The VHAN Care Management team, which includes pharmacists, social workers, nurses and other clinical experts, provides enhanced, integrated support for patients with complex and/or chronic medical needs. When these patients or their family members call to speak with their care coordinator, they are greeted by one of the team’s patient service specialists (PSS): Monea Buchanan or Lisa Fatzinger.
Patients receive a warm welcome to the care management team courtesy of this power duo. Monea and Lisa set the initial tone and build a friendly foundation with the patients, fostering relationships built on trust and consistent communication. Monea and Lisa help the patients feel more engaged with their care and show them that their health and overall satisfaction are the team’s top priorities.
Once a PSS has a patient on the line, she uses the team’s new tailor-made platform, RoundingWell, to verify the patient's data. Then, she works to ensure the assigned care coordinator has all the necessary details to properly address the patient’s questions and move forward on the next steps for treatment.
“We want the care coordinator to feel confident and prepared when connecting with the patient,” Lisa said. “Accuracy is so important. We strive to obtain the right information while also making sure the patient knows that we are listening to them.”
Monea and Lisa also schedule Medicare Annual Wellness Visits (AWV) for West Tennessee Healthcare and Northcrest Medical Center. This has been an especially important responsibility during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Medicare patient population trends older, so many of them are unsure of what a Medicare AWV is and whether it’s even safe for them to go to a doctor’s office due to COVID,” said Monea. “I make it a point to talk them through their concerns, explain how a Medicare AWV differs from a regular annual wellness visit and encourage them to go, stressing the different safety precautions in place and how important this visit is.”
Lisa and Monea are dedicated to helping solve a patient’s barriers to health, and often take on additional responsibilities such as relaying information to a provider about a patient referral to physical therapy, or scheduling both a husband and wife for Medicare AWVs when only one patient was required.
“The patient service specialists strengthen the entire team by streamlining the connection between the patient and the provider, which ultimately has a positive impact on patient care,” said Nikki York, assistant director for the VHAN Care Management team.
