PFAC Newsletter - Volume 1 Issue 1 Summer 2015

PARTNERS

PATIENT & FAMILY ADVISORY COUNCILS NEWSLETTER Volume 1, Issue 1, Summer 2015 Councils …

UMMMC PFAC Children’s Medical Center Family Advisory Council (CMC-FAC) Psychiatric Patient Advisory Council (PsyPFAC) Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Family Advisory Council Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) Family Centered Care Barre Family Health Center Patient Advisory Council Plumley Village Health Services Patient Advisory Council

WELCOME!

We are excited to present to you the first issue of PARTNERS; the newsletter of Patient & Family Advisory Councils of UMass Memorial Medical Center.

The PFACs were formed to help focus our Program’s strategy and culture around a patient-and-familycenter care model in which patients and their families partner with our health care teams to achieve the best possible outcomes. We want to ensure that patient and family values are included in all of our clinical decisions.

The Councils bring together patients, family members, staff and physicians to provide guidance on matters ranging from the design and public and family space, to patient education materials distribution.

The purpose of this newsletter is to provide the specialized information to our patients and their

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Newsletter Welcome

1

Overview Adult PFAC, CMC-FAC

2

Overview PsyPFAC, NICU

3

Overview PICU, Plumley Village

4

Overview Barre PFAC

5

2015 Health Care for All PFAC

5

Conference

Family members Our newsletter will be published on a quarterly basis (spring, summer, fall & winter issues) and will be put together by members of the Patient and Family Advisory Councils.

We are certain that you will find the articles and information in this newsletter to be of interest to you – our patient, and to your family members.

On behalf of all of the PFAC members, we hope that you enjoy reading this first issue of our Newsletter!

Brief Overview of our Councils UMMC Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) Meetings are held on the 4th Tuesday of the month Time: 6-8pm Univ Campus, LRB, 2nd Floor Conf Room Overview of recent meetings: Brainstorming goals for work on for 2015 -Top “priorities" include; Meeting Structure, Recruitment Strategies, MD/RN Communication. PFAC Members looking to serve on Hospital Committees. Marketing of PFAC to Dept Heads and Increase Roundings on the floors.

Engagement and Accomplishments Did you know some health insurances will cover some of the cost of supplies that our patients need? Supplies may include gauze, tape, saline and more.

This valuable information was brought to our attention by one of our very own Patient and Family Advisory Council patient members.

Her plan of care required her to have to purchase many of these like items. She was informed by her physician to call her insurance company as they may help to pay for some of these items. She simply called the phone number on the back her insurance card to inquire.

This valuable information are being shared with patients today! You may find that this information may save you money someday.

Engagement and Accomplishments Communication: Established an email address to open up communication with families and aid in recruitment efforts..

Collaboration. Regularly communicating and collaborating with the PICU and NICU advisory councils and the PFAC for the entire medical center.

Pediatric Floor Renovations. The Council is partnering with the team that is managing the renovations to the 5th floor and pediatric units of the hospital.

Children’s Medical Center Family Advisory Council (CMC-FAC) Meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of the month Time: 6-8pm Univ Campus, Pediatric Conf Room, S5-310 Overview of recent meetings: Opportunities to Engage introduced to members; Website Redesign/Usability, Health & Wellness Newsletter, Social Media Advisory Council.

Patient Partner Program. CMC Bulletin Board will be put up on the 5 floor, Released CMC Brochure to help promote the CMC FAC and recruit new members

Brief Overview of our Councils Engagement and Accomplishments Psych Patient Advisory Council (PsyPFAC) Meetings are held on the 1st Tuesday of the month 6-8pm Univ Campus, LRB, 1st Floor Conf Room Overview of recent meetings: Pedi EMH Brochure –different from adult (in editing mode), Patient/Family Shadowing- moving forward on project (inpatient on hold), Recruitment Strategies discussion. Idea Boards in EMH, inpatient, and outpatient areas. Patient Satisfaction Survey - Group reviewed what needs to be asked to the patient and when

Tours. Formal tours were established for psychiatric and behavorial health areas such as Emergency Mental Health and one of the hospital’s inpatient units. This tour gave the PsyPFAC a more current view of the current state and allowed patients/families a look inside the caregivers’ world. The PsyPFAC also had the opportunity to engage with staff to learn about current improvement initiatives as well as progress made since our own patients/families experience in these specific areas.

Patient-Centered Safety: In the last year the council has been able to engage in, and help create solutions for, some safety issues that arose in one of the hospital’s inpatient units. The council has also been involved in helping to rewrite policies relative to safety, ensuring that decisions made have the interests of the patients in mind. They advocated for safety in a humane, respectful approach.

