As the First Year Draws to a Close, Impact Challenge Teams Report Game-Changing Results

It’s been a little over a year since VNS Health held its Impact Challenge, where five final round teams presented ideas for reducing heath disparities in our communities.  So how are the Impact Challenge teams doing? All five teams have reported game-changing progress this past year, so let’s dive in!

Note: The Impact Challenge teams have grown and changed as the initiatives have evolved. The listings below represent the teams as of December, 2022.

16 New Nurse Residents – and Counting!

The Team:

• Monica Cayemitte, Clinical Field Manager, Home Care
• Elizer Cooper-Audain, Associate Vice President, Education and Development
• Yvonne Eaddy, Vice President, Regional Patient Care Service
• Larry Lepelstat, Associate Vice President, Finance and Business Operations
• Kathleen Burke, Associate Director, Talent Acquisition
• Zachary Saliterman, Financial Analyst, Financial Planning and Analysis
• Executive Sponsor: Tracy Dodd, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer
• Note: The Impact Challenge teams have grown and changed as the initiatives have evolved. The listings below represent the teams as of December, 2022.

Project: Expanding VNS Health’s Nurse Residency to Serve Health Care Needs in the Bronx. In this project, Team Nurse Residency is looking to expand VNS Health’s Nurse Residency Program by hiring an additional 20 nursing school graduates as nurse residents, including five who will provide direct care to underserved Bronx residents.

What’s New:

• In October, the Nurse Residency Program launched its fifth cohort with nine new residents, including two based in the Bronx. The residency program reports that the project team’s efforts have been key to these strong enrollment figures.
• The program has also recruited seven new hires for the April 2023 cohort, including one Bronx resident.
• This makes a total of 16 new nurse residents recruited overall since the project launched—80% of the project’s goal—including three nurse residents for the Bronx. To further boost recruitment efforts, the team is also ramping up its college partnerships.

A Medical Nutrition Therapy Pilot for the Bedbound Set to Launch

The Team:

• Valarie Brockington, Clinical Field Manager, Home Care
• Tameka McCabe, Director of Wound Management Program, Quality Care Management
• Executive Sponsor: Andria Castellanos, Executive Vice President and Chief of Provider Services

Project: Delivering Medical Nutrition Therapy to Bedbound New Yorkers. This project by Team Medical Nutrition Therapy remains on target to pilot a test program in the second quarter of 2023.

What’s New:

• In partnership with VNS Health’s Care Management Organization (CMO), the team will  pilot a Medical Nutrition Therapy Program utilizing a two-pronged strategy: addressing people’s clinical needs for medical nutrition therapy; and addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) that impact their quality of life.
• The team has also developed a preliminary workflow for managing pressure injury patients that require medical nutrition therapy.
• In addition, the team is working with Business Intelligence and Analytics (BIA) to establish measurement outcomes and identify additional areas of opportunity.

Internal Referrals up 60% for At-Risk Seniors in Need of Behavioral Health

The Team:

• Susan Clayton Meyer, Project Manager, Behavioral Health
• Evelyn Pozo, Mental Health Specialist II, Behavioral Health
• Executive Sponsor: Dan Savitt, President and CEO.

Project: Connecting Low-Income Seniors with Outpatient Mental Health Treatment. This initiative by Team Behavioral Health aims to increase outpatient mental health treatment access for low-income seniors by expanding VNS Health’s Geriatric Mental Health Initiative in the Bronx. (For the names of project team members, click here.)

What’s New:

• The team has been providing direct referral access to Behavioral Health services in all internal VNS Health presentations. As a result, internal referrals to all Behavioral Health services have increased 60% in the third quarter of 2022, compared to the second quarter of 2022. The project has now met its goal of 20 internal referrals per month in six out of the nine months it’s been active.
• The team has also seen a 6-fold increase in internal referrals to Behavioral Health from other VNS Health teams that had never previously referred to Behavioral Health.
• In addition, community outreach is up more than 250% since 2021.

Connecting Harlem and Bronx Residents to VNS Health’s Services

The Team:

• Melissa Henry, Director of Operations, Cultural Market Development
• Executive Sponsor: Sue Caputo, Senior Vice President, Business Development
• Note: The Impact Challenge teams have changed as the initiatives have evolved. The list above represent the teams as of December, 2022.

Project: Using Community Engagement to Help New Yorkers Access VNS Health’s Health Services and Health Plans. In this project, Team Connect2Well has partnered with Community Collaborations on community outreach and patient navigation services to improve access to VNS Health services in Harlem and the Bronx.

What’s New:

• In the third quarter of 2022, the team held 16 health education forums, facilitated 10 health fairs, and participated in 7 food pantry events, surpassing the project’s goals.
• In addition, the team facilitated enrollment of residents from the black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) community into VNS Health Hospice, Home Care, Behavioral Health, and Health Plans.
• Connect2Well also recently collaborated with other VNS Health teams to establish the VNS Health Speakers Bureau.

Findings Published and Grant Proposal in Process for Caregiver Support Tool

The Team:

• Julia Burgdorf, Research Scientist, VNS Health Center for Home Care Policy and Research
• David Russell, Research Scientist, VNS Health Center for Home Care Policy and Research
• Executive Sponsor: Time Peng, Chief Data Analytics Officer

Project: Supporting Family Caregivers of Patients with Dementia with the DECLARE Tool. This reporting tool developed by Team Caregiver Support helps caregivers of dementia patients communicate their needs to VNS Health clinicians, and also helps care team members link caregivers with appropriate resources.

What’s New:

• The DECLARE team’s research findings were recently published in The Gerontologist in an article titled “‘Care for Me, Too’: A Novel Framework for Improved Communication and Support between Dementia Caregivers and the Home Health Care Team.”
• After applying for a K01 grant from the National Institute on Aging, which would support a 5-year project to refine and pilot test DECLARE, the team learned they were recommended for funding. They will know more about their grant application in January.

We will check back in on the Impact Challenge initiatives in the next few months to track all the exciting progress being made.