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Weekly Newsletter for Employees of VNA Care Network Foundation
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CONNECTER
ARCHIVES
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, January 25, with articles due to connecter@vnacarenetwork.org by Friday, January 22.
IN THIS ISSUE:

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
January 18, 2016
Volume 5, Issue 3
SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Standard
Service Standard of the Week:
Service Standard #2: Customer Contact

We greet our patients, customers, and colleagues with a warm smile, maintain eye contact (when culturally appropriate) and acknowledge their needs or concerns.

Here are some behaviors that demonstrate standard #2:
  • Focus your attention to the individual needs of our patients, customers, and co-workers.
  • Practice the Platinum Rule "Treat others the way they would like to be treated".
  • We all have internal and external customers and treat everyone with the highest level of dignity and respect.
SEGroup
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
  • Town Hall Meetings
  • Service Excellence training for new employees
  • Improving the patient experience
  • Huddle strategies
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
  • Jill Enwright
  • Kelly Frew
  • Dave Hanley
  • Brielle MacDonald
  • Cheryl Milas
  • Mary Ann O'Connor
  • Adele Pike
  • Lorraine Potter
  • Dave Rose
  • Geri Spina
  • Charlvic Williams
spotlight

Submitted by Julie Dwyer, RN in the Needham office to Diane Martin, Referral Center RN
 
I just wanted to send you a thank you for all your help! You always come through for me and I smile every time I get a voicemail from you. Helping us on [patient] M. was wonderful and I'm sorry it was such a task. You are the bomb!
 
 
Submitted by Catherine Frasco, Rehab Services Manager in the Leominster office, from a satisfied patient
 
Patient P. Laney called in to express her utmost satisfaction with the clinicians who worked with her. She called out Susan Gauthier, OT in the Leominster office stating; she "Goes out of her way for her patient's. She is wonderful. Everyone in the organization has been great."
 
 
Note from a happy patient submitted by Michele A Mercuri, Clinical Services Manager in the Southborough office
 
"I am calling to thank you so much for all of your services. Carmen (Pozo-Rivera) 
has just left and I don't think I have ever met such a delightful or knowledgeable lady. She has been just wonderful..."  
 
Thank you Carmen for your service excellence and providing such a positive patient experience for this and all of your patients.
 

Note from Erin Woods, RN in the Needham office about Eric Bromberg, PC Tech based out of Needham
 
I just wanted to let you know that Eric Bromberg is fabulous and he was a HUGE help to me this morning getting my iPhone to work again! He is always so helpful and professional and I really appreciate him. 
 

Please send your notes of praise and recognition to connecter@vnacarenetwork.org.

SCENESScenes from the Street

Share your pictures from the office or the field with us by sending them to connecter@vnacarenetwork.org!
Dr. Rosemary Ryan, Hospice Medical Director, (pictured below holding the cake) was given a warm send-off as she ends her tenure with our organization. Dr. Ryan has been with us for more than fifteen years and is excited to begin the next chapter in her story when she moves to London at the end of the month.

Wellness fair at Emmaus, an emergency homeless shelter in Haverhill.
Pictured left to right: Judy Walsh, Director of Rehabilitative Services, Rebecca Hill, OT out of the Gloucester office, Luz Clinton, Patient Navigator, and Joan Fitzpatrick, Wellness Nurse out of the Danvers office


CLINICAL SERVICES
Inservice
Inservice: Safety Issues For Home Health Care Providers

We are pleased to announce that Safety Education in-services, presented by our Security Consultant, Clare M. Schroeder, are now being offered organizational-wide.
 
Below are sessions being offered in the Needham and Worcester offices. Please note that we will be planning these offerings in other office sites over the year.
 
Title: Safety Issues For Home Health Care Providers.
 
Tuesday, Jan 26 | 8:30- 9:30am
Needham office | Training Room
 
Thursday, February 4 | 9 -10am
Worcester office | Main Auditorium


HUMAN RESOURCES
BONUS
Employee New Hire Referral Bonus Program

The new hire referral bonus program includes 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.

JOBS
Job Postings - VNAB and VNAHC
Job Postings - VNACN and VNAHC
To learn more about career opportunities, contact a human resources representative:
EAT
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
  • Mary Helen Mahoney
  • Susan Marlin Procter
  • Mary McCarthy
  • Ilona O'Connor
  • Mary Ann O'Connor
  • Mae Powers
  • David Rose
  • Danny Yang
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.
 
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
MIS
MIS Department On-Call Staff for Week of 1/18/16

For Encore issues including communications, Encore laptops, WebVPN and general technology
  • Through Friday, January 22, 11:59 PM - Sean Carroll (508) 868-0615
  • Beginning Saturday, January 23, 12:00 AM - John Severin (781) 775-7982
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, January 19, 10:00 PM - Carol McDonald (617) 913-3003
  • Beginning Wednesday, January 20, 6:00 PM - Jose' Parra (617) 913-3003
QUALITY AND RISK MANAGEMENT
VBP
Value Based Purchasing - Part 3 of 4
By Donna Peters, Director of Quality Assurance and Risk Management 
 
Massachusetts has been randomly selected to participate in the pilot group for the CMS proposed quarterly reporting payment system based on quality outcome data. CMS is looking to develop a greater transparency of Medicare data within the market to deliver care based on value of care over volume.
 
The goals per CMS are to:
  1. Incentivize HHA to provide better quality with greater efficiency
  2. Study new quality and efficiency measures
  3. Enhance the public reporting processes
Home Health Value Based Purchasing (HHVBP) will test whether incentives for better care improve outcomes of care delivery. The aim is to support a payment system that rewards providers who deliver the highest quality outcomes, based on OASIS, Patient Satisfaction and Claims data.
 
