VNA of Care New England’s Post

Good case study on quality of care vs quantity of care…. Appreciate the Medicare reflection and some lessons learned.

Last week The King's Fund published a new report on shifting NHS care away from hospitals and closer to people's homes. Louise Ansari our Chief Executive welcomes their calls for a focus on primary and community care, saying it is the most common area of concern for patients feeding back their experiences. "Focusing support to NHS teams to deliver care closer to home will support many people get the right help in the right place. Although some patients prefer to travel longer distances for specialist advice or for continuity of care, others prioritise speed of access. And in most cases, that will be in their local community. “As ever, there must be ongoing engagement to understand people’s preferences at each interaction with the health service, and to support a culture of listening to and involving patients as decision makers in their own care. “And ultimately, we need to see improvements made to primary and community care. This includes investment in social care reform, expanding patient transport support to non-hospital services, supporting GP teams to deliver 24/7 access to e-triage, and giving people meaningful choices at the point of booking their appointments.” https://bit.ly/4bVFbPF

In today's rapidly evolving world, traditional marcom strategies hardly hold the same relevance. So, I’ve embraced a more impactful approach that involves organically targeting, connecting, and engaging with influencers and advocates -- fostering a growing network of 17,661 followers. Through this collaboration, we share and exchange meaningful real-time content. These are undeniably challenging times, both in Louisiana and across the U.S. As our health, economy, and communities strive to recover and rebound, resilience is key. I am deeply passionate about advocacy and the development of impactful campaigns that aim to improve health and healthcare. This includes efforts to drive membership growth and raise awareness of shared missions, visions, and causes. My skill set encompasses various disciplines, including communications, influencer marketing, public affairs, branding, digital and content marketing, social media management, earned media strategies, health education, and legislative initiatives. I find great satisfaction in integrating these different components to create powerful, cohesive campaigns. Throughout my career, I have orchestrated highly successful marcom strategies for a diverse range of organizations: public, private, and non-profit alike. My work has contributed to the success of start-ups, product launches, turnarounds, crisis management, public offerings, brand re-positioning, organic growth, market share shifts, legislative change, and fundraising efforts. I have also provided integrated marcom strategies that have positively influenced sales in the pharmaceutical and managed care industries. I have had the privilege of working with esteemed employers, clients, and holding board positions with organizations such as the Orleans Parish Medical Society, Special Olympics, Alzheimer’s Association, Humana, Peoples Health, Archdiocese of New Orleans (Catholic Schools, PACE GNO, Catholic Charities), LHC Group, AstraZeneca, West Jefferson Medical Center, JEDCO, Tenet Healthcare, DePaul Community Health Centers, Smoking Cessation Trust, Carilion Clinic, and Ochsner Health. One particularly impactful project involved grass roots marketing, earned media strategies, public and community affairs, and communications initiatives in collaboration with the FMOL Health System. Together, we played an integral role in the start-up and launch of St. Bernard Parish Hospital, which now operates under the leadership of Ochsner. This endeavor brought quality healthcare and peace-of-mind back to a proud community that had been devastated by Katrina. https://lnkd.in/gvVD-Aui

It’s #NationalDiabetesAwarenessMonth, and today, in recognition that we’re part of a global community, we’re highlighting the work of our grantees seeking to increase access to quality, affordable diabetes care globally. Access to care remains out of reach for many, especially people living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Through the expansion of integrated care models and commercially sustainable medicine markets, we can build a global movement to treat chronic noncommunicable diseases including diabetes. We need to break down disease silos and invest in broadly supportive healthcare systems where everyone can thrive, no matter the diagnosis. https://lnkd.in/eFSz84ad

This article, written by Dave Pearson, highlights the recent launch of a website by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) focused on explaining the fundamentals of value-based care. This user-friendly website, named the Value-Based Care Spotlight, is designed to educate both healthcare consumers and professionals. Under the direction of CMS Innovation Center Director Liz Fowler, the platform's goal is to improve comprehension of value-based care as a key element in the transformation of healthcare. Value-based care, as explained on the site, involves collaboration among doctors and healthcare providers to oversee an individual's overall health, taking into account their personal health objectives. The term "value" in value-based care refers to what an individual values the most in terms of their health. The website features real-life stories, including those of individuals like Lamont Mitchell from Washington, D.C., who successfully aligned his diabetes management with broader health goals, and Letisha Wadsworth from Brooklyn, N.Y., currently undergoing home dialysis therapy. This initiative aligns with CMS's previous announcement, made 13 months prior, outlining its intention to have all Medicare beneficiaries and a majority of Medicaid beneficiaries enrolled in accountable care organizations by 2030. Liz F. #ValueBasedCare #HealthcareTransformation #CMSInitiative https://lnkd.in/grdauFkV

