| A message from the PCAN Chairman |
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Dear Colleagues,
The Board elections are over and it appears that I will stay on as Chairman. Thank you for the vote of confidence! Other members of the Executive Committee will include Susan Jackson (Health Central), Bakari Burns (Health Care Center for the Homeless, Inc.) and Dr. Leslie Smith (Central Florida Family Health Centers, Inc.). I know you will join me in congratulating them – and thanking them for their willingness to lead.
Congratulations, too, to the Orange County Medical Clinic (OCMC) for receiving a Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation grant for a Diagnostics Coordinator. This new position will help PCAN patients get better access to the diagnostic tests they need, partly through case management and partly through negotiated discounts. The effort will begin in the Apopka area and expand throughout Orange County. Several other PCAN partners have received Blues grants in the past. In fact, the director of the Foundation cited these successful efforts as reasons to support the OCMC application.
The Blues Foundation also asked PCAN to present at their Sapphire Awards meeting last week in Orlando. The Foundation director believes that the PCAN model could and should expand throughout the state. Margaret Brennan and I recently presented to a community-collaboration in Clay County at the Foundation’s request. Clay County makes the total of 10-plus counties who have looked or are looking at our model.
Our Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) partners are taking full advantage of the new FQHC funding opportunities through the federal healthcare reform act. All three are looking at expansion and new start-up grants, and we look forward to them receiving additional monies – and expanding our medical home access points.
Finally, we want to welcome two new members to the PCAN Board. Ken Peach is the new Executive Director of the Health Council of East Central Florida and Cathy Benson is the new President of Shepherd’s Hope. We will miss their respective predecessors, Karen van Caulil and Cindi Kopelman and wish them well, but we very happy that both Ken and Cathy are on board.
Again, thanks for your continuing support of PCAN. We really do have something special here!
Regards,
Maureen Kersmarki
Chairperson |
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PCAN Accomplishments
2010 |
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· FY October 2009-September 2010- PCAN clinics served 102,316 uninsured, unduplicated patients with 133,804 visits.
· The Florida Health Care Coalition took the lead in getting a grant written for the RHIO and a Regional Extension Center; nearly $7 Million dollars was awarded to the UCF College of Medicine, $2M will support the RHIO and $5M will support work by the COM to assist primary care physicians to move to electronic medical records. The CHARTS demonstration program will go live in December.
· January 9, 2010- Kevin M. Sherin, MD, MPH, Director of Orange County Health Department was sworn in as the 102nd President of the Orange County Medical Society.
· April 7, 2010- Grace Medical Home opened its doors providing ongoing primary care needs of prevention, wellness and sick care to the low income, underserved of Central Florida.
· April 2010- Grace Medical Home and the Dental Care Access Foundation joined the PCAN Board.
· July 2010- Shepherd’s Hope opened its first Casting Clinic at the Orange County Medical Clinic in July 2010. In addition, they developed new partnerships for much needed in-kind Venus Doppler Studies and Echo Cardiograms. Shepherd’s Hope will provide over 17,000 visits in 2010.
· October 2010- Outlook Clinic for treatment of depression and anxiety disorders established at the Medical Clinic campus for the uninsured sponsored by Florida Hospital and Mental Health Association of Central Florida.
· CHC was the first in the nation to implement a fully integrated Medical-Dental E H R. In addition, they began a companywide Customer Service Program with Customer Service Standards and awards of Excellence. The new Apopka Pediatric Dental Site is opening December 2010. CHC received AAAHC (Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care) accreditation. 51,229 patients were seen this year with 165,000 visits.
· From January 2010 through October 2010, PCAN’s Outreach Navigators screened a total of 3,327 residents, generating 4,769 referrals to area clinics and social service agencies. They represented PCAN at 13 health fairs, reaching 2,635 attendees to date.
· Lakeside served over 18,000 patients in all its many programs. In addition, Lakeside received two awards that came with cash prizes, the Negley Risk Management Award ($15,000) related to reducing medication errors and the Netsmart Award ($10,000) for excellence in IT product development. Lakeside also received a SAMSHA grant for $450,000 per year for five years to better coordinate care between primary care and mental health for seriously ill mental health patients.
