PHC leaders are pleased to report that Home Care Liaisons will now accept referrals for all service lines - VNA, Hospice, Private Care and LifeLine. This integration began on July 1st, and will continue through the remainder of FY10. The change provides case managers with an added level of service capability in managing referrals and expediting discharges from the acute setting. It is also consistent with the service philosophy represented by PHC's new brand, Partners Healthcare at Home, soon to be unveiled in October.
The benefit to acute care case managers will be significant, both in improved process efficiency and time savings. PHC liaisons will be able to answer geographic coverage and availability questions for any of the PHC service lines; they will also be able to manage real-time changes in the discharge plan instead of referring to a different PHC liaison. Pamela Fine, newly appointed VP for Sales and Referral Relations for PHC, answered some pertinent questions about the new process.
Will the referral process be the same?
The basic aspects of the process are the same. CCRNs/CMs will notify the PHC team via the Partners paging system as they do now, and our Liaisons will assess patients for appropriateness, communicate expectations to patients and family members, and utilize 4Next to write and transmit the referral to the appropriate service line(s). Hospice referrals can be quite complex and time intensive, requiring additional expertise on the part of the liaison. To address this reality we are providing training while maintaining real-time access to "service line" experts for our liaison teams.
Are there additional benefits to CMs?
Improved efficiency and time savings. Our liaisons will be able to answer geographic coverage and availability questions for any of our service lines, i.e. f there is a change in discharge plan from home care to hospice, if private care services are necessary to ensure the safety of the patient at home, or a son/daughter wants to install Partners Lifeline for their mom . The CCRN/CM will not need to "call a different number", "page a different liaison" or "hunt" for a particular piece of literature to arrange services or answer questions from a patient or family member. They will simply confer with their PHC Liaison, who will be able to facilitate all these services for them.
Do our competitors do this?
Many competitors who have VNA, hospice, and/or private care divisions do but not in the same way we are envisioning. It is our intent to give our CCRNs/CMs one primary on-site resource as their contact and facilitator for home based post-acute services, regardless of the care needed by the patient.
Why is this a good change?
In concert with a cornerstone of PHC's philosophy, "keep the patient at the center of all we do"; this integration helps to streamline the transition of care for patients, to the right place, at the right time; an objective shared by all the Care Coordinators, and Case Managers we work with each day.
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