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For internal use only. Please do not distribute.
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Key Items to Check Out Below
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Important Dates - Mark Your Calendar!
September 2016
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Sun
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Mon
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Tue
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Wed
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Thu
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Fri
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Sat
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| 1 | 2 | 3 | | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | | 11 | 12
OASIS Education S-boro
8:30-10am
| 13
OASIS Education Charlestown 8:30-10am
OASIS Education Danvers/ Gloucester
8:30-10am
OASIS Education Needham
8:30-10am
OASIS Education Weymouth 2-3:30pm
| 14
OASIS Education Leominster
8:30-10am
OASIS Education Charlestown 2-3:30pm
| 15
OASIS Education Danvers/ Gloucester
8:30-10am
OASIS Education Needham
8:30-10am
| 16 | 17 | 18
OASIS Education Needham
8:30-10am
OASIS Education Worcester
8:30-10am
| 19 | 20
Charlestown/de Rham Town Meeting 8:30-10am
OASIS Education
Worcester
8:30-10am
| 21
OASIS Education Weymouth 8:30-10am
OASIS Education Danvers/ Gloucester
8:30-10am
OASIS Education Weymouth
8:30-10am
OASIS Education Needham
2:30-4pm
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Danvers/ Gloucester Town Meeting 8:30 - 10am
OASIS Education Charlestown 2-3:30pm
OASIS Education
Worcester
2:30-4pm
| 23
OASIS Education Weymouth 8:30-10am
OASIS Education S-boro
8:30-10am
| 24 | 25
OASIS Education Charlestown 8-9:30am
| 26 | 27
OASIS Education Danvers/ Gloucester
8:30-10am
| 28
OASIS Education Needham
8:30-10am
| 29
Worcester/ Rose Monahan Town Meeting 8:30-10am
OASIS Education S-boro
2:30-4pm
OASIS Education Weymouth 2-3:30pm
| 30
OASIS Education Leominster
8:30-10am
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Upcoming Dates - Monday, October 3 > OASIS Education, Leominster
- Tuesday, October 4 > Southborough/New Horizons Town Meeting
- Tuesday, October 4 > OASIS Education, Worcester
- Wednesday, October 5 > OASIS Education, Southborough
- Thursday, October 13 > Needham/Tippett Town Meeting
- Tuesday, October 18 > Woburn Town Meeting
- Thursday, October 27 > Quincy/Weymouth Town Meeting
- Thursday, November 10 > Leominster Town Meeting
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IN THIS ISSUE:
SAFESIDE PROGRAM
SERVICE EXCELLENCE
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPDATES
CERTIFIED QUALITY & RISK MANAGEMENT
FUND DEVELOPMENT
HOSPICE & PALLIATIVE CARE
HUMAN RESOURCES
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
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CONNECTER QUIZ WINNER!
Question: What is VNA Care's average Acute Care Hospitalization (ACH) rate? For a bonus prize, what is the name of the program established to lower our ACH rate???
Answer: 15.3% / SafeSide
Winner: Lisa Arbogast, RN in the Worcester office. Congratulations!!
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August 29, 2016
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Volume 5, Issue 35
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Focusing on Communications
The SafeSide program was re-launched in last week's edition of the Connecter, and if you recall, one of the six components of the program is Communications, with the other five being: Best Practice Requirements, Documentation, Metrics & Tracking, Staff Feedback, and Audit Process. We chose to focus this week's article on Communications, specifically the Early Response Plan.
Early Response Plan
The Early Response Plan (ERP) is a communications tool all staff should be familiar with. It was created with the goal of helping patients understand when they should call us and when it is a true emergency, requiring a call to 911. The ERP can be found in both the Patient Education Workbook and the Patient Handbook. A perforated copy in the Education Workbook allows for it to be ripped out of the book and posted in a visible place in the patient's home. The ERP should be reviewed at every patient visit as part of the dialog about emergency planning and how to handle situations that arise in-between visits. If you are concerned that your patient's doctor or other provider might be giving contradictory directives, and suggesting they head directly to the emergency room for all issues that arise, please work with your manager to strategize on how to best handle the situation.