· Florida Hospital’s Congestive Heart Failure Clinic at the Orange County Medical Clinic provided care to 248 new patients with 2,209 visits since January 2010.
· The Orlando Health Internal Medicine Residency Clinic had 3,565 patient visits in FY 09/10.
· The Healthy Start Coalition served almost 7,000 pregnant women and 4,000 infants; 97% of the clients rated the services as "excellent" or "good"
· Health Central and Florida Hospital supported three health outreach navigators in 2010.
· The local Healing the Children program provided care and assistance to 30 children at a value of $38,621 and recruited 5 doctors to support their program.
· Staff at the Community After-Hours Clinic at Florida Hospital treated 1,279 new patients and 2,490 total uninsured patient visits.
· The Orange Primary Access Team (OPACT) referred 2,029 clients to a medical home, which is a total of $2,000,594 in potential savings in health care costs and reached over 3,000 residents from January 2009 to September 2010.
· Orange County Medical Clinic received 11,260 patient referrals (6,881 were new patients) resulting in 21,347 referrals to specialty care. In addition, the pharmacy filled prescriptions for 11,736 patients in FY 09/10.
· PCAN volunteer agencies reported the following accomplishments to the DOH for FY July 1, 2008- June 30, 2009.
Agency Value of Service
DCAF $ 541,880.50
OCHD $ 838,852.50
Shepherd’s Hope $ 2,798,489.70
SpecialCare $ 1,589,202.40
Grace Medical Home $ 185,064.52
Healing the Children $ 38,621.00 Total $ 5,992,110.60 |
| Other News |
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Give Kids a Smile 2011
by Julie Kestler, Executive Director, Dental Care Access Foundation
In honor of National Dental Health Month, the Dental Care Access Foundation has coordinated our 7th Annual Give Kids a Smile event Saturday, February 5, 2010 in partnership with Valencia Community College Dental Hygiene Program. Volunteer dentists and hygiene students treated 215 uninsured children ages 4-18 dental exams, cleanings, oral hygiene education, sealants and fluoride. This event has reached over 1100 children in our community.
The treatment portion of the event will take place for pre-registered children on Saturday, February 26, 2011 at the Orange Blossom Family Health Center. Treatment will include fillings, extractions and tooth restoration.
We owe the success of this event to the volunteers and partners including Valencia Community College Dental Hygiene School, Orange Blossom Family Health Center, Orange County Public Schools, Shepherd’s Hope, PCAN and Charles Glosson, DMD. Event supplies are provided by Henry Schein and the Dental Research Clinic. Volunteer food, bottled water and snacks are provided by Dental Care Access, Valencia Community College Student Government and Orlando Oral & Facial Surgery.
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Florida Health Care Coalition Study
by Scott Langdon, Director of Administration and Communication, Florida Health Care Coalition
The Florida Health Care Coalition has completed a 4-year study on the incremental value of adding value based pharmacy plan design to disease management. The study has been published in the January 2011 issue of Health Affairs.
We found that participation in both value-based insurance design (VBID) and disease management resulted in sustained improvement in adherence to care and evidence based care management guidelines. Use of diabetes medications in the VBID group increased 6.5 percent over three years. This coupled with improved care management resulted in a return on investment of $1.33 of direct medical costs associated with diabetes for every additional dollar spent for diabetes medications during the three-year follow-up period. The savings in the combined VBID plus disease management population were realized by both the plan sponsor and the participating patients.
The full article can be accessed via the Health Affairs website at: http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/30/1/100.abstract
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National Birth Defects Prevention Month
by Linda Sutherland, Orange County Healthy Start Coalition
January is National Birth Defects Prevention Month and January 2-8 as National Folic Acid Awareness Week. Birth defects affect approximately one in 28 newborns in Florida each year, are one of the leading causes of infant mortality and contribute significantly to long-term disabilities. From 1998 through 2007, approximately 70,000 infants in Florida were born with a major birth defect.
