Berkshire Health Systems’ Post

In a recent webinar hosted by WTW, industry leaders discussed the risks and opportunities for senior living to delve into the world of managed care. Amy Kaszak, EVP of Strategic Initiatives, speaks on the important partnership between senior living and value-based care. “When you start talking about models that are focused not just on services provided, but more focused on outcomes that are delivered, senior living absolutely is a critical part of that model for residents who live in your communities,” Kaszak said. “You impact all of the factors that drive outcomes.” Click here to read the full article published by McKnight's Senior Living. #seniorliving #valuebasedcare #seniorhealth

Here's how 30 health systems' labor costs are tracking based on the results of their most recent financial documents. #laborcosts #wages #finance #salary #healthsystem #healthcare

Our #1 priority is: Ensuring residents are happy and well cared for.  Achieving this requires more than just good intentions - it requires the right tools and proactive approaches. When care providers at senior living communities are well-equipped, they're able to address the needs of residents efficiently and effectively. Our Eldermark systems continuously collect high-integrity data, including electronic medical records and medication administration information to make this happen.  This data helps identify changes in residents' conditions early on, allowing for timely interventions and personalized care plans. Leading to an environment where residents feel comfortable and valued with their access to timely and high-quality care.   When residents are satisfied, their well-being improves.  This satisfaction extends beyond individual happiness, it also uplifts the entire community’s atmosphere.  In addition, our features equip these facilities to help keep families connected and informed about their loved one’s care. Happy residents and their satisfied families contribute significantly to the success and smooth operation of the facilities we work with. By making sure care workers are well-equipped and proactive, we continue to raise the standard of care and ensure our senior living facilities are places where residents thrive.

The NHS Integrated care initiatives, the desire to deal with complexity to reduce costs and manage demand is about what we do and how we do it. In the drive to do this, it is all too easy to attempt to try and fix the problems we see. We try and change the things we do. We increase efficiency. Andy Wilkins here demonstrates how the power of understanding and applying systemic perspectives can actually help us to achieve true integrated working. Integrated working does not mean simply working together closer, or better. It means that we need to re-examine what the barriers are that cause us to work in silos. The roles that are defined that cause us to remain in our narrow disciplines. The process design that keeps us apart. The process standardisation that prevents us from dealing with the variety inherent in the issues we need to help people with. The management processes that divide us. Ultimately it challenges us to examine the mechanistic paradigm that we apply to our vision of what a health service should be. #ICS #systemsthinking

How can senior care facilities provide quality care while building a sustainable business? John Darby, CEO of Mercy House Living Centers, shares his journey from observing subpar care as a teenager to revolutionizing assisted living with a boutique model in Central Texas. John traces his path from working with a trade association to acquiring and growing Mercy House from one facility to eight, driven by his commitment to providing the best possible care for seniors in a home-like environment. John's innovative approach to assisted living highlights his commitment to personalized care, creative staffing solutions, and creating a nurturing environment for both residents and staff. He discusses the advantages of smaller facilities, including better staff-to-resident ratios and more individualized attention. John candidly discusses overcoming personal and professional challenges, including a harrowing experience with a difficult resident that pushed him to his limits, and the financial struggles of rapid expansion during changing economic conditions. As an industry veteran, John offers valuable insights on scaling senior care businesses while maintaining high standards of care and adapting to changing regulations and financial pressures. He shares his creative approaches to staff retention, including fostering a culture of care and finding unique ways to show appreciation. John shares his perspective on the evolving senior care industry landscape, addressing issues of staffing, technology integration, and the ongoing challenge of balancing quality care with business sustainability. He also discusses his role in educating others in the industry through masterclasses. Mentors that inspired John: 💡His uncle with MS, whose experience in a Medicaid nursing home inspired John's desire to improve senior care 💡Successful business owners he met through Torch, the trade association for boutique assisted living facilities, who showed him the potential of the small-scale care model 💡His early staff members, who taught him the day-to-day operations of running an assisted living facility 💡Various industry experts and peers, he's connected through associations and networking, providing valuable insights and best practices Don't miss this engaging discussion with a care provider who's revolutionizing assisted living while maintaining a focus on quality care and business sustainability. #seniorcareprovider #seniorcare #MercyHouse #TheInspiredStoriesPodcast

The Nation's Health's (A publication of the American Public Health Association) most recent article highlights unique partnerships and programs that are helping people overcome barriers to accessing health care. United Way Worldwide’s EVP and Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, Nicole Cooper, DrPH, MPH discusses United Way’s role in filling transportation gaps through Ride United, a program in collaboration with Lyft to provide those in need with transportation to medical appointments, access to healthy food, and more. “Second to housing and utilities needs, transportation is one of the top unmet needs for 211 clients nationwide, and that’s very concerning to us. We know that getting to and from various places where you access critical services is not only connected to, but is really vital to, your social and economic well-being.” says Dr. Cooper. Read More: https://lnkd.in/eDKbTZSk

