April 2015
VNAVT Joins March on Washington
VNAs of Vermont Director Peter Cobb joined the annual "March on Washington" by
the National Association for Home Care and Hospice last month. Cobb attended
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders' Tuesday morning breakfast and later that morning
met with the health care staff for all three members of Vermont's Congressional
delegation at a single meeting.
To read more....
To read the VNAVT Legislative priorities
National Caliber Educators, Close to Home
Join New England's home care professionals May 19-21, 2015 for the New England
Home Care & Hospice Conference and Trade Show in Manchester, NH. Network and
learn from national educators and leaders in home care. Keynote speakers are Dr. Amy
Boutwell, founder of Collaborative Healthcare Strategies; Dr. Helen Riess, Director of
the Empathy Program at Massachusetts General Hospital and Associate Professor of
Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School; Bob Simione, Financial Manager and President
of Simione Healthcare; and Matt Zavadsky from MedStar Mobile Healthcare in Fort
Worth, Texas.
Register today at: http://www.nehcc.com.
Franklin County Health Care Leaders Kick Off Health
Care Decision Initiatives
FCHHA Director Janet McCarthy (blue jacket), kicks off the Advanced Directives
challenge with Joe Halko of Northwest Counseling and Support Services (NCSS). Deb
Green of Northern Tier Center for Health (NOTCH) and Alan Shannon, of St. Albans
Health (far right) look on.
On Wednesday, April 1, Janet McCarthy, Executive Director of Franklin County
Home Health Agency, kicked off a "healthy competition" between five local healthcare
organizations - Franklin County Home Health Agency (FCHHA), Northwestern
Medical Center (NMC), Northwest Counseling and Support Services (NCSS), St.
Albans Health and Rehab Center, and Northern Tier Center for Health (NOTCH) - to
see which organization can get the highest percentage of advance directives signed by
their employees by the end of April. "Our five organizations have taken a leadership
role in our community to increase the awareness of the importance of advanced
directives and planning for the end of our lives," said McCarthy.
To read more........
Franklin County Home Health Agency Hosts "A Day in
the Life" for Local High School Students
In partnership with the Champlain Valley Area Health Education Center, Franklin
County Home Health Agency hosted a day of information sessions and hands-on
activities for teens from area high schools. Each of the young women in at tendance
has expressed interest in pursuing a career in healthcare. Two said they want to attend
medical school, and the other six want to train to become nurses.
"I really learned what home health is, and it seems really interesting," said one student.
"I think it is nice to go into someone's home and make their day better."
Each participant accompanied clinical staff on home visits and participated in
presentations on the Agency's services, including hospice, maternal child health, home
care nursing, rehab therapy, and administration.
One student said: "The job shadow was very educational and opened my eyes to a
career I had only thought about." The feedback from the teens was overwhelmingly
positive.
Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice Receives
$10,000 Grant from Tarrant Foundation to Purchase
New
Telemonitor
Tablets
Central Vermont Home
Health and Hospice
(CVHHH) in Berlin
was recently awarded a
grant of $10,000 by the
Vermont-based Richard
E. & Deborah L.
Tarrant Foundation to
purchase six new
telemonitor tablets for
use in patients' homes.
CVHHH's Telehealth program was established almost 10 years ago and uses a co-case
management model, in which home visiting RNs work closely with CVHHH's fulltime telehealth coordinator to share information regarding changes in a patient's
condition. Care is coordinated with the patient's physician as needed.
Key Facts About the Program:
 214 patients (all payers) were monitored over the 6-month period July 1 to
December 31, 2014.
 Only 3% (7) of patients had a hospital readmission in the first 30 days of care.
 68 Medicare Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) patients were monitored. Only
1% (1) of CHF patients were hospitalized for CHF in the first 30 days of care.
 59 Medicare COPD patients were monitored.
 No COPD patients being monitored were hospitalized in the first 30 days of
care.
Program results are benchmarked against a 16% all-cause average national
hospitalization rate for home care Medicare patients.
"Considering that CHF patients are fragile, chronic and high risk, these data, showing
significantly lower rates of hospitalization, showcase the effectiveness of our
telemonitor program. Many thanks to the Tarrant Foundation for their generous
support of this program," said Connie Colman, RN, Director of Quality Management.
The VNAVT newsletter is published monthly. VNAVT is the
professional association of Vermont's 10 home care and nonprofit
hospice providers. Send questions or comments to:
[email protected] or call 802-229-0579.
Member Agencies
Addison County Home Health and Hospice
Caledonia Home Health and Hospice
Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice
Franklin County Home Health and Hospic
Lamoille Home Health and Hospice
Manchester Health Services
Orleans Essex VNA and Hospice
VNA and Hospice of the Southwest Region
VNA of Chittenden & Grand Isle
VNH for VT and NH
Visit us at www.vnavt.com
VNAs of Vermont Calendar
VNAs of Vermont Contributors
Barry,
Dunn,
36
Bangor,
Phone 207-942-9278
www.berrydunn.com
McNeil
Pleasant
ME
Byram
Health
17
Raymond
Burlington,
MA
www.byramhealthcare.com
Cerner
2800
Kansas
www.cerner.com
Extended
Rockcreek
City,
MO
Healthwyse
60
Wilmington,
www.healthwyse.com
Concord
MA
&
Parker McKesson Medical Surgical
Street 85 Highland Street
04401 Candia, NH 03034
www.mckesson.com
Sandata
Care 26 Harbor Drive
Road Port Washington, NY 11050
01803 Phone: 800-544-7261
www.sandata.com
Care Verizon Healthcare
Parkway 825 Williston Road
64117 South Burlington, VT 05403
www.vzw.com/healthcare
St.
01887
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