For patients recovering from a recent hospitalization, trying to better manage a chronic disease or navigating a complex medical condition, VHAN’s Care Management program offers personalized care that goes beyond simply addressing physical symptoms. VHAN’s team of care navigators consider their mental, emotional and psychosocial needs as well, improving the patient experience and producing more positive outcomes. Read the full article for a real-world example of how VHAN Care Navigators go above and beyond to help patients.

VHAN’s Care Management team often works with patients in the Diabetes Outreach Program to assist them in overcoming health obstacles that can stand in the way of positive outcomes. This was the case with a recent patient who was unable to complete the program due to difficulty having his labs drawn. VHAN Patient Service Specialist Lisa Fatzinger stepped in to offer direct communication and additional support, eventually helping him to complete the program successfully.

To support patients with diabetes, Vanderbilt Primary Care began offering diabetes classes in 2020. After a short stint of in-person classes, COVID-19 caused the organization to move to a virtual environment, and attendance grew exponentially. The free, one-hour courses are held four times per month on Zoom, and they are available to all Vanderbilt Primary Care patients through a provider or nurse referral. Learn more about how Vanderbilt successfully launched this program—and how other practices could possibly do the same.

VHAN Care Management team members serve as advocates for patients in many aspects of their health care journey. A success story profiling Care Navigator Martha Merry, BS, RN, and a patient with cancer illustrates the team’s impact.

In Tennessee, 13.8%, or more than 710,000 adults, have been diagnosed with diabetes. Don’t miss this list of resources that health care professionals can use to help their patients manage this chronic disease.

Diabetes and its associated complications such as dialysis and heart disease not only negatively impact patients’ lives, but they are also costly. Here’s a story of how a VHAN diabetes program helped one patient better manage her condition.

Working directly with our member hospital systems and practices, VHAN aims to improve the transition process and improve continuity of care, thus reducing adverse events and readmissions. 

VHAN has aggregated best practices for preventive screenings into a quick reference guide that focuses on practical ways to improve workflows and patient engagement to increase breast, colorectal and cervical cancer screenings.

Levering their patient data and vendor partnerships, Aetna MA and Cigna MA are offering colon cancer screening FIT test kits to eligible patients at no additional cost to patients or providers.