By using the ERP tool consistently and reviewing it at each at each visit, you can help keep your patients from returning to the hospital for unnecessary reasons.
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The numbers below, and in the corresponding attachment, were shared in last week's Connecter. This week's addition includes our organizational goal of an ACH rate of 6% or less.
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SafeSide Commitee
The SafeSide Committee meets twice a month to review outcome data and discuss best practice initiatives to keep our patients safe and healthy at home. Please contact any of the committee members listed below if you have any questions or ideas to further promote our efforts.
- Mary Ann O'Connor, Sr. Leadership Chair
- Martha Cieszynski, Committee Co-Chair
- Caroline Walton, Committee Co-Chair
- Maureen Beauregard
- Marilyn Bowden
- Katie Callahan
- Jeanne Callahan-Lydon
- Karen Chirsky
- Maria Dunn
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- Kelly Frew
- Molly Lukason
- LouAnn Olejarz
- Karen Patterson
- Donna Peters
- Paula Schultz
- Geri Spina
- Katie Traylor
- Judy Walsh
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SafeSide Clinical Champions
- Katie Traylor
- Kathryn Cullen
- Kathleen Doyle-Miller
- Kaitlin Federico
- Megan Flicker
- Deborah Gallahue
- Susan Gauthier
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- Mary Helen Mahoney
- Brenda King
- Dasia LaRusso
- Melissa Lavin
- Erin Parks
- Lauren Ruotolo
- Jerilyn Spokis
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Service Excellence Standard of the Week
Service Standard #3: Professional Image
We are service professionals who uphold the reputation of our company by demonstrating a professional appearance.
Here are some behaviors that demonstrate standard #3:
- Take pride in and care of your personal appearance. Everyone is responsible for conveying a professional image at all times, in all places.
- Wear your ID badge and adhere to our dress code standards.
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Submitted by Kyra Mihalick- Patient Care Manager
Gabriel, a nurse practitioner from HVMA, participated in a multi-disciplinary case conference and expressed how impressed he is with the care being provided to our mutual patient by Holly Hughes (RN), Jonathan Mangan (PT), Emily Rubenstein (OT), Lauren Ruotolo (SLP), Simone Charpentier (CRS), and Susan Marlin Procter (CRS).
Gabriel voiced that "not a day goes by that I don't hear from at least one of you updating me on the patient's status and plan." He thanked them for their constant communication and collaboration as the patient transitions from home health to hospice. Your hard work and dedication to providing exceptional care has not gone unnoticed, great work!
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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:
- Improving patient experience
- Initiatives to improve patient CAHPS outcomes
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- Town Hall Meetings
- Streamlining communication methods and tools
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- Huddle strategies
- Ongoing Service Excellence training
- Staff professional growth opportunities
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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!
- Jennifer Bauman
- Ann Bohac
- Debbie Brown
- Katie Callahan
- Jen Casper
- Simone Charpentier
- Lori DeRosa
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- Wendy Drake
- Jill Enwright
- Kelly Frew
- Dave Hanley
- Brielle MacDonald
- Cindy McHenry
- Cheryl Milas
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- Mary Ann O'Connor
- Adele Pike
- Lorraine Potter
- Dave Rose
- Geri Spina
- Charlvic Williams
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Scenes from the Street
Wellness Nurses Jennifer Gangadharan, Joan Fitzpatrick and Judy Manning attended Boston's recent Back to School Jam hosted by State Representative Jeffrey Sánchez
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ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPDATES
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Quality Department Re-Organization
By Jeanne Callahan-Lydon, Senior Vice President, Clinical Services, Quality, and Risk Management As we move into the next evolution of home health care, we will be faced with a number of new mandates that require us to adjust some of the ways in which we operate. A few of these new requirements include a requirement MassHealth launched (in July 2016) for ongoing authorization after 90 days of services based upon service utilization. In January 2017, Medicare will be instituting a pre-claim review process. Additionally, OASIS C2 hits us in January of 2017, which puts even more focus on wound types, etiology and co-morbidities. This will all be happening while we close the first year of value based purchasing (VBP) results. As you recall, VBP can mean a 4 million dollar gain or loss based upon performance results for outcomes, process measures, vaccines, ACH and ED utilization. This new world means an increased focus on documentation showing skilled, intermittent, medically necessary care under the direction of a medical doctor and with a qualifying face-to-face encounter (F2F). While it is certainly not getting easier to advocate for patients in the home health arena, we can adjust our operations to continue to meet our patients' care needs. In response to these mandates, we will be re-organizing our Quality department to allocate resources to the appropriate areas to meet the ever-changing regulations. Over the next several weeks, we will begin realigning subject matter experts to areas of opportunity, helping to close any gaps identified in our current structure so we are able to respond to these changes and sustain our quality and fiscal status in the market. We will communicate more information as we progress through the next few months.
