Spring News Briefs: Catch Up on What’s Happening Around VNS Health!
Spring is here! And so is the latest edition of News Briefs—a quick and easy way to catch up on news, updates, and happenings across the organization over the past few months.
If you have any news or announcements that you’d like to submit for consideration in an upcoming edition, please click here.
SelectHealth Reports No Disruptions in Care Due to NYS Medicaid Pharmacy Carve-Out
As of April 1, New York State’s Medicaid pharmacy benefit is now being administered by NYRx, the state’s Medicaid fee-for-service entity, and is no longer a part of Medicaid’s managed care benefits. For VNS Health, the biggest concern around this shift was its potential impact on members of our SelectHealth Medicaid HIV Special Needs Plan, who typically take multiple medications to keep their HIV viral loads low. Thanks to extensive preparations, however, the transition has gone smoothly.
“Our team members have worked hard to ensure that we continue to deliver uninterrupted care for SelectHealth members following the carve-out’s implementation,” reports Hany Abdelaal, President, Health Plans. “As part of this effort, our Pharmacy Services department has conducted targeted outreach to providers and pharmacies, and also developed interventions for reviewing denied medication claims with a focus on HIV drugs, restricted recipient members and prescribers not enrolled with NYS Medicaid.” As a result of these efforts, adds Hany, “in the two weeks after the carve-out went live, 100% of SelectHealth members have had their claims resolved and their antiretroviral prescriptions filled.”
Congratulations to Gladys Bayles-Panes, Occupational Therapist of the Year!
April was Occupational Therapy Month, and it concluded on a high note with the announcement that Senior Occupational Therapist Gladys Bayles-Panes has been named VNS Health’s Occupational Therapist of the Year for 2023! To read more, click here.
CEO Dan Savitt Pens Op-Ed Piece for the Times Union
In his compelling March 15th op-ed essay for the Albany-based Times Union newspaper, President and CEO Dan Savitt discusses the impact of the home healthcare worker shortage on the medical landscape and the community at large. Click here to read Dan’s article.
See Our Latest ABCD and Initiative Award Winners—All 686 of Them!
Here they are, in one place—all of your fellow team members who were recently recognized for going above and beyond in their work. The list includes both ABCD Award and Initiative Award winners from November 1, 2022 through March 31, 2023 of this year. To view their names, click here.
VNS Health’s Nurse Residency Program Receives HCA Trailblazer Award—Watch the Video!
VNS Health was presented with the 2023 New York State Home Care Association (HCA) Trailblazer Quality and Innovation Award at the HCA’s Annual Conference in May in Saratoga, New York. We’re being recognized for our innovative Nurse Residency Program and related RN Preceptor position. This unique program introduces recent nursing school graduates to home health care through a mix of classroom and hands-on skills training, followed by an intensive in-field mentorship under the supervision of RN Preceptors.
Watch this new Nurse Residency video below that brings this innovative program to life. Also, for more details about the award, click here.
VNS Health Sees Positive Financial Impact from NYS Medicaid Risk Score Revision
When New York State updated its Medicaid Risk Score at the start of the 2022-23 fiscal year, the new formula failed to fully account for the expense of caring for Medicaid’s sickest members. As a result, our Medicaid Managed Long Term Care (MLTC) health plan was no longer getting reimbursed adequately for costs related to the high-risk Medicaid population it serves.
Earlier this year, thanks to a multi-pronged push that included our Finance, Business Intelligence & Analytics and Government Affairs teams, as well as our Assessment Unit, the state agreed to revise its Medicaid Risk Score. “This adjustment enabled us to get additional payments for services provided in the last fiscal year, and positions us well for the current 2023-24 fiscal year,” said CEO Dan Savitt in a recent CEO Zoom. “Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen!”
Neighborhood Spotlight Video Series Wins “Award of Excellence” from The Communicator Awards
The Communicator Awards “Award of Excellence,” which is the highest honor given to video productions by the organization, recognized three of VNS Health’s Neighborhood Spotlight videos: “Little Odessa,” “Ghanian Children and Families in the Bronx,” and “How the Health Home at VNS Health Helped One New Yorker in the Marathon of Life.” The Communicator Awards is the leading global awards program honoring creative excellence for marketing and communications professionals.
If you haven’t watched these terrific videos yet, you can view them by clicking here.
Home Health Aides Clocking In and Out of Client Visits Through HHAx App Hits 60%
A new smartphone app called HHAeXchange (HHAx) is streamlining the workflow of VNS Health’s home health aide (HHA) team members. The app allows HHAs to clock in and out of client visits right on their mobile phones, and also lets aides use their phones to check off tasks completed during each visit—making it easier for them to more accurately document the plan of care tasks completed for their clients. As an added feature, HHAs are currently able to get cash bonuses for downloading and using the app.
At last count, over 78% of VNS Health HHAs had downloaded the HHAx app on their phones, and 60% of all visits were being clocked out on the app. “We’re doing well, but we’d like to get those numbers even higher,” noted Jim Rolla, Senior Vice President Personal Care. “This app is a win for our aides and our patients!”
To read some of the nice things HHAs are saying about the new app, click here.
VNS Health’s Process Improvement Course Graduates Its Latest Cohort of 12 Team Members
Last November, 12 VNS Health team members became the latest graduates of the organization’s Process Improvement Course Series. This two-month, four-class course is facilitated by Adam Lefebvre, Director of Process Improvement. Since it began several years ago, the series has graduated 11 cohorts, each made up of team members from across VNS Health. To read more about our latest Process Improvement Course graduates and the improvement projects they worked on, click here.
