VNSNY CHOICE
May 2022 CHOICE Commendations
April 28, 2022–Our VNSNY colleagues have demonstrated time and time again the ability to rise to the occasion and deliver an exceptional consumer experience. Here are excerpts from some of the numerous compliments we recently received thanking VNSNY CHOICE team members for a job well done. I Never Had Such a Positive Experience “I just want to say that I spoke with two different Contact Center Agents—Gail Herrera-Coles and Tyisha Austin—and they were both wonderful!” said a CHOICE member. “I never had such a positive customer experience. I am very, very happy I joined VNSNY CHOICE!” The daughter of another CHOICE member called to thank Gail for being “kind, clear, and professional” over the phone, taking the time to explain the difference in available services and how they each worked. Attentive and Caring The care coordinator for a CHOICE MLTC member phoned to commend Contact Center Agent Jasmin Harry for “her
Related Articles
November 2017 VNSNY CHOICE Staff Commendations
November 9, 2017–Providing excellent customer service is something we should always strive for. Here are excerpts from some of the dozens of calls we receive each week from members thanking CHOICE staff for a job well done. A CHOICE SelectHealth member commended Member Services Representative Desse-Anna Alexis for doing a great job in helping with his request to obtain a new plan ID card after his wallet was stolen. “You were great!” he reported. A CHOICE member called to express her gratitude for the tremendous customer service she received from Member Services Representative Janel Cole. “Janel stayed on the phone for over an hour assisting me and my brother with our paperwork,” she said. “Janel was patient, compassionate and very courteous.” A newly enrolled member called to praise Enrollment Coordinator Milagros Lopez, noting she “made the enrollment process easy and painless. The new member added, “Milagros was such a pleasure to speak
Frontline VNSNY Exclusive: VNSNY’s Alicia Schwartz, RN, Reports from Puerto Rico on the Hurricane Relief Efforts
October 19, 2017–Alicia Schwartz, RN, a Care Coordinator with VNSNY CHOICE Managed Long Term Care, traveled last week to Puerto Rico, where she was born and raised, to help in the post-Hurricane Maria relief effort. This is her firsthand report, given to our writer over the phone. I came down here with the teacher’s union. The United Federation of Teachers wanted some nurses to join their mission to Puerto Rico and assist in the disaster. I arrived here on Wednesday, October 11. We started out with over 300 people from the union, including nurses, doctors, and also plumbers, electricians, truck and van drivers, and people with machetes to help clear the way where the roads were blocked. We split up into small groups, with a doctor in each group and nurses divided by specialty—hospital nurses to visit hospitals, and home care nurses like myself to visit people in the community. Our driver knows
VNSNY RN Alicia Schwartz on the Front Lines in Puerto Rico
October 13, 2017–On the Ground in Puerto Rico: How VNSNY’s Alicia Schwartz, RN, Is Helping the Island Recover For the past several days, VNSNY nurse Alicia Schwartz, a care coordinator with CHOICE, has been on the ground in Puerto Rico, providing badly needed medical care to the residents there amid the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria. In this heartbreaking Huffington Post article, Alicia, who was born in Puerto Rico, shares her first-hand view of the suffering that the island is enduring, and how she and other volunteer caregivers are doing what they can to provide relief. To read the Huffington Post article, click HP Puerto Rico Alicia Schwartz
October 2017 VNSNY CHOICE Staff Commendations
October 11, 2017–Providing excellent customer service is something we should always strive for. Here are excerpts from some of the dozens of calls we receive each week from members thanking CHOICE staff for a job well done. A CHOICE member phoned to say “what a pleasure it was” to speak to Member Services Representative Shamarla Pickett. She added that Shamarla had helped calm her anxiety about a procedure she was about to undergo, and was “very professional, compassionate and kind, and provided outstanding service.” The representative of a care provider in the Bronx called to commend Member Services Representative Evalin Hernandez for “going above and beyond my expectations” in assisting her and the CHOICE member she was working with. The daughter-in-law of a prospective CHOICE member expressed her gratitude for the assistance she received from Enrollment Coordinator Iris Henry. She noted that Iris was “very helpful, patient, pleasant and professional, and how
VNSNY CHOICE SelectHealth Launches Ad Campaign Aimed at Potential Enrollees
September 8, 2017–CHOICE SelectHealth, VNSNY’s Special Needs Plan for Medicaid-eligible individuals with HIV, is launching a new three-month ad campaign in mid-September. The campaign, aimed at New Yorkers who qualify for SelectHealth but are not yet enrolled, will include poster ads in New York City subway cars and at bus stops and subway stations in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx, as well as print ads in selected local publications throughout SelectHealth’s service area. The ads will include both English- and Spanish-language versions. “We’re very excited about this opportunity to build awareness of how SelectHealth can help Medicaid recipients live well with HIV,” says Cindy Zanca, Director of Marketing for VNSNY CHOICE Health Plans. “We want to make sure that eligible individuals across our service area know that Special Needs Plans like ours, which are tailored to their specific conditions, are available to them, so they can make informed decisions on whether a
September 2017 CHOICE Staff Commendations
August 31, 2017– Providing excellent customer service is something we should always strive for. Here are excerpts from some of the dozens of calls we receive each week from members thanking CHOICE staff for a job well done. The daughter of a CHOICE member phoned to express her appreciation for the “outstanding service” provided by Member Service Representative Renee Ashley. “Renee is very gracious, provided clarity on all her questions, and gave us information we weren’t aware, which helped tremendously,” the daughter said. Enrollment Coordinator Milagros Lopez received praise from a CHOICE member who noted that she was “very helpful” in taking the time to help him understand some concerns. The son of another member called to commend Milagros for outstanding service, adding that she was “very helpful in providing the information” he needed to understand, as well as being “a pleasure to speak with.” A CHOICE FIDA participant called to commend
An Interview with Hany Abdelaal, President of VNSNY CHOICE Health Plans
August 31, 2017–New York State has mandated value-based purchasing for all Medicaid Managed Long Term Care (MLTC) plans by next year. Can you explain how this will work? The state is requiring that all New York Medicaid MLTC plans convert their provider contracts—that is, their contracts with the licensed home care agencies who care for their members—into Level 1 value-based purchasing arrangements by December 31, 2017. That means the providers will have to meet the state’s MLTC Category 1 quality measures, which cover things like frequency of patient falls and visits to the emergency room, patient satisfaction rates, and avoidable hospitalizations. The details are still being finalized, but they’ll include some sort of bonus for meeting these measures and penalties for failing to meet them. How is VNSNY CHOICE preparing for this shift? We’ve developed a quarterly scorecard for the hundred or so licensed home care agencies we contract with, charting their