Listen to Trellis president and CEO, @Dawn Simonson, present about the Juniper Community Care Hub at the March 8 Legislative Task Force on Aging. The Juniper Community Care Hub is an innovative way to help older adults and family caregivers in Minnesota receive the services that they need by providing an influx of resources and other support. It uses a framework that is central to how the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Administration for Community Living think about integrating healthcare and social care. According to Simonson: “Minnesota is uniquely positioned to move the hub model to a scale that will have a real impact on the state budget. We're so lucky we have all the ingredients: world-class health systems, thoughtful healthcare payers, innovative government, and a strong network of nonprofit organizations spread throughout our state and supported by one of the country's best philanthropic and volunteer environments. It's time to leverage these important assets.” @trellisconnects https://buff.ly/48LKRZH

The PAN Foundation is celebrating 20 years of championing healthcare access, affordability, and equity for all—and I could not be prouder.    For two decades, we have worked alongside an exceptional network of patient advocates, healthcare professionals, and generous donors to make healthcare more accessible.    Some important accomplishments in that time:    - Provided $4 billion dollars in life-changing financial assistance through more than 70 disease funds, helping 1.1 million patients across all 50 states and U.S. territories access their critical medical treatment and get transportation support    - Achieved major policy victories that expanded access to care for millions of people on Medicare, including pioneering the conversation around “smoothing” out-of-pocket Medicare Part D costs, which earned widespread, bipartisan support and was passed into law    - Used our voice and our relationships with the national patient advocacy community to advocate against harmful barriers to healthcare access, such as calling for the prohibition of co-pay accumulator programs and being the first charitable foundation to denounce alternative funding programs    Our work is not done, however—not until everyone has access to affordable, equitable healthcare. We will continue our advocacy and education efforts, with the aim of helping millions more patients each year.    To learn more about the impact we’ve had on patients, healthcare professionals, and others in our community, read their stories at:   https://lnkd.in/gzP54APU   

New York State is last in the nation for utilization of hospice services. Let that sink in. There are a million reasons why this is true and educating the public on exactly what hospice is and isn’t remains more important than ever. There is so much sketchy or inaccurate information out there and as we educate lawmakers – we are learning that some think that the way to fix access is to add more hospices. This could not be further from the truth. So let me be clear – adding MORE hospices will not fix the problem. Hospice care is best delivered in the community setting by non-profits who exist to serve their own communities. Adding more hospices may sound like a good idea on the surface – but opening the floodgates will encourage more for-profit hospices in NY and the result will almost certainly be lower-quality services in exchange for cost avoidance strategies. That is exactly why states like California and Arizona are under the microscope. NY hospices have the capacity to accept more patients – but so much more work needs to be done to educate the public on eligibility and services provided. Fraud and abuse have no place in end-of-life care. Thankfully, Medicare is cracking down on the bad actors. Vulnerable patients expect the best from us. Hospice’s publicly reported quality scores can be found at Care Compare at http://Medicare.gov #hospice #qualitymatters

Protecting, Connecting and Thriving: We Are All Public Health "Public health is more than just health care. It's the steps we take to make sure our neighborhoods and environment are free from pollution. It's making sure our food and water are safe to eat and drink. It's also the relationships we foster in our communities. We're all interconnected. When we all come together to support public health, all of us — individuals, families, communities and the public health field — can achieve the goals of public health." https://nphw.org/ #nphw #publichealth #womeninpublichealth

As part of our commitment to expand access to quality health care, Helmsley has granted $11.6 million to three health systems in Nevada, bringing life-saving #ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) technology for patients in rural communities suffering from acute cardiac and pulmonary failure. The availability of ECMO provides timely medical support to those experiencing severe respiratory and cardiovascular distress who face additional challenges around physician shortages, lack of equipment, and geographic barriers to emergency treatment. The grants will go to Dignity Health-St. Rose Dominican Siena Hospital, Renown Health Foundation, and University Medical Center of Southern Nevada (UMC), funding physician and staff travel to active extracorporeal life support centers, training equipment, consultation services, and other tools for program expansion across the state. “ECMO can be a game changer for patients with severe heart and lung conditions,” said Walter Panzirer, a Helmsley Trustee. “Without ECMO, hospitals have to transfer patients to other facilities, and those who are too unstable for transport could die before receiving needed care.” Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dSBcE5Eb