How a “One VNS Health” Teamwork Effort Led to a New App and an Improved Consumer Experience

One of the most common questions VNS Health Home Care patients call our Contact Center about is, “What time is my nurse, rehab therapist or social worker coming?”

Those calls will be happening less often, however, and here’s why: Team members from across the organization—from VNS Health’s IT, Education and Marketing teams to our frontline field clinicians and Contact Center agents—worked together in a “One VNS Health” group effort to create an app called My Home Care. This new app lets Home Care patients (and their family members who’ve downloaded the app) see at a glance when their next clinician’s visit will take place, right on their smartphone.

The My Home Care app became available to all VNS Health Home Care patients last October. The app tells patients, within a two-hour window, when their home care clinician will arrive for an upcoming visit. It also displays the clinician’s name and discipline, provides updates on future scheduled visits, and has links to other helpful resources. (Information on home health aide visits will be added in future upgrades.)

All this helpful information is accessible because of another recent VNS Health initiative, called the Command Center, which lets our own workforce see every clinicians’ work schedule on user-friendly dashboards. “The Command Center has really improved our ability to manage our clinicians’ home visits,” explains Michael Bernstein, EVP and Chief Experience Officer. “Now, that information is flowing through to the consumer-facing My Home Care app, where it’s keeping our patients updated as well.”

Developing this impressive new app and integrating the two systems, Michael adds, “was the result of a remarkable, coordinated two-year effort, involving multiple teams across the organization.”

VNS Health Home Care patients can download the app at no cost from either the Apple or Google Play app stores, just by typing “VNS Health” into the search bar. So far, over 2,500 patients have utilized the app, and their response has been extremely positive.

“We designed the My Home Care app to be very user-friendly,” said Jennifer Brullo, Senior Vice President for Patient Care Services. “Registering for the app is easy, and people can use it on multiple devices, which makes it convenient for patients and their family members. We’re finding that it’s really improving the experience of our home care patients.”

To read how the app came into being—and the many teams that were involved—click here.