Goodman Brown Hospice Residence Is Reopening
Great news for the community! After being closed for nearly three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, VNS Health’s Shirley Goodman and Himan Brown Hospice Residence—newly renovated—is set to reopen in the next few weeks. Read all about it in this issue of VNS Health TODAY.
Esther Conteh, VP, Care Management, Honored as a Champion of Nursing Diversity
Congratulations to Esther Conteh, an Advanced Practice Nurse (APRN) and Vice President, Care Management, who was honored as a Champion of Nursing Diversity in the March 29th edition of Minority Nurse. The series highlights health care leaders who are making a transformational impact on the field of nursing.
To read Esther’s inspiring interview in Minority Nurse, click here!
Frontline “Blizzard” Photo Tradition Continues, Despite Lack of Snow
The winter of 2022-23 was hardly a banner season for snow in New York, but Brooklyn Senior Occupational Therapist Ron Ciaccia certainly made the most of the white stuff we did get. Check out Ron’s creative (and wonderfully on-brand) photo submission, snapped during the first snow of the season!
VNS Health Volleyball Team Wins Big City League Championship!
Congratulations to VNS Health’s Volleyball Team Two, who won the Big City League Championship on April 12th! For the names of all the team members—plus a photo of the starting five posing with their first place “golden ball”—click here.
With Bonuses for Referrers, Employee Referral Program Is a Win-Win!
One of the most effective ways VNS Health recruits clinicians and home health aides is through referrals from our own team members. All referrals are welcome—whether you’re referring a relative, a family friend, someone you used to work with, or even a casual acquaintance. And if the person you refer ends up joining VNS Health, you can receive a substantial bonus for making the referral!
Not only has the campaign been a success, but it’s also led to some great referral stories in Frontline. Click here to read about your colleagues’ experiences. You may be inspired to refer a qualified candidate (and potentially receive a bonus) yourself!
VNS Health Researchers Advocate for “Sepsis Aftercare” Code
Currently, a home care patient’s sepsis history is often invisible to home care clinicians—but VNS Health’s Center for Home Care Policy & Research wants to change that. Some 1.4 million sepsis survivors are discharged from U.S. hospitals each year, and about 40% of these patients end up back in the hospital within 90 days due to reinfection or lingering effects of the sepsis episode. Our Research Center team is urging the creation of a “Sepsis Aftercare” ICD code that would alert clinicians to watch for sepsis-related problems—which should reduce rehospitalizations.
Click here to read more about this important recommendation.
Jessica Fear, SVP for Behavioral Health, Addresses NYC Council Committee
On February 6th, VNS Health’s Jessica Fear, Senior Vice President, Behavioral Health, addressed the New York City Council’s Committee on Mental Health, Disabilities and Addiction. In her remarks, she emphasized the importance of funding community-based mental health initiatives for vulnerable populations. Jessica’s presentation begins at the 4:50:05 mark in the video recording of the meeting, which you can access by clicking here. Also of note: At the 2:37:45 mark of the video, Council Member Carlina Rivera states that VNS Health and other community-based mental health providers should be fully funded.
The Updated VNS Health PowerPoint Templates Are Here!
VNS Health’s Marketing team is excited to announce the release of the 2023 version of our PowerPoint Toolkit & Slide Layouts, including some great new features—many in response to your feedback—that will bring new functionality and flexibility to your PowerPoint presentations.
Key changes include all-new slide layouts, like more white background options to accommodate printing; an icons & imagery toolkit that you can save to your desktop; and updated VNS Health overview slides with 2022 stats, a refreshed leadership slide, and a new Core Values slide.
You can download the latest PowerPoint toolkit updates straight from your desktop app. Or, browse them in the VNS Health Media Library, along with a robust library of images, icons, flyers, and brochures for our key programs and services. Please reach out to Ashleigh Bello at [email protected] with any questions.
Introducing VNS Health’s New Peer-Led Organization: The Social Services Community of Professionals
The Social Services Community of Professionals (SSCop), launched in February, is the new grassroots, peer-led organization for social service professionals at VNS Health. Besides enhancing the well-being of VNS Health, the organization’s goals include helping social service professionals across VNS Health connect with each other, strengthen clinical practice and skills, raise awareness of community resources, and advance careers.
The SSCoP defines social service professionals as anyone with a current or future career in a helping profession, such as social work, mental health counseling or case management.
“We’re still in the early stages,” notes Lizzie Cogan, a senior social worker with Brooklyn Home Care and Chair of the SSCoP. “Right now, we’re focused on getting to know one another and identifying who we want to be as a community.” Anyone interested in participating or learning more about the SSCoP can contact the leadership team at [email protected].
Team Members Mark MLK Day of Service
Observed on the third Monday in January, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday that honors the life and legacy of the civil rights leader. It’s also a designated national day of service—a time to reflect on Dr. King’s vision of improving our society and volunteer in support of our neighbors and communities. This past January 16th, VNS Health Cares coordinated our second annual VNS Health MLK Day of Service employee volunteer initiative. Honoring Dr. King’s spirit, 172 VNS Health employees mailed greeting cards to 2,580 VNS Health patients, members and clients. You can view their bright and uplifting work by clicking on the slideshow below.
Community Centers Host Food Pantries for Local Seniors
Starting in January of this year, VNS Health’s Community Centers in Chinatown and Flushing, Queens have hosted monthly Food Pantries in collaboration with New York State’s Commodity Food Program (CSFP). At these popular events, qualifying seniors in the community receive food boxes of nonperishable items. Since the program’s launch, over 700 food boxes have been distributed. You can go to VNS Health’s Community Calendar for information on upcoming Food Pantries.