Each year in Florida…
- 5000 infants are born with a Congenital Heart Defect
- 750 infants are born with a Gastrointestinal Anomaly
- 300 babies are born with a Chromosomal Abnormality
- 300 infants are born with a Cleft Lip and/or Cleft Palate
Spina bifida and anencephaly are common and serious birth abnormalities known as neural tube defects (NTDs). In 2007, 71 infants in Florida were born with a NTD. To reduce this number, women who are capable of becoming pregnant should consume 400 micrograms of the B vitamin folic acid every day. Since NTDs occur early in pregnancy before many women know they are pregnant, women should take folic acid before conception and continue during pregnancy. Folic acid can be obtained from multivitamins, dietary supplements and a diet containing folate-rich and fortified foods.
Some birth defects are preventable. A woman who is pregnant or planning a pregnancy should avoid alcohol, smoking, illegal drugs and medications which can cause birth defects and pregnancy complications.
All women considering becoming pregnant should have a pre-pregnancy checkup to talk with their health care provider about maintaining a healthy diet and incorporating exercise throughout their pregnancy. Women should also discuss pre-existing medical conditions such as diabetes, obesity, seizures, a family history of birth defects or other poor pregnancy outcomes and possible exposures to hazardous chemicals.
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Take Care / Cuídate Program
by Albalis Santiago-Rivera Oliveras, Program Manager, Florida Hospital East
Florida Hospital has identified the incidence and prevalence of chronic diseases as diabetes, heart disease and asthma over the residents in East Orlando. The lack of information about the community resources available, including physicians and other health care providers, make the access even more difficult for those uninsured individuals in need of health care assistance and guidance. For these reasons, Florida Hospital promotes the Take Care / Cuídate Program, to guide and give to our patients the tools they need to take care of health issues, making referrals to primary doctors and linking the community with the resources in the area according to the patient’s needs. In partnership with Stanford University, the Take Care / Cuídate Program promotes the internationally recognized Chronic Disease Self Management Program (CDSMP) and Diabetes Self Management Program (DSMP) to train and develop the self-management skills through workshops that encourage prevention and early identification of red flags minimizing the risk of exacerbation in their chronic condition.
Tomando Control de su Salud and Living Healthy with Chronic Conditions are the workshops given as primary tool to train the patient about self management techniques and other skills to keep their chronic condition in control. Sessions are offered weekly, two and a half hours, for six weeks, in community settings such as senior centers, churches, libraries and hospitals through the East side neighborhood. All workshops are given in English or Spanish. The Program is covering subjects in ways that are culturally appropriate. Subjects include:
1) Techniques to deal with problems such as frustration, fatigue, pain and isolation
2) Appropriate exercise for maintaining and improving strength, flexibility, and endurance
3) Appropriate use of medications
4) Communicating effectively with family, friends, and health professionals
5) Healthy eating
6) Appropriate use of the health care system
7) How to evaluate new treatments
Since 2007, Cuidate Program has graduated over 2,090 participants from the Chronic Disease and Diabetes workshops. A recent study from The Center for Health Future found that the CDSMP and DSMP graduates had reduce the number of visits to the Emergency Department, admissions/readmissions and length of stay. Cuídate Program is an excellent resource for our community who face daily the reality of living with a chronic condition and seeks desperately the support and guidance from experienced health care experts. All services provided in the Take Care / Cuidate Program and the Chronic Disease Self Management workshops are provided for free to the community.
How can you refer patients to the Chronic Disease and Diabetes Self Management Program? Call our office 407.303.6495 - option 3, or visit www.cuidateflorida.com, to receive more information about the Program.
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| PCAN in the Community |
January 8, 2011
Winter Back to School Community Drive
Faith Center International Church
9 a.m.-noon
February 5, 2011
Give Kids a Smile
Valencia Community College-West Campus
7 a.m.- 3 p.m.
March 19, 2011
Commissioner Moore Russell's Annual Family Hope Celebration
Lila Mitchell Community Action Center
10 a.m.-2 p.m.
April 16, 2011
2011 Community Health and Wellness Fair
Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church/Eatonville
10 a.m.-1 p.m.
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