| For Immediate Release | Contact: Joyce Faria Brennan |
| April 11, 2008 | 508-961-5270 |
| brennanj@southcoast.org | |
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| Paula Shiner, RN, MSN, CHCE, Director of Southcoast Home Care, Hospice & Palliative Care & Infusion Services (left), Kathy Foss, RN, CPHQ, MassPro, Performance Improvement Advisor II, and Sharon Labonte, RN, MS, COS-C, Quality Manager for Southcoast Home Care. | |
The announcement was made at a conference honoring the achievements of home health agencies participating in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) Home Health Quality Initiative (HHQI).
"When we learned of CMS's mandate to reduce readmissions, we immediately began a number of initiatives to address the issue," said Paula Shiner, RN, Director of Southcoast Home Care, Hospice & Palliative Care & Infusion Services. "Over a relatively short period of time, we were able to reduce significantly the number of patients under our care who had to be re-hospitalized and we are continuing to work on the issue with every one of our patients."
"Of the agencies that worked with Masspro on the HHQI project, a majority were able to significantly improve their selected target outcome(s). All of the agencies that volunteered to participate in this project clearly showed their commitment to improving the quality of care delivered to their patients," said Helen M. Magliozzi, RN, BSN, Manager, Home Health and Nursing Home Services for Masspro.
Facilitated locally by Masspro, the HHQI seeks to enhance the care provided to patients treated in their homes. Participating agencies are given technical assistance to develop and implement plans of action, as well as encouraged to share information and learn from their peers through interactive e-mail lists, Web-based trainings, audio conferences and workshops.
"Southcoast Home Care strives to provide the best quality patient care possible," Shiner said. "We are constantly working on new ways to improve care for our patients and keep them safely in their homes where they want to be."
Southcoast Home Care, Hospice & Palliative Care & Infusion Services, located at 200 Mill Road in Fairhaven, is a department of Southcoast Hospitals Group. Southcoast Home Care provides comprehensive, preventive and rehabilitative home health care to residents of the Greater New Bedford and Wareham areas and is a preferred HomMed Home Health Care Agency of Choice.
About Southcoast
Southcoast Health System is a community based health delivery system with multiple access points, offering an integrated continuum of health services throughout Southeastern Massachusetts and East Bay, Rhode Island. It includes the three hospitals that make up Southcoast Hospitals Group — Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford and Tobey Hospital in Wareham.
Southcoast provides advanced clinical services, such as open heart surgery, angioplasty and heart rhythm services, neurosurgery, weight loss surgery, orthopedic surgery and advanced imaging services. Southcoast is a not-for-profit charitable organization that depends on the support of the community to provide services.
More information is available onlinwww.southcoast.org.
Media Contact
Joyce Faria Brennan
Public Information Officer
Phone: 508-961-5270
Pager: 508-387-9605
Fax: 508-961-5876
brennanj@southcoast.org
