FAQ #76:  Answers from February 8th CEO Conference Call

The following FAQs were adapted from questions submitted by VNSNY staff for the  CEO  Conference Calls hosted by  Dan  Savitt  on  Tuesday, February 8th     

Q. Would you review any work we have done or are doing to strengthen interoperability across health information systems within and externally?  

A. That’s a great question, and this would be one that would be wonderful for our CIO, Bob Plaszcz, if he were on today, which he’s not. He had to be off. But we have quite a bit of work and focus on connecting our data internally, of course, and that’s always the challenge. So, how we ensure that we bring all our data together so we can access it, while we have a number of different initiatives going on to continue to build things like our improved provider portal on the health plan side, and member portal ways that they can access their data.  
We have better connectivity with the hospital system. So, we know when our patients and members hit the emergency department or get admitted into the hospital. And so, we’ve got a number of good initiatives in this area. And we will continue to drive on that, but I appreciate the question. Thank you. 

Michael Bernstein, Chief Experience Officer: This is a great question about interoperability. And certainly, I’m not our Chief Technology Officer, but there are two things that I would just share with all of us that are underway in 2022.  

One of them is referred to as the CRM, Consumer Relationship Management solution, powered by Salesforce, which is a platform that we already use at VNSNY. But interoperability kind of means at the highest level, one system being able to talk to another system, and information being able to be shared across platforms internally and hopefully, externally.  

And our CRM initiative is a way for us to build that kind of information-sharing internally so that on one screen on a computer, you can see information pulled from HomeCare HomeBase or from Netsmart if you’re in the CMO using that system, or if you’re in the Health Plan Services Group using TMG or Guiding Care, the platforms that are there.  

So, that’s a big step for VNSNY. There’s another effort that is well underway that I think many of the people who are part of our CHHA are aware of, to pull information into a Command Center dashboard to share visit scheduling information. And then ultimately, as Dan said in his opening remarks, be able to provide that directly to consumers, so that they can have insight into when visits are going to be made.  

So, those two things touch on interoperability. That term is also very much used in the health insurance business, of which we play a part here in New York. And there are a lot of efforts underway there to ensure that our information for the members in our health plan can be appropriately shared with providers in our provider network, and from them to us as well, in accordance with the rules and regulations that CMS and the State have put forward.  

So, that was a great question. There is quite a lot going on, and one of the areas that I get to focus on is what we publish in Frontline. So, we’ll take this away and come back with some more information about interoperability on Frontline as well. So, thanks, Dan. 

Dan Savitt: Yes, you’re welcome. And for those that don’t know, when you hear interoperability, like, what the heck is that? Michael, do you have an easy way to explain what that is? 

Michael Bernstein: Well, my understanding of it is the ability for systems to share information so that consumers, patients, or members, have access to information about their own care, the status of their care, and what their providers do.  

Now, I’ll just tell everybody, I’m not an expert on the subject, but I’m pretty sure that that’s what the government wants to happen in this country, and that’s what we are striving to do as well.  

Dan Savitt: Yes. Thanks, Michael. There are regulatory requirements around our ability to share information – with not just the patient, but with their providers. And so, it’s a big push and it’s the right thing to do as consumers, as patients, right? We all want easy access to our healthcare record.  

And it’s not that I have to log into five different systems to get the entirety of my record, but I can go to one place and see most everything that relates to me. And so, it’s good.  

Q. There are many of us that don’t have parking passes but need them. I know VNSNY will not be receiving more. Can we implement some type of sharing system for the parking passes that VNSNY currently has? It would promote a sense of fairness and equality. 

A. Andria Castellanos, Chief of Provider Services: Yes. Thank you, Dan, and that’s a great question. Just a couple of things. We are trying very hard to work with the city, first of all, to make the parking pass situation permanent. We also understand we do not have enough parking passes to meet the demand that our staff have.  

And so, we are looking into trying to get additional parking passes, if we are successful, making them permanent. As you know, they are not permanent yet, and our government affairs team is trying to do that. We can take this recommendation back for consideration. 

I think there’s some logistical problems with sharing the passes, I believe. I could be wrong, but I think there might be a requirement for a license number on that pass or something like that. I know the staff out there who use these passes, know the answer to that question, but we can take this back for consideration with the team and see if there’s any way for the ability to share them.  

This is probably more of a solution if we get permanent passes where we don’t have enough for everybody, as opposed to these temporary passes that we have right now. So, thank you for the creativity and we’ll take this back to the team for some consideration. 

Dan Savitt: Thanks, Andria. Like everything, when we deal with the city or the state, there’s never an easy answer. That’s the fun part of working in the State of New York and with New York City.  

We did find out from government affairs that we’re actually not allowed to share parking passes, which of course is unfortunate, but that’s part of the rules today. And as Andria said, you know, we’re lobbying really hard to make them permanent.  

And through that process, we would lobby really hard to get more and to be able to do things like share them if we don’t have enough passes. So, the government affairs team – they know how important this is to you all. And so, that makes it important to them, and they continue to advocate on behalf of our organization.