BRMC's VNA Earns Best Practices Award

By George Nianiatus
Senior writer/media manager
Marketing and Communications Department
Upper Allegheny Health System

Bradford Regional Medical Center’s (BRMC’s) McKean County Visiting Nurses Association (VNA) & Hospice has been named by the Pennsylvania Homecare Association as the winner of its first-ever 2010 Best Practices in Homecare and Hospice Award.

A committee of state officials and healthcare experts selected McKean County VNA & Hospice for its initiatives to reduce avoidable hospitalizations. The VNA received the distinction during an awards ceremony attended by more than 200 peers and state officials at the PHA annual conference in Harrisburg on May 13, 2010. The McKean County VNA is the home health organization operated by BRMC. The Pennsylvania Homecare Association (PHA) represents home health, hospice and personal care providers across the state.

“This Best Practice award for the McKean County VNA is very significant because it represents collaborative efforts among 10 departments at BRMC to develop an evidence-based standard of care for heart failure patients,” said Kathy Pascarella, Director of the VNA. “It demonstrates our commitment to quality patient care and successful outcomes across BRMC’s continuum of care.”

The VNA and BRMC developed and distributed a Healthy Heart patient education booklet and calendar with treatment guidelines and measures to avoid unnecessary readmissions. As a result, the number of VNA patients who had to be readmitted to the hospital fell from 28 percent to 19 percent. This outcome is only achieved by the top 20 percent of home health agencies nationwide.

“The Best Practices award program promotes the exchange of ideas and presents in-home care providers with a unique opportunity to learn from each other,” said Vicki Hoak, Executive Director of PHA. “Sharing insights and creative solutions to all agencies promotes improvements to quality care for 750,000 people who receive in-home care in Pennsylvania each year,” she said.

“A Healthy Heart Book and calendar is now utilized to establish healthy heart behaviors and promote patient self-management,” said Mrs. Pascarella. “For VNA home care patients, telehealth monitoring is also utilized in addition to the healthy heart tools so early identification of negative vital signs that require intervention can occur.”

Telehealth, also known as telemedicine, is the provision of healthcare, health information, and health education across a distance, using telecommunications technology and specially adapted equipment. It allows nurses and healthcare specialists to assess, diagnose and treat patients without requiring both individuals to be physically in the same location.

For ambulatory patients, “There also is a telehealth unit in each senior center in McKean County that can be utilized to monitor key vital signs,” Mrs. Pascarella said, noting, “All of these measures will enable patients to implement healthy heart behaviors that can prevent avoidable hospitalizations and avoidable emergency room visits.”

“Receiving this first-ever award from the Pennsylvania Healthcare Association demonstrates the wonderful quality and comprehensive care our VNA program provides to in-home patients in our region,” said David Kobis, BRMC’s Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

“Our goal to continually deliver the best in-home care possible is reinforced by receiving this prestigious state award. We’re also proud of our staff for the initiative they’ve taken to reduce patients’ rehospitalizations, show measurable improvement with newly adopted procedures and prove the ability to sustain long-term results,” said Deborah Price, BRMC’s Vice President of Patient Care Services.

The VNA at 20 School St. in Bradford is McKean County’s longest operating home health agency, first established in 1912. The VNA offers specialized nursing care, therapy services, medical support and technological assistance services to patients. Additionally, the agency provides cancer and diabetic care, infusion therapies, maternal/child health care, medical and surgical follow-up, medication management, nutritional care, ostomy care, pain management, telemedicine monitoring, wound care and hospice services.

For more information about VNA, call 362-7466 or go online at www.brmc.com.

Bradford Regional Medical Center and Olean General Hospital are members of Upper Allegheny Health System.

Pictured at the awards presentation in Harrisburg are (from left): Christine Kocjancic, Quality Improvement Coordinator for Bradford Regional Medical Center’s McKean County VNA & Hospice; Ann Newcombe, the hospital’s Coordinator of Patient Safety/Nursing Quality; Stacy Mitchell, Deputy Secretary for Quality Assurance in the Pennsylvania Department of Health; and Ashley Wenner, a secretary at the VNA.
Photo courtesy of BRMC