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Blank Business Cards Now Available
Blank business cards are now available for field staff in each of our office locations. Look for them where patient handbooks are kept. If you're not able to find them see your local office assistant for help.
There is a space on each card to write-in your name and a contact number. On the back of each card is the 24-hour patient line at 800-521-5539 in the event your patient is unable to reach you via the number you provided.
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Town Meetings Coming Up!
Town Meetings are coming to an office near you! Check out the schedule above and please email any topics you would like to have covered to connecter@vnacarenetwork.org.
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Transition to Avaya Phone System
As previously communicated in the Connecter, the Woburn and Charlestown offices, as well as those staff formerly located out of the Quincy office, will be transitioning to the Avaya phone system.
The Woburn office will make this change-over Tuesday evening, 8/30, with the Charlestown office following next Tuesday evening, 8/6. Representatives from the IT department will be on-site during the transition for training and assistance.
In some cases there are duplicate extensions in the ShoreTel and Avaya systems. The IT department is working with impacted staff and will be distributing a phone directory for these offices as soon as possible.
Please call the IT Help Desk at (508) 751-6822 or contact your local PC Tech with any questions.
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American Heart Walk
The VNA Walking Warriors want to invite you to please join our team today!
2016 Boston Heart Walk
Saturday September 10, 2016
Registration : 9:00am Walk Starts 10:30am
DCR's Hatch Shell on the Charles River Esplanade - Boston, MA
VNA Care is making a difference by participating once again in the American Heart Association's Annual Heart Walk. I need your help to make our team a success. Are you ready to build healthier lives by joining our team?
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CERTIFIED QUALITY AND RISK MANAGEMENT
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Ask About Patient Allergies
For all clinical staff: Please note that it is mandatory that we ask and add to the electronic medical record if the patient has allergies. Many times the information is not included in the referral information. As clinicians with high regard for patient safety, we need to ask the patient if they have allergies, and make this note or no known allergies in the record.
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Vitamin B12 Deficiency Treatment: Oral or Injectable Route?
By Elaine Gardner MS RN COS-C, Patient Care Manager
Why is this a relevant consideration for our patients and what should we do? - Why?
- Taking oral meds is routine for the majority of our patients, and the purchase and coordination of the IM injections requires more coordination and planning.
- Injections, while routine for us, are less appealing than oral meds, for most patients.
- Health care costs associated with injectable meds are higher than for oral meds; a provider is needed for IM administration and while sometimes a patient caregiver might perform this activity, often it requires clinic or home care appts
- Initiating discussion regarding a less invasive and simpler medication regime sends a message of advocacy and support to patients, providers, and caregivers.
- What should we do?
- Discuss this information with your patient, determine if previous discussion has taken place with his/her provider and what the barriers might have been, and inform patient you plan to follow-up with provider.
- Following SBAR format, call PCP to discuss. Provide research literature if requested. Anecdotally, previous calls to PCP office have resulted in an order change in most circumstances. Because of the need for a prescription, planning the date when the injectable route should discontinue and the oral route should start, is very helpful.
- Follow-up with the patient and family regarding the outcome of the call to the PCP. In the case of order changes, make a plan with the patient/caregiver, provide teaching, document teaching and patient response, and update orders.
- If the change from Vit B12 injectable to oral route indicates a need to plan discharge from certified home care, discuss with patient, caregivers, and PCP and other providers. Discharge planning should take into consideration the following Elements of Care: Disease Processes and Management, Medication Mgmt, Nutrition, Preserving Skin Integrity, Mobility & Function, ADL & IADL Mgmt, Safety, ERP, and MD/provider appts.
