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Choosing the best care When it comes to arranging for home health care, you need to feel confident about the organization and individuals providing services.
All home health agencies were not created equal. What differentiates one agency from another is commitment—from quality care, to responding to the needs of patients and other providers, to adding new services and dealing with unusual circumstances, to hiring only the best, most skilled, and caring staff and managing both costs and paperwork.
Natick VNA has provided home care and community-based services since 1899. We are a not-for-profit, Medicare/Medicaid-certified, CHAP-accredited home health agency with a strong tradition of commitment to the communities we serve.
Seven qualities distinguish us from other home health care providers. Quality Over the past six years we have received the Pinnacle Award five times. The Visiting Nurse Associations of New England awards it to VNAs with the highest level of patient satisfaction, based on the results of a standardized survey.
Responsiveness Your home care begins within 24 hours of referral; a nurse is available to our patients 24 hours a day, 365 days a year; our office is staffed to personally handle calls and referrals from 8:00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M. Monday through Friday and until 3:00 P.M. on weekends and holidays.
Level of Certification & Accreditation We have received two unconditional three-year accreditations from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) and have consistently been granted three-year certification by the federal and state governments, for Medicare-Medicaid, based on our history of deficiency-free re-certification surveys. The nationally based Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP) recently awarded us a three-year accreditation with commendation. Our clinicians are among the best. Several have certification in specialized care, including wound, ostomy, continence, and skin care as well as pediatric home care.
Innovation We were the first home health agency in Massachusetts to use laptop computers to record patient clinical information. As a result we have saved time, paper, and storage space, and have improved our ability to communicate more efficiently with doctors, labs, and other health team members. Three years ago, we adopted the first totally web-based integrated clinical-financial documentation, billing, and reporting system in the country. Further, in fall 2005, we began using a home telehealth system, Honeywell HomMed, which allows us to monitor patients’ weight, vital signs, and general health status daily; this system is helping us to decrease emergent care and hospitalization for our patients and is improving their recovery and health maintenance at home.
Specialized Programs Natick VNA has developed special clinical programs to care more effectively for patients experiencing Alzheimer’s disease, mental health problems, rehabilitation therapy needs, wound, ostomy, continence, skin care issues, and for new mothers leaving the hospital after delivery. We are also developing programs for patients with diabetes, cardiovascular/cardiopulmonary problems, and chronic pain.
Cost-effectiveness We work diligently to keep administrative overhead low and to provide the most comprehensive, efficient care possible. Our use of home telemonitoring is one method of providing high quality patient care that can help to prevent more costly health care intervention, such as the use of hospital emergency rooms or even inpatient care.
Community focus The Natick VNA is your “hometown VNA.” We not only care for patients in their homes, but we also offer a variety of community health education programs to Natick and its surrounding towns. Our Board of Trustees and staff live in the communities that we serve; they are committed to providing care and service that is locally based, responsive, and reliable. We seek and receive funding from our communities and other sources to enable us to care for patients in financial need. We do not deny or limit care to those without insurance or other funds.
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