Minutes from Tuesday, July 8, 2014 Meeting

Present: Bill Hinrichs (Alzheimer’s Association NENY), Jess Froehlich (Eddy Daybreak ADS), Mary Rickard (Saratoga County OFA), Kathy Wallace (SAIL), Rick Amico (Community Hospice), Denise DiNoto (Consumer Directed Choices), Renee Birnbaum (Home Helpers), Maria Geizer (Home Instead Senior Care).

Introduction: Mary Rickard welcomes all attendees. The next meeting will be held Tuesday August 12^th at St. Edward the Confessor in Clifton Park. The presenter will be Colleen Sheehan, BS, CPRP of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, Inc. She will be discussing Person-Centered Planning, to promote recovery and community inclusion.

Attendees introduced themselves.

Today’s Topics and Presenters: Caitlin St. George, Community Liaison, The Eddy VNA and Katiria Romero, Account Manager of VNSNY CHOICE Health Plans. Caitlin gave an overview of current Eddy programs that may benefit our own clients and the community, and Katiria discussed VNSNY CHOICE Managed Long Term Care and its relationship to The Eddy.

Eddy Programs and Services:

Personal Emergency Response Systems – Eddy Health Alert (with GPS technology)/ Eddy Lifeline.  While Lifeline can’t prevent falls, it can seriously reduce the amount of “lie time” a person who has fallen experiences.  GPS technology is typically needed for someone who is physically able to leave their home, and can be used for a variety of emergencies that may occur – a break-in, vehicle breakdown, fire, etc…

Philips Medication Dispenser (PMD) – monitored automatic medication dispensing.

Nursing Services – The Eddy Visiting Nurses is a certified agency for Medicaid/Medicare to pay for home services, such as nursing services, home health aides, physical therapists, and diabetes and cardiopulmonary nurse educators, to name a few. In order to qualify for these kinds of services paid for by Medicaid/Medicare, a person must be homebound – meaning it is a taxing effort for the person to leave the home for these services.

Palliative Care Program – This program is for people who have a terminal diagnosis, but are also still pursuing treatment (the difference between this and Hospice). This program often is a bridge to hospice services for folks, and The Eddy has both of these programs.

Visiting Physicians Program – Consists of two physicians and two nurse practitioners. Again, a person must be considered homebound to qualify for this service. The many benefits to this program are that the medical staff can really see how a person is living, and this provokes honest discussion between patient and staff about one’s health.

The Eddy also provides a licensed agency for people who are not homebound, but need extra support at home in order to remain there. This program provides nurses and aides and is private pay.

Visiting Nurse Service of New York CHOICE Managed Long Term Care (MLTC) is a health plan specifically for people with complex needs, but who want to remain at home, the goal of all of the programs mentioned above. VNSNY has partnered with The Eddy to provide managed long term care to people in the Capital Region with the complex health issues mentioned above.

VNSNY started out in the 1800s as a home care agency, and was founded by one of the first home care nurses in the country. Because of their commitment to home care and aging in place, The Eddy chose VNSNY to oversee the financial aspect of their services.

MLTC is designed to keep people at home by offering personalized care plans that are agreed upon by the person’s MD and any other providers involved in his/her care. Patients can receive the services they need; some examples are care coordination and case management, med management, transportation and scheduling of appointments, personal care, social work, and rehab therapies like PT or speech therapy.

To address any questions about what VNSNY CHOICE can provide, or how one may enroll, you may call Katiria Romero, Account Manager, at 646-630-0363 or email her at katiria.romero@vnsny.org

To learn more about The Eddy Visiting Nurse Association, please call 518-274-620.

Respectfully submitted,

Maria Geizer

Home Instead Senior Care