What exactly is no cost care for 11m members of Premise Health and 24m more across the enlightened self funded landscape? Zero ❌premiums ❌deductibles ❌copays ❌coinsurance These are terms 95% can’t explain anyway last survey I saw. Eliminates macro issues 🔸60% skipping or delaying care needed https://lnkd.in/gAGE-K_m 🔸most adults carry medical debt https://lnkd.in/gdYuWnVG 🔸And 57.6% of those had insurance at work or through Obamacare https://lnkd.in/gCSNngdU 🔸Also gone are delays and denials of care,tests and medications even though they worked before. Algorithms designed to be brutally efficient but are cruel and random are over. Big systems are blind to human suffering unless it’s a shareholder or executive bonus suffering. 🔸on site and near site direct care are digital first so telehealth allows more efficiency between caregivers in #primarycare #behavioralhealth #mskrehab and filling #prescriptions. We never had a doc shortage. Just an efficiency problem. In this model everyone wins. ▪️Members ▪️Employers ▪️Shareholders ▪️Docs/nurses ▪️Community 🔺Outcomes 🔻Costs I’ve been living in this future 5 years now.

Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) member systems BJC HealthCare and SSM Health in St. Louis, MO and anchor collaborative West Side United in Chicago, IL have helped to bring place-based economic development and jobs to their cities. BJC HealthCare and SSM Health formed a joint venture, St. Louis Healthcare Support Services, LLC, to build and operate a regional laundry facility that will better meet the health systems’ needs and will clean 35 million pounds of the health systems’ linens each year. Initially, the joint venture will look to hire 80 community members from underserved areas for these good paying jobs with benefits. From the Fierce Healthcare article: “We often say ‘good healthcare starts with a job,’” [Tom] Hervieux, [BJC’s vice president and chief supply officer], said, “and creating economic development in the community and reinvesting with our purchasing and hiring dollars really make St. Louis and our larger community a better place to be.” “Because being that we're anchored here, and we live here, we want to continue to be good stewards and good neighbors,” said [Michael Gray, System Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer, SSM Health]. West Side United (WSU) is an anchor collaborative on Chicago's west side whose members include HAN members RUSH University, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and Ascension WSU is partnering with several organizations in Chicago, including the Steans Family Foundation, to establish Fillmore Linen Service, a local healthcare laundry linen service entity for hospitals to shift their business to and as a model to create meaningful local jobs. Fillmore Linen Service will create 175+ living-wage jobs with advancing skill levels for rising incomes. The linen laundry will handle 62 million pounds of laundry annually. As the Employer and Community Engagement lead for the Fillmore Economic Development initiative, WSU will provide strategic direction and operational oversight, providing long-term recruitment and retention planning for North Lawndale and surrounding West Side communities in partnership with Skills for Chicagoland's Future, North Lawndale Employment Network (NLEN), and others. From the Steans Family Foundation article: After a completion period, the Fillmore Center will be placed into a Community Benefit Trust by the Steans Family Foundation. This will allow local residents to share in and control profits from the building. Residents will determine how profits are invested using a digital and democratic decision-making platform. #SDoH #healthequity #AnchorMission #CommunityWealth

Stafford Beer, the famous systems thinker, noted that "the purpose of any system is what it does"—meaning if the system isn't delivering what’s needed, it’s not the people's fault but a flaw in the system's design. #Health and #care are riddled with silos and fragmentation. Specialists, services, and apps address isolated parts of our bodies, but no one looks after us as whole persons, within the context of our lives. As society ages and grows sicker, we find ourselves bouncing between disconnected specialists, clinics, and "pathways," often unaware of our histories or other care we're receiving. Integrated Care has long been discussed but rarely delivered. The "sausage machine" model of #healthcare inherited from industry keeps optimising parts, not wholes. Demand rises, resources are strained, and waiting lists grow. Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) were conceived as a new model to bring together health and care into a more holistic approach, supporting wellness, early intervention, and person-centred care for disease or infirmity. For an #ICS to be more than a rebranded silo collection, it must serve as a system-level convener of integrated support, fostering collaboration across health, social care, local councils, communities, VCS, and industry partners. How do we shift from siloed services to holistic support that centres on people’s needs and lived experiences? And how can we view this challenge through a life course lens—Start Well, Live Well, Age Well, and Die Well? Transforming silos into systems requires a shared vision for the future and a collective journey to reach it. One that recognises that it is the relationship BETWEEN the parts that creates a strong and effective system. I’ve been honoured to work with Suffolk and NE Essex (#SNEE) ICS on their breakthrough “Future Shift” programme https://shorturl.at/RCKBM. This unique 3 Horizons programme has united leaders across the ICS to reimagine a future holistic SNEE system and the journey to get there, built on a shared identity and a "Can Do Health & Care" ethos. Stepping back to view the national landscape, we need more of this visionary, systems-based approach—not just additional funding to sustain outdated methods—if we are to build the future health system that we all need and deserve. For the Imperial Programme that develops these ideas further see here: https://shorturl.at/3nsa1 #nhs #socialcare #communitycare #healthpolicy

A great post, highlighting this for my ICB/ICS colleagues. This is why we need to keep talking about, practising & experimenting with system thinking approaches in #Somerset