College of Nursing CE Program partners to provide "Coordinating Care in a Fragmented System”

As Accountable Care Organizations Proliferate,

Massachusetts Hospital Association – The Geneia Institute to Train Care Coordinators to Help ACOs Succeed

BOSTON, MA – The Massachusetts Hospital Association (MHA), The Geneia Institute and Villanova University College of Nursing jointly announce an innovative, 10-week program to train nurses and social workers to become effective care coordinators within accountable care organizations.

“As a leader in the movement to improve healthcare quality and cost, Massachusetts has one of the highest concentrations of accountable care organizations in the country. We know that care coordinators – clinicians who work closely with patients and their healthcare team to close gaps in care -- are one of the critical success factors for ACOs, and that’s why the Massachusetts Hospital Association is leading the way by offering this ground-breaking program,” said Lynn Nicholas, MHA’s President & CEO.

MHA’s unique 10-week program, “Coordinating Care in a Fragmented System,” will provide clinicians with expert training and the skills to help their organizations move successfully towards accountable care. The program, which begins on September 24^th and combines in-person and online learning, will teach clinicians how to effectively manage populations to improve health outcomes and patient satisfaction, while also reducing costs.

The Geneia Institute and Villanova University College of Nursing will co-provide the program. The Geneia Institute is a flagship program of Geneia, a national healthcare innovations company specializing in the development and deployment of clinical, technical and analytic solutions for healthcare. Villanova University is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center Commission on Accreditation.

“Nationally, we have seen the number of accountable care organizations double to nearly 500 in the past year,” said Heather Lavoie, President of Geneia. “That’s why The Geneia Institute created a state-of-the-art course to train care coordinators to succeed in all types of accountable care settings. We’re proud to partner with MHA to offer this course first to those clinicians at the leading edge of the efforts to improve healthcare quality and cost.”

The 10-week program builds upon the success of two day-long population management programs that MHA and The Geneia Institute provided to healthcare professionals this summer. One participant, a case management manager at a major health system, said “The future is here. This program is what we need to do for our patients now in order to provide the best care.”

Coordinating Care in a Fragmented System

A 10-Week Population Health Management Program Begins September 24^th

The healthcare industry is changing, and new models of care delivery are emerging as best practices in increasing patient satisfaction, improving health outcomes, and controlling costs. These new models are utilizing population health management methodologies to stratify and manage risk for patient populations. Population health management requires a different set of clinical skills than traditional acute care. The knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in a population health management framework of care delivery will be developed through the content, activities, and case studies of this course, Coordinating Care in a Fragmented System, scheduled to begin Tuesday, September 24^th, 2013.

The core course content for Coordinating Care in a Fragmented System includes:

Financial Considerations of Care Delivery
Population Health Management Concepts
Principles to Educate Patients including Adult Learning Principles, Health Literacy, Cultural Competencies
Patient Engagement through Health Coaching and Motivational Interviewing
Managing High-Risk Populations, Gaps in Care, Transitions of Care

The intention of the program is, upon completion, to have prepared registered nurses and social workers to successfully function within the new models of care delivery emerging in the healthcare industry. Each session aims at imparting the knowledge and building the abilities necessary to work within the new care delivery setting.

The course opens with an introduction to the financial consideration of care delivery and to the core concepts of population health management. The following weeks delve into the competencies needed to appropriately engage patients in their care and educate for understanding, adherence, and input to the care plan.

After an initial introduction to population health management and the basic skills needed for successful patient engagement, stratification of risk, and patient education, instruction and course activities will focus on the development of three specific skill sets: the management of high risk populations, the management of chronic conditions, and transitional care support.

The focus on these three skills is based on the real-world experience of the Geneia team of care management nurses, and was validated through the collaboration of The Geneia Institute and Villanova University College of Nursing as fundamental to delivering care in a population health management framework. Case studies will be utilized in the subsequent weeks to allow for the practice of the techniques discussed within the lectures.

The final week will outline what the future will bring for the healthcare industry, particularly as it pertains to population health management, and what contributions the participants of this program will bring into practice as models continue to change and evolve.

Ultimately, the course structure and topics reflect the industry demand for registered nurses and social workers with the skill sets to help manage patient panels to improve health and to narrow gaps in care.

Program participants can earn up to 20 contact hours. Villanova University College of Nursing is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center Commission on Accreditation.