision on October 1, 2015, the need for increased specificity in documentation is necessary in order to accurately code many diagnoses.
One area we see this need is with the coding of non-pressure ulcers. These ulcers include diabetic, arterial, venous stasis, varicose veins with ulceration, and other ulcers with no known underlying cause. As always, when the underlying cause of the ulcer is known, the underlying condition is coded before the ulcer code. The ulcer is coded next. Every non-pressure ulcer code now includes the site, including laterality (right and left), and also includes the severity of the ulcer. These ulcers are not staged the way pressure ulcers are staged. The choices we are given for non-pressure ulcers are as follows with corresponding digits that represent them: - Limited to breakdown of skin
- With fat layer exposed
- With necrosis of muscle
- With necrosis of bone
- With unspecified severity
Most of the time documentation provides limited information forcing the choice of "unspecified severity". Occasionally we see the word necrosis related to an ulcer but this alone is not specific enough to identify when it is necrosis of the muscle or the bone. This presents a new way of thinking about the documentation needed to code non-pressure ulcers.
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PATIENT CARE MANAGERS
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Name
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Email
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Cell
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Position
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Covering Office
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Bowden, Marilyn
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774-502-7478
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Patient Care Manager
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Danvers and
Gloucester
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Dunn, Maria
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508-688-2449
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Patient Care Program Manager
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Leominster and Southborough
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Gardner, Elaine
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617-680-1105
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Patient Care Manager
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Charlestown
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Gill, Christine
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774-502-5725
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Patient Care Manager
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Worcester
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Mihalick, Kyra
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617-913-6823
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Patient Care Manager
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VNAB Therapy
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Morris, Carol
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617-913-3006
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Patient Care Program Manager
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Quincy
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Saxena, Surabhi
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774-463-7336
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Patient Care Manager
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Leominster and Southborough
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Vitello, Maura
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774-502-7475
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Patient Care Manager
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Needham
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QI SUPPORT
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Covering Office
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Name
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Email
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Office Phone
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Position
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All VNAB
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Hughes, Kim
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617-886-6501 x5419
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QI Support Coordinator
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All VNACN
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Schultz, Chris
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617-886-6501 x6527
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QI Support Coordinator
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All VNACN
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Rao, Shamala
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508-756-7176 x6876
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QI Nurse
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| November 30, 2015 |
The Connecter
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Volume 4, Issue 48
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FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA!
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Confidentiality Notice: The Connecter newsletter is an internal communication intended only for employees of VNA Care Network Foundation and Atrius Health. Information contained within this newsletter includes confidential, proprietary, and privileged content. Unauthorized forwarding, printing, copying, distribution, and/or negligent handling is strictly prohibited and could result in disciplinary action.
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