This pilot, for data collection begins January 1 2016 for our agencies and extends through 2018. 

The 6 domains that CMS will target are:
  1. Clinical quality of care
  2. Communication and care coordination
  3. Population Health
  4. Person and caregiver centered experience
  5. Safety
  6. Efficiency and cost reduction
Each of these areas are covered by OASIS, patient satisfaction or claims data. We will be evaluating our performance in these areas, as we have been doing through quality review, CMS/QI committee and utilization review teams. The accuracy and validity of our OASIS data is extremely important as we are part of this pilot through 2018. The quality team is prepared to work with all staff in the agency for understanding these measures, assisting in outcome reporting and working to improve our scores. To date we are doing exceptionally well, with VNAB at 5 STARS and VNACN at 4.5 STARS. Thanks to all of you, our challenge is to continue to excel with 5 STARS as our continued goal.
 
New measures: vital to our success for accuracy and reporting:

Susan Stiller and Christine Gill will be facilitating the education and data review of these new measures. Please note that all clinical staff will need to accurately report these in the OASIS and immunization data fields in an effort for the agencies to have an account of our progress in these new measures.
  1. MO146 Flu Immunization received
  2. M1041 Flu data collection period
  3. M1051 Pneumonia
  4. M1056 reason Pneumonia not received
  5. Herpes Zoster reported if patient has had this vaccine
OASIS
Q1 OASIS Education

The QA Department is committed to providing continuing quarterly education sessions for OASIS guidance and accuracy into 2016. As we move into Value Based Purchasing, our care and the measurement of our outcomes is key to the future. Please see following Q1 schedule for the office dates and times. The sessions are 90 minutes and mandatory. As always, you may go to an office of your choosing to complete the education. Please coordinate with your manager. We look forward to seeing you at the sessions.

Office
Day/Date
Time
Presenter
CharlestownSunday, March 68-9:30amElaine/Kyra
CharlestownWednesday, March 22-3:30pmElaine/Kyra
CharlestownTuesday, March 158:30-10amElaine/Kyra
CharlestownThursday, March 312-3:30pmElaine/Kyra
Danvers/GloucesterWednesday, March 28:30-10amMarilyn
Danvers/GloucesterTuesday, March 158:30-10amMarilyn
Danvers/GloucesterThursday, March 248:30-10amMarilyn
Danvers/GloucesterTuesday, March 292:30-4pmMarilyn
LeominsterThursday, March 102:30-4pmSurabhi
LeominsterWednesday, March 238:30-10amSurabhi
NeedhamWednesday, March 28:30-10amMaura
NeedhamTuesday, March 88:30-10amMaura
NeedhamSunday, March 138:30-10amMaura
NeedhamMonday , March 148:30-10amMaura
NeedhamThursday, March 248:30-10amMaura
QuincyTuesday, March 82-3:30pmKyra/Carol
QuincyThursday, March 248:30-10amKyra/Carol
SouthboroughWeds., February 242:30-4pmMaria/Surabhi
SouthboroughTuesday, March 18:30-10amMaria/Surabhi
SouthboroughThursday, March 32:30-4pmMaria/Surabhi
SouthboroughTuesday, March 152:30-4pmMaria/Surabhi
WeymouthWednesday, March 168:30-10amKyra/Carol
WeymouthThursday, March 312-3:30pmKyra/Carol
WorcesterTuesday, February 232:30-4pmChris
WorcesterThursday, March 32:30-4pmChris
WorcesterSunday, March 68:30-10amChris
WorcesterFriday, March 118:30-10amChris
WorcesterTuesday, March 158:30-10amChris
WorcesterTuesday, March 222:30-4pmChris

PATIENT CARE MANAGERS
Name
Email
Cell
Position
Covering Office
Bowden, Marilyn
774-502-7478
Patient Care Manager
Danvers and
Gloucester
Dunn, Maria
508-688-2449
Patient Care Program Manager
Leominster and Southborough
Gardner, Elaine
617-680-1105
Patient Care Manager
Charlestown
Gill, Christine
774-502-5725
Patient Care Manager
Worcester
Mihalick, Kyra
617-913-6823
Patient Care Manager
VNAB Therapy
Morris, Carol
617-913-3006
Patient Care Program Manager
Quincy
Saxena, Surabhi
774-463-7336
Patient Care Manager
Leominster and Southborough
Vitello, Maura
774-502-7475
Patient Care Manager
Needham

QI SUPPORT
Covering Office
Name
Email
Office Phone
Position
All VNAB
Hughes, Kim
617-886-6501 x5419
QI Support Coordinator
All VNACN
Schultz, Chris
617-886-6501 x6527
QI Support Coordinator
All VNACN
Rao, Shamala
508-756-7176 x6876
QI Nurse




VNA Hospice Care
Guide
Wellness Guide for Cancer Survivors

Click on the link below to view the newly released Wellness Guide for Cancer Survivors created by Massachusetts Comprehensive Cancer Prevention & Control Network 's Survivorship Work Group.  It is the first publication of its kind released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Its goal is to help improve the quality of life of survivors by focusing on wellness.
 
 
The guide provides tips and easy to understand information on improving wellness in six areas, including:
  • Physical Wellness
  • Emotional Wellness
  • Social Wellness
  • Spiritual Wellness
  • Thinking (cognitive) Wellness
  • Work Wellness
The interactive guide also includes inspiring stories of local cancer survivors who've taken steps to improve their wellness, and practical information from experts in our state who care for cancer survivors.
 
Please take a minute to read the Wellness Guide for Cancer Survivors, and share it with someone else that you think might find it useful. 
January 18, 2016
The Connecter
Volume 5, Issue 3
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