Patient-Centered Treatment Plan: The PsyPFAC also provided feedback in the development of an updated patient-centered treatment plan. The plan now includes questions related to one’s spiritual belief systems and needs, engagement of family, friends, clergy in patients’ inpatient treatment, and focus on patients’ personal interests and values

Engagement and Accomplishments Walk Rounds—Started hosting walk rounds before our monthly PFAC meeting. We have one committee member come to the unit and walk around with me. We don’t do anything special to get the unit ready…we want them to see what it really looks like at 6:30 on a Wednesday night. As staff we get used to seeing the unit day in and day out...it has been so helpful to have fresh eyes come up and share their observations from a parent’s perspective.

Monthly Events for Families - We now host monthly events on the unit (ice cream sundae party, cook-in (cookout food-- inside over the summer), pizza party for the super bowl, mother’s day/ father’s day luncheons, holiday luncheon, etc). Our goal is to grow to bi-weekly and eventually weekly.

Facebook Page--The NICU Parent and Family Advisory Committee (PFAC) have created a Facebook Page as a resource for our Current NICU Families, graduates of our unit and the community. Log on to find; Resources for talking with family and friends, A NICU family wish list, Relevant articles, Helpful tips for navigating your NICU journey, Inspiring stories and much more! Find us at: “UMASS Memorial NICU Parent and Family Advisory”

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Family Advisory Council (NICU) Meetings are held on the 2nd Wednesday of the month 7-8:30pm Memorial Campus, Memorial 1 Conf Room Overview of recent meetings: Members are in the process of becoming hospital volunteers.

NICU Facebook page is doing well. Upcoming important recognition: Members of Vermont Oxford Network (VON) will be onsite 6/4-6/6; the whole day is about our NICU – a Breakout session is about our NICU Parent Advisory Committee.

Brief Overview of our Councils Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Family Advisory Council (PICU) Meetings are held on the third Tuesday of the month 6-8pm University Campus, Pediatric Conference Room, S5-310 Engagement and Accomplishments: • Parent/Guardian Access • PICU Renovations • Pediatric Menu Improvement • PICU Thank-you Notes • Ronald McDonald Room

Plumley Village Health Services Family Advisory Council (PVHS) Meetings are held Quarterly Time: 12noon Plumley Village Wellness Center, 34 Laurel St., Apt 2 Overview of recent meetings: PVHS Newsletter Health: up to date review and discussion. PCMH performance measures report and discussion.

PVHS Health Fair to be held on 6/17/15.

Reminders from UMass Outreach Team to patients for colon cancer screening

Brief Overview of our Councils Barre Family Health Center Patient Advisory Council Meetings are held Bi-Monthly, Wednesday’s Time: 6-7:30pm Barre Family Health Center Overview of recent meetings: Prescription Improvement Work– Making changes to the patient letter about prescriptions (refill & renewal process); “Let’s make it simpler”. Girl Talk at Barre Family Health Center – Pilot program (12 week peer-led program for adolescent girls) was a success. Recruitment Drive for PFAC Members – using new ideas gained from the 2015 PFAC Conference, we will work to recruit and solicit new members

Engagement and Accomplishments National Committee for Quality Assurance, Patient Centered Medical Home: As part of our PCMH/NCQA Level 3 certification, we have developed a very dynamic and engaged group of patients, staff and providers, which make up the Patient Advisory Council (PAC), lead by Cynthia Jeremiah, M.D. and Susan Begley, our Ambulatory Manager at the Barre Family Health Center.

• Several improvements with our processes and workflow initiatives that centered on our telephones and registration areas.

• Better communication in the health center and throughout the local community has led us to several projects.

• Group is writing an informational column in the Barre Gazette; informing the community about work being done by the group.

• Diverse guest speakers featured at meetings from the health center faculty and local community services Presentation at a national conference in Washington, D.C. about Fostering Consumer Engagement: The Process and Results of Engaging Customer in Primary Care Practice Design which featured our Patient Advisory Council successes. (pictured Linda Cragin, Susan Begley and Cynthia Jeremiah, MD)

2015 Massachusetts HCFA PFAC Conference, May 12, 2015

Over 200 Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) members from across Massachusetts gathered at the College of the Holy Cross conference center for a full day of learning and networking. With 64 hospitals and clinics represented at the conference, attendees came from as close by as Worcester and as far away as Nantucket and the Berkshires. Jim Conway of the Harvard School of Public Health kicked off the day with an inspiring keynote address. Jim has a long history working in and promoting patient safety, quality improvement, and patient- and family-centered care. He was at Dana-Farber when it established its first PFAC and he has advocated for patient/family/community engagement through his work at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and elsewhere.

Participants had a choice of 12 breakout sessions throughout the day, with topics ranging from recruitment and goal-setting to mental health care, end-of-life care, and patient safety. All sessions ended with participants completing “Taking Action” forms so that they could think about what they learned and what their next steps would be toward implementation, including bringing the information back to their PFACs.