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August is National Immunization Month
Vaccines are recommended not only for infants, but also throughout a person's life. Vaccines protect everyone's health. Far too few adults receive the recommended vaccines, leaving themselves unprotected from serious illness.See the following numbers from the CDC. - Only 20% of adults 19 years or older had received Tdap vaccination. - National Health Interview Survey 2014
- Only 28% of adults 60 years or older had received shingles (herpes zoster) vaccination. - National Health Interview Survey 2014
- Only 20% of adults 19 to 64 years at increased risk had received pneumococcal vaccination. - National Health Interview Survey 2014
- Only about 44% of adults 18 years or older received a flu vaccine during the 2014-2015 flu season. - Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2014-2015
No matter what clinical setting we work in, as health clinicians we all have the same responsibilities to help patients become fully vaccinated to protect their health. They are to: - ASSESS immunization status of all patients in every clinical encounter.
- SHARE a strong recommendation for vaccines that patients need. Answer questions and concerns, educate. Explain potential cost of getting sick.
- ADMINISTER needed vaccines or REFER to a provider who can immunize.
- DOCUMENT vaccines administered or received by your patients.
See the following CDC attachments on talking points with your patients and adult vaccines that protect you and your patients from disease.
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2016 Quarter 3 - OASIS Education
The Quality Improvement Department will be conducting the Quarter 3 OASIS Education sessions in each VNA Care office during the months of September and early October. The sessions are required for all those who complete OASIS Tools, including Clinical Managers, RN, PT, OT, and ST. While providing guidance for OASIS accuracy, the sessions support focused patient care and outcome achievement as we work within the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing model, an alignment of payment and quality. Please see the following Quarter 3 schedule for the office dates and times. The sessions are scheduled to be held in each office, are 90 minutes in length, and are 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.
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Office
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Day/Date
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Time
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Presenter
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Charlestown
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Tues, September 13, 2016
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8:30-10am
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Elaine
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Charlestown
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Weds, September 14, 2016
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2-3:30pm
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Elaine
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Charlestown
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Thurs, September 22, 2016
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2-3:30pm
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Elaine
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Charlestown
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Sun, September 25, 2016
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8-9:30am
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Elaine
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Danvers/Gloucester
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Tues, September 13, 2016
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8:30-10am
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Marilyn
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Danvers/Gloucester
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Thurs, September 15, 2016
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8:30-10am
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Marilyn
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Danvers/Gloucester
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Weds, September 21, 2016
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8:30-10am
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Marilyn
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Danvers/Gloucester
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Tues, September 27, 2016
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2:30-4pm
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Marilyn
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Leominster
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Weds, September 14, 2016
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8:30-10am
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Surabhi
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Leominster
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Fri, September 30, 2016
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2:30-4pm
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Surabhi
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Leominster
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Mon, October 3, 2016
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8:30-10am
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Surabhi
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Needham
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Tues, September 13, 2016
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8:30-10am
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Maura
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Needham
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Thurs, September 15, 2016
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8:30-10am
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Maura
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Needham
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Sun, September 18, 2016
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8:30-10am
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Maura
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Needham
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Weds, September 21, 2016
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2:30-4pm
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Maura
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Needham
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Weds, September 28, 2016
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8:30-10am
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Maura
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Southborough
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Mon, September 12, 2016
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8:30-10am
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Surabhi
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Southborough
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Fri, September 23, 2016
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8:30-10am
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Maria
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Southborough
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Thurs, September 29, 2016
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2:30-4pm
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Surabhi
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Southborough
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Weds, October 5, 2016
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8:30-10am
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Maria
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Weymouth
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Tues, September 13, 2016
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2-3:30pm
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Kyra
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Weymouth
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Weds, September 21, 2016
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8:30-10am
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Kyra
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Weymouth
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Fri, September 23, 2016
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8:30-10am
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Kyra
