Contract & Network Update
Adirondacks ACO Fall Provider Meeting
Date: Wednesday, October 27, 2021
Time: 5:30 p.m.
Where: Virtual Meeting
Mark your calendars now and look for an invitation with the details and a registration link in a few weeks.
Quality & Performance Update
2020 Commercial Quality Performance
The pandemic presented many challenges for providers and patients in 2020. Despite the unprecedented difficulties, your commitment to your patients and communities during this crisis was evident. ADKs’ overall commercial quality remained steady, with several measures having some significant improvement.
Many factors influenced our outcomes. In March of 2020, in-person visits came to a halt, practices quickly transformed their delivery of care to telehealth and virtual appointments that created new challenges with connectivity and technology for both the practice and patient. Your practice’s ability to leverage your team and use alternative ways to meet the patients’ needs has been captured in the data. One example is the use of Cologuard® to close colorectal cancer screening gaps.
In May and June the submission of supplemental data from our practices to the ACO directly resulted in an increase in our overall quality performance. We increased from 14 to 18 points – see the chart below.
We want to take this time to thank you and your team for your dedication to your patients and communities.
New ACO Reports in the SharePoint Portal
In July, Adirondacks ACO practices received the Opportunity Report, a new report with two focus areas. The first focus area is patients who were seen in the Emergency Department (ED) 5 or more times in a rolling 12 month period. The ED report includes Medicare, Fidelis, Empire and BSNENY members, with future reporting looking to include additional payers. This report focuses on utilization, an important part of all of our payer contracts. The opportunity is to make sure that patients are connected to the appropriate care coordination services providing them with support and assistance. We have received early feedback on this report including: providers are aware and patient is in care management; patient receiving health home services; and one practice stated that they were unaware that several patients had utilized the ED. Your feedback is very valuable to the team and will help to create reports that are useful and meaningful.
The second focus of the Opportunity Report is Non-Users, patients that had no Primary Care visit in 2020 or in 2021 based on claims data through May of 2021. The Non-User report includes Medicare, Fidelis, Empire, BSNENY, and Excellus members. The importance of this report is identifying patients that are attributed to your practice but have not been seen. The opportunity is to get them into the office for a well visit and capture the current clinical “picture” of the patient. During data abstraction for quality metrics we often hear that a patient has transferred to a different provider or they aren’t a patient at the practice. If that is the case, please note that on the report. The ACO will work with the payer to realign the patient with the appropriate provider or we can also provide you with the contact information if your practice would like to reach out to engage the patient in service.
Please give the ACO team your feedback by September 1, 2021 so that we can incorporate your changes or ideas into the next version of the report. The ACO team is also utilizing the feedback to inform payers of the barriers identified during this process.
Every ACO practice received their Gap in Care Report in the SharePoint portal at the end of July. We would appreciate the focus to be on colorectal cancer, breast cancer and cervical cancer screening at this time. Please submit records by September 1, 2021 via the SharePoint portal. The report also identifies patients that need annual screenings for blood pressure, HbA1C, chlamydia, or a well visit so it is a great resource, indicating what is due or needed if the patient has not been seen. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to Brenda Stiles, bstiles@cvph.org or Melissa Joyce, mjoyce@cvph.org.
Resources
2021 North Country Leadership Summit
AHI and Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization (FDRHPO) are pleased to invite you to participate in this year’s North Country Leadership Summit. We are officially one month away! Visit https://ahihealth.org/2021-north-country-leadership-summit/ for the full agenda and registration links! Virtual presentations will take place at 10am, 12pm, and 2pm, Monday through Friday.
Adirondack Rural Health Network – New Resources Available
ARHN, with efforts and resources contributed by Comfort Food Community and Adirondack Harvest, has created a Regional Healthy Food Guide, providing resources and information including:
- access to healthy and affordable foods and beverages;
- shopping tips, both in the grocery store and at farmers markets;
- healthy eating and food budgeting;
- local resources and assistance available; and
- addresses for farmers markets and community supported agriculture (CSAs) in the seven county ARHN region.
To accompany the guide, ARHN has also created the Accessing Fresh Foods in the Adirondacks webpage, https://ahihealth.org/arhn-food-guide/, which contains all of the resources from the guide and more. The guide is available in PDF, via the website, as well as in print.
The content of this publication is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of Health Research, Inc. (HRI), the NYS Department of Health, or the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Funding for this publication was made possible by HRI, the NYS Department of Health, and HRSA, under grant number 6H95RH001223002.
On-Demand Grant Writing Modules:
ARHN has worked to facilitate an on-demand grant writing modules training series with Diane Leonard Consulting, LLC. These modules are educational and geared to help afford partners the opportunity to obtain grant writing education in an on-demand fashion. There are five modules, with 3-5 short sections each. If you complete all the modules, you are eligible to receive a certificate of completion. For more information on these modules, please visit: https://ahihealth.org/arhn/grant-writing-resources/.
These modules are brought to you by the Adirondack Rural Health Network, with funding made possible by HRI, the NYS Department of Health, and HRSA, under Sponsor Reference Number 6H95RH001223002. The content of this publication is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of HRI, the NYS Department of Health, and HRSA.
Nurturing Parenting Classes in Person in Plattsburgh
Nurturing Parenting classes will be held Tuesdays for 10 weeks starting September 14th, 2021 through November 16th, 2021 from 10 – 12 noon at Family Connections, 194 US Oval, Plattsburgh.
Registrants will receive an email with a few forms that need to be filled out before attending the class, and a phone call to get some more information and orient them to the program. Child Care may be provided with prior approval. If you need any assistance, or have any questions, please reach out to Juliette Lynch or Jenn Wagner at 518-561-4999. For more information about Nurturing Parenting, visit their website: www.nurturingparenting.com.