VNA HealthCare was recently named to the 2009 HomeCare Elite, a compilation of the top-performing home health agencies in the U.S. ranked by an analysis of performance measures in quality outcomes, quality improvement, and financial performance. Is this the first time VNA HealthCare has received this award?
VNA HealthCare has always focused on providing quality care to our patients. By establishing new programs resulting in positive clinical outcomes, we’ve become a leader in the home-care industry. In an effort to continue reaching our outcomes, VNA HealthCare has recently partnered with OCS HomeCare — the parent of the HomeCare Elite Program — to utilize educational tools which help us improve both in clinical quality and financial outcomes.
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What are some of the changes the public will see in 2010 in the home health industry?
The Medicare home health cuts that are proposed in the healthcare bill — $43 million of cuts over the next 10 years — are certainly of significant concern to nonprofit home-care agencies. Right now, VNA HealthCare is able to provide care to vulnerable patients despite absorbing annual Medicaid losses of $1.3 million but the proposed cuts coupled with looming cuts on the state level puts in grave jeopardy our ability to serve patients without regard for their ability to pay.
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VNA HealthCare’s in-home nursing care, hospice and independent living services brings home care to more than 13,000 Greater Hartford and Greater Waterbury residents every year. How has that number changed over the years?
Our very first patient was a woman who had given birth all alone in a tenement building. Fast-forward 109 years later, and you’ll see a very different patient population. Our patients can be anyone who needs help living a healthy and safe life at home. While we do serve younger individuals, the majority of our patients are elderly. But we also see individuals of any age post-hospital stays.
Many factors have driven our growth: Aging baby boomers with joint replacements; increased life expectancy, which creates more people than ever living with chronic illness; shorter hospitalization stays with sicker people discharged to home, and an increased range of services provided in the home — like telemonitoring, specialized programs such as diabetes, pulmonary therapy, and wound care. I think it’s also the result of increased education that these services exist as an alternative to nursing home care.
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Can the uninsured avail themselves of VNA HealthCare?
Home care has evolved along with the ability of nurses and other professionals to perform tasks once associated with hospitals, such as sophisticated wound care, daily physical therapy after joint replacement and cardiac telemonitoring. Within my career I never would have thought we would do these things at home. Managed care has driven some of the change — back in the ‘80s with women going home much more quickly after delivery and the same is true for surgery, etc. It turns out most patients can do as well — if not better — at home with adequate family and professional support.
As for the uninsured, since 1901 our mission has been to care for all individuals, regardless of their ability to pay. As a nonprofit agency, we were able to provide $750,000 in care to those who are unable to pay last year. The way we use charitable funds is to step in when someone needs help and doesn’t have insurance.
For example, a middle-class man in his 30s got laid off and was unable to afford his insurance premiums. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and came to our hospice program. His family was grateful that he received services from us without any question of payment. It just goes to show you that with today’s economy and decreases in the workforce, those underinsured or uninsured can be your next-door neighbor.
