Vanguard I Worked With Metrowest Medical Center,

Vanguard

I worked with MetroWest Medical Center, which is owned by Vanguard Health Systems. For this company, I developed a Transformation Plan that would improve the company's documentation and information systems. The company is a medium-sized health services provider that has operations in five different states, but there is a degree of autonomy in the different options. Transformation, however, is a department that overarches the organization.

The project was focused on the transformation of the company according to recent changes in the legislative environment. In particular, I was concerned with the updates to the Primary Care Payment Reform Initiative. Function updates for this plan would be posted regularly on a Mass Health website, and I would monitor this site for these updates, and then report them to senior management. The reform contained a number of elements for which the company had to apply and it was my role to put together these applications and submit them to management.

Another aspect of my role was to design a patient experience survey. The objective of this survey was to comply with Patient-Centered Medical Home recommendations and gather information to see where our service standards sit. I used a combination of multiple-choice and open-ended questions to gather the information. At this point, the surveys have been completed and returned, and are being processed. I also attended regular meetings on the plans and updates for the coming week.

I worked on a project called the Athena program as well, which gathers and organizes patient data into useful information. I would be able to generate reports on things like patient data that could be used in managerial decision-making, and to measure whether or not the staff members were using electronic health records as they were supposed to be. The impetus behind this effort is that Massachusetts was awarded a state innovation models initiative grant as part of the Affordable Care Act. We have to prove that we are patient-centered, something that the customer surveys and information processing will accomplish.

Aim of the Project

Thus, the aims of the project were to help the company transform its systems to meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. Proving that the facility is patient-centered is a burden, but one that MetroWest needs to meet through the product of documentation that shows we understand our patients and their outcomes and are working towards improving those outcome by a variety of measures.

Methodology

A variety of techniques were utilized to assist in this project. The first step was information gathering. The Mass Health website posted regular updates with respect to the duties and responsibilities of health care providers in the state as the result of the new legislation, which is still being interpreted. I would take this information to my superiors and we would work on a plan to ensure that the company would be able to produce the needed documentation. That was my job. I designed the surveys, using a variety of survey techniques. As noted, there were both multiple choice questions for basic answers, but also there were open-ended questions for more sophisticated answers. I also worked on a systematic way of interpreting the responses to the open-ended questions. I also worked in the information systems, using my analytical skills to make the Athena project more effective for the company. Athena Health can be best described as a program practice management tool that focuses on safety standards. Part of the plan was to implement standards of using electronic health records and part was finding ways to measure the outputs of safety standard implementations. As of now, the project is still ongoing. I feel that I was able to make a strong contribution to the project and some of my work will be seen in the final outcome. Results from my survey will be used, and the document work I did will definitely contribute to how MetroWest approaches implementation.