Last May, VNSNY’s care management organization was launched under the leadership of Rose Madden-Baer. VNSNY Today spoke with her for the Fall 2019 issue about the new business unit’s progress.
Can you update us on what’s happened since the CMO’s rollout?
Since then, our CMO has gained a new name—VNSNY Care360° Solutions—and a growing customer base. We’re currently managing the care of over 450 high-risk members of VNSNY’s own CHOICE Health Plans, and are also contracted to manage the care of 1,500 Healthfirst plan members over the next year. And we’re in discussions with other potential customers as well.
What do these care management services consist of?
The short answer is, we offer health plans and other customers an alternative way of supporting the health of high-risk individuals in a home setting that’s more comprehensive and costs less than traditional home care services. Our interdisciplinary care management team uses a combination of an in-person assessment, ongoing telephone support and patient monitoring, targeted home visits, and linking people with community resources.
How does VNSNY Care360° Solutions provide this support while also keeping costs down?
We do this by providing the exact services each person requires, based on their assessment—all for a set fee, plus a share in any savings our partnering health plans or care providers realize from reduced hospital admissions and emergency room visits. These services include following participants remotely through interactive voice response and vital signs monitoring, phone consults with our pharmacists and social workers, and virtual check-ins with our care managers via an iPad screen. We also have behavioral health and substance abuse counselors available, and can schedule home visits from a health coach, nutritionist, or nurse practitioner as needed.
VNSNY Care360° Solutions uses several different care management models. Can you describe those?
Our models include transitional care management, where we follow individuals for a limited time—typically 60 days—after hospital discharge to ensure they transition home safely. We’re using that model now with Healthfirst plan members. We also employ a chronic complex conditions model that provides ongoing services to people with multiple chronic illnesses. We’re currently using this model to manage CHOICE members for 18-month periods, which can then be extended another 18 months. And we have an Advanced Illness Management model for people in their last year of life. In all cases, we work with our customers to make sure the model meets their exact objectives in terms of target population and other metrics.
Why the name VNSNY Care360° Solutions?
To sum it up in a sentence, the name VNSNY Care360° Solutions represents care that is continuous, comprehensive, collaborative, coordinated, and community-based.
How is VNSNY Care360° impacting VNSNY as an organization?
I think it’s going to be central to our success as a care provider. These products are all new for us, but they build on what VNSNY has been doing for decades. A lot of venture capital firms are moving into care management, but none of them can match VNSNY in terms of experience, community presence, and ability to innovate. Most important, we’re demonstrating to insurers, hospitals, and physicians that we have a better, more cost-effective way of helping people age in place. I believe this type of care management truly represents the future of health care.