How Annual Wellness Visits improve patient outcomes and organizational revenue
Even with recent increases in the percentage of Medicare recipients who have Annual Wellness Visits (AWVs), less than 20 percent of eligible patients availed themselves of this new benefit provided under the Affordable Care Act, according to a JAMA study. At Frisbie Memorial Hospital, we saw this ...
How nursing roles are expanding to support population health efforts
In order to build healthier communities and improve population health management, providers need information about a patients’ health that goes beyond clinical factors. How can we achieve this?
How to improve discharge procedures for homeless patients
When people think of life in California, they often think of movie stars, mansions, and pristine beaches. The reality can sometimes be less glamorous. Since 2016, the homeless population in California has risen by 13 percent. There are now an estimated 130,000 homeless individuals living across ...
Can chronic disease patients really change poor lifestyle habits? Here’s one way to engage them
Lisa, a 45-year old single mother, visits her primary care physician complaining of fatigue and excessive thirst; blood tests reveal she has high blood glucose. She walks out of the clinic with a prescription and a pamphlet about type 2 diabetes. Now what?
Thought leader podcast series: Addressing the opioid crisis
In our latest Thought Leader podcast, I speak with Phil Campbell, CIO and VP of Information Services at CalvertHealth (Prince Frederick, MD), about how his organization has been addressing the opioid crisis through its award-winning Opioid Stewardship Program.
6 resources for National Recovery Month
September is National Recovery Month — a time to recognize the more than 11 million Americans who are struggling with opioid addiction. This massive problem has grown exponentially over the years and, unfortunately, seems to be the new norm.
Improving care coordination with a transition care center
In 2014, Parkview Medical Center realized that it needed to reduce its readmission rate significantly while also fixing a communication gap between home health care agencies and other post-acute facilities. To address these issues, my director and a team of other leaders joined together to pilot a ...
Thought Leader Podcast Series: Social Determinants of Health and Transitional Care
In the latest installment of our thought leader podcast series, I chat with Billie Lynn Allard, MS, RN, and Jennifer Fels, RN, MSN, co-founders of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center's transitional care program. Allard and Fels explain how they designed a program that addresses recurring gaps in ...
Nurses remain in critical role amid changes in healthcare
As healthcare continues to evolve, there is one constant when it comes to treating patients: The critical role that nurses play in delivering quality care. That role has certainly expanded over the years, particularly in the areas of establishing and maintaining patient safety, finding workflow ...
What patients can teach us about social determinants in behavioral health
In behavioral health, social determinants is something we look at, but many of us haven’t made it a part of our everyday language. We know social factors have an impact, but because of how broadly defined they are, finding the next steps to take can be difficult.