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Weymouth
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Thurs, September 29, 2016
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2-3:30pm
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Kyra
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Worcester
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Sun, September 18, 2016
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8:30-10am
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Surabhi
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Worcester
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Tues, September 20, 2016
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8:30-10am
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Maura
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Worcester
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Thurs September 22, 2016
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2:30-4p
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Surabhi
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Worcester
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Tues, October 4, 2016
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8:30-10am
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Maura
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Patient Care Managers and QI Support Contacts
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Name
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Phone
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Position
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Covering Office
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Marilyn Bowden
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774-502-7478
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PCM
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Danvers & Gloucester
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Maria Dunn
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508-688-2449
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PCM Program Mgr
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SS02 S-boro
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Elaine Gardner
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617-680-1105
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PCM
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Charlestown
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Kyra Mihalick
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617-913-6823
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PCM
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VNAB Therapy
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Carol Morris
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617-913-3006
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PCM Program Mgr
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Quincy
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Surabhi Saxena
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774-463-7336
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PCM
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Leominster & SS55 S-boro
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Maura Vitello
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774-502-7475
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PCM
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Needham
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Kim Hughes
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617-886-6501,
ext. 5419
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QI Support Coord
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All VNAB
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Chris Schultz
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617-886-6501,
ext. 6527
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QI Support Coord
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All VNACN
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Shamala Rao
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508-756-7176,
ext. 6876
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QI Nurse
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All VNACN
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McLaughlin-Dello Russo Returns as a Step Out for Hospice Lead Sponsor
McLaughlin-Dello Russo Funeral Home will be an event sponsor of the Step Out for Hospice Walk/Run for the second year in a row. The walk will be held Sunday, Oct. 2, in Woburn to benefit VNA Hospice & Palliative Care. Pictured are Connie McGilvray, co-chair of the Woburn Friends (the volunteer group organizing the benefit), and David Dello Russo. Show your support for hospice by joining us on Oct. 2. Learn more and register today at www.vnacare.org/stepout.
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HOSPICE & PALLIATIVE CARE
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Mandatory Safety Inservice Wednesday
We are pleased to welcome our security consultant, Clare Schroeder, to our Woburn office this Wednesday, August 31, at 3pm.
Clare will review safety on the streets, elevators/stairs, and in our patients' homes. How to handle pets, guns, and drug use in the home, as well as gang activity, distracted drivers, needle sticks, and a variety of safety issues will be covered.
These are all issues that concern us - you may even have safety concerns not mentioned above that you wish to discuss with Clare. This is a mandatory session.
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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 cheryl_milas@vnacare.org or Debbie Brown at debbie_brown@vnacare.org for more information.
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Job Postings
We are working to further segment open positions in the Connecter to make them easily searchable by office location. In the meantime, to learn more about career opportunities, please visit careers.vnacare.org or 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@vnacare.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.
Key Initiatives Being Talked About:
- iPad to laptop conversion
- Speech recognition software
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- Strategies to become the Employer of Choice
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- Communication pathways
- Office/department moves
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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
- 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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Re-Recording Voicemail Greeting
As we communicated last week, all voicemail greetings on the Avaya phone system need to be re-recorded. It is critical that this be done as soon as possible. Please call the IT Help Desk at ext. 6822 from within the office or 508-751-6822 if you are having any issues and we will assist you.
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Apple/iPhone Security Update
By Chris Diguette, Chief Information Officer
We have been notified by the National Cyber Awareness System that Apple has released a very important update to all iPhone, iPads and iPod Touches. It's incredibly important if you own one of these devices, when your provider (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, etc., Verizon for VNA Care provided phones) pushes this 9.3.5 update to your iPhone that you follow the instructions to install it. Don't be alarmed if your phone reboots. This addresses vulnerabilities that allow unwanted attackers to take control of your phone.
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One Number for After-Hours Technical Support
To simply the IT support offering and eliminate the need to know who to call in each office, our organization has switched to using a single number with which to contact IT for all your phone support. From now on and from any VNA Care office, you need only call extension 6822 to reach the IT department. From outside our properties, the new off-hours number doubles as the daytime contact for IT support: (508) 751-6822.
By calling these numbers you are virtually assured of reaching an available technician who can then make a determination of the best course of action to solve your problem or meet your request. So remember: Inside, 6822. Outside and after-hours, (508) 751-6822.
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| August 29, 2016 | The Connecter |
Volume 5, Issue 35
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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 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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