NASSAU HEALTH CARE CORPORATION CONVENES CONFERENCE TO SHARE PLANS FOR PROVIDING ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE FOR THE UNDERSERVED, REACHING OUT TO RESIDENTS IN NHCC’S PRIMARY CATCHMENT AREA IN A MASSIVE OUTREACH CAMPAIGN TO REMOVE BARRIERS AND PROVIDE A MEDICAL HOME TO ALL WHO REGISTER
May 29, 2008
Contact:
Shelley Lotenberg
(516) 572-6055
shelley@numc.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
NASSAU HEALTH CARE CORPORATION CONVENES CONFERENCE TO SHARE PLANS FOR PROVIDING ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE FOR THE UNDERSERVED, REACHING OUT TO RESIDENTS IN NHCC’S PRIMARY CATCHMENT AREA IN A MASSIVE OUTREACH CAMPAIGN TO REMOVE BARRIERS AND PROVIDE A MEDICAL HOME TO ALL WHO REGISTER
Major discussion will center on NHCC’s plans for NuCare, a program to provide medical homes for the underserved, deeply discounted prescription medications, expanded public insurance for children, new community health centers, primary, specialty and hospital care as well as mental health and substance abuse care with focus on disease management rather than episodic care
East Meadow, NY….Arthur A. Gianelli, President/CEO of the Nassau Health Care Corporation convened a conference of a number of organizations, including the North Shore LIJ Health System, the Nassau County Health and Human Services, the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island, the NHCC Institute for Healthcare Disparities, the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council, Planned Parenthood and the Adelphi University Vital Signs Project to share plans for providing access to healthcare for the uninsured and underserved.
“We embrace our mission as the region’s safety-net hospital and are undertaking a massive outreach campaign to remove barriers to access to health care for the uninsured and underserved population and providing a medical home to all who register. Focusing on disease management and preventive care are attainable objectives from a public health perspective and the right thing to do,” stated Mr. Gianelli.” “We also plan on increasing the enrollment of children in Child Health Plus, partnering with HealthFirst to improve outreach efforts to get thousands of additional children enrolled and providing them and their parents with disease management and preventive care rather than episodic care.”
At the conference, speakers will discuss enrolling the uninsured, charity care and NHCC’s plans for NuCare, a program to provide medical homes for the underserved, deeply discounted prescription medication, the new Community Health Centers, primary, specialty and hospital care as well as mental health and substance abuse care with a focus on disease management rather than episodic care.
Over the age of 19, there are 120,900 uninsured adults, with even more underinsured. There are 26,300 uninsured children ages 19 and under in Nassau County with 68% presently eligible for public insurance programs such as Child Health Plus/Medicaid.
In developing the model for the medical home for Nassau’s uninsured and underinsured, a planning period will be necessary according to Steven Walerstein, MD, Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs and Medical Director: “We need to gain a better understanding of the size and nature of the underinsured and uninsured populations in order to develop an aggressive community based outreach program and to develop a community based network of providers.
Over the past two years, the NHCC has responded to its mission by establishing a number of initiatives. The most prominent, to this moment is the Institute for Healthcare Disparities which has been generously funded through a five year grant from Nassau County. The institute is designed to assist the Corporation in making tangible improvements in the health outcomes of the County’s minority populations by undertaking community outreach, facilitating health education, connecting communities of need to the Corporation’s clinicians, and conducting translational research to identify interventions which can positively impact the County’s minority populations.
Additionally, the Corporation has recently launched special projects that address the needs of the region’s most needy:
Colorectal, Beast and Cervical Cancer Screening Programs
The Nassau County Burn Center
The Center of Hypertension, Diabetes and Vascular Diseases
The Nassau County Center of Excellence Sexual Assault Program
The Center for Healthy Aging and
The NuCare Project designed to provide a medical home and health care access for thousands of uninsured families and individuals.
These represent a few of the most notable efforts to provide a medical home for all who register that will include:
Primary care at The Nassau University medical Center and its Community Health Centers.
Pharmaceuticals – NHCC is in the process of establishing its Community Health Centers as Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). Among the many benefits connected with this certification is the ability of the Medical Center to establish a federal 340B pharmaceutical program which makes all prescription drugs available to Center patients and NuCare members at 60 percent plus discount. NHCC will also contract with a 340B pharmacy to serve the patients that use the clinics at NUMC.
Specialty care – Participation in the NuCare gives participants access to specialty care in the “Specialty care network” that will include NUMC, community based agencies and other major regional health care providers.
Hospital Care – Participants will have access to NUMC’s Tertiary care providers.
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Participants needing mental health or substances abuse services can receive these for free or reduced costs from NHCC and community based partner agencies.
Disease Management — NuCare providers refer patients with diabetes, hypertension or other vascular diseases to NUMC’s Center for Hypertension, Diabetes and Vascular Disease. Special cancer screening and family planning programs are also available for referral. Specialty referrals will be made to NuCare medical partners.
Patient follow up– NuCare participants using emergency department or inpatient services will be contacted immediately following the visit to review the need for the visit, identify factors that precipitated the need for the visit, ensure need to follow up.
Patient education– NuCare members will be provided with easy to reach self care reference guides; regular newsletters and a 24 hour bilingual nurse call in.
The following key leadership team members will be instrumental in moving the project forward: Mitchell Rubin, MD, Vice President of Ambulatory Care and Community Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Community Medicine, Aloysius Cuyjet, MD, Chairman of the Department of Medicine and VP for Minority Health Initiatives, and Jack O’Connell, Special Advisor to the CEO and former CEO of the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island.
“In changing the paradigm, we propose to redirect health care access by assigning individuals to a primary care doctor, assuring a NuCare card and making an appointment to receive care at either one of the NUMC care centers or the appropriate Community Health Center, thereby fulfilling our commitment to provide quality health care to the residents of Nassau County, and greater health care access to Nassau’s vulnerable populations,” concluded Mr. Gianelli.