PARTNERS

PATIENT & FAMILY ADVISORY COUNCILS NEWSLETTER Volume 2, Issue 2, Fall 2015 Councils …

UMMMC PFAC Children’s Medical Center Family Advisory Council (CMC-FAC) Psychiatric Patient Advisory Council (PsyPFAC) Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Family Advisory Council Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) Family Centered Care Barre Family Health Center Patient Advisory Council Plumley Village Health Services Patient Advisory Council

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Partnerships

1

Updates - Adult PFAC, PsyPFAC

2

Updates – CMC-FAC

3

Updates - NICU

4

Patient Experience Team Updates

4

Calendar of Events

5

Patient-Family and Staff partnerships has become part of the UMass Memorial Medical Center culture! The over arching UMMMC Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) along with several other service and/or practice site specific family advisory councils have helped change the landscape of UMMMC and enhance our care and caring.

At a recent Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) meeting, a packed room heard Dana Swenson, senior vice president of facilities, share the facility refresh program plans, including a tentative timeline and how the patient voice will be involved throughout. The group also heard from President Patrick Muldoon, who described our fiscal year 2015 goals and answered council members’ questions on additional subjects.

Council members left feeling energized and inspired about the great things happening at the Medical Center and about their involvement in areas that they are passionate about.

Visit our website to learn more about PFAC or other patient and family advisory councils at the Medical Center or call 774441-6743.

UPDATES from our Councils UMMC Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC)

Engagement and On-Going Efforts Recruitment -The Medical Center PFAC has been exploring launching a Facebook page. Two patient/family members are working with Nina Walsh from Marketing to get this up and running – still early in planning, more discussion needs to occur re: management and guidelines.

Committee On-Boarding - After Committee Co-Chair speaks with candidate we invite them to an upcoming meeting; should they decide to join they go through the volunteer process via Volunteer Services. After that meeting we send the link to our external page that shares more info about the PFAC (e.g. charter, mission, vision, goals, past accomplishments, etc.)

Virtual Members - One of the Medical Center PFAC patient/family members heard of a virtual advisory board at a conference he attended; we reached out to that organization to learn more. At that time we felt we did not have the resources to form this virtual advisory board. However, the Medical Center PFAC sought a need for a virtual membership some time ago when a handful of candidates declined participation as they were unable to commit to monthly meetings for various reasons. We are currently exploring virtual members for the Medical Center PFAC; this type of membership is a new concept, we have drafted text to add to our charter – we are currently working with Jody (Volunteer Services) to discuss onboarding requirements. Virtual members are separate from ‘emeritus’ and would only participate virtually – no UMass Memorial ID badge would be given to these members. The decision to offer virtual membership would be at the discretion of the co-chairs.

More information to come; pending approval of on-boarding status via Volunteer Services.

Engagement and On-Going Efforts Presentation at 2015 Massachusetts HCFA PFAC Conference, May 12, 2015 - The focus of this presentation is how this group came about and what we are doing now. The audience was quite interested in the presentation – asked a lot of questions Recruitment - Efforts continue as we look to expand and broaden the perspectives of our respective council members.

Pediatric Emergency Mental Health Brochure – The brochure is for parents and guardians; it’s intended to demystify the experience, and discuss expectations. It speaks to what we can provide for families and loved ones while we are caring for their child. Most importantly, it provides a level of reassurance to the parent and/or guardian that their child is in good hands while receiving care during this critical time.

Shadowing Project (Two types) – Inpatient – mapping out the first hour of admission on the inpatient unit from the patient perspective Outpatient – mapping out the experience of a new outpatient clinic location; ensuring patient satisfaction is retained and/or improved.

More information to come; Project is still in process

Psychiatric Patient Advisory Council (PsyPFAC)

UPDATES from our Councils Children’s Medical Center Family Advisory Council (CMC-FAC)

Engagement and On-Going Efforts Baby Monitoring System – A new baby monitoring system will be installed soon on the Pedi floor. Alarm will go off if someone attempts to take a baby through a locked door.

Press Ganey Notice Card – A card will be enclosed in the paperwork sent home with the patients/family; with information about the press ganey survey on one side, and information about “getting involved with CMC FAC” on the other side.

CMC Facebook Page is Active – Our goal is 1,000 Like!

Connect with UMass Memorial Children's Medical Center on Facebook

Recognition – Champions of Innovation Congratulations to the Children’s Medical Center’s 5 East team for earning the UMass Memorial Health Care 2015 Innovators of the Year Award.

Great job to the team for its outstanding contributions toward innovation through a successful idea system!

UPDATES from our Councils Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Family Advisory Council (NICU)

Engagement and On-Going Efforts Recruitment—NICU has a Facebook they use as a recruitment strategy; Erin and 3 parent members manage the page. The page was set up via Marketing guidelines. Nina Walsh from Marketing is the social media coordinator and helps to moderate the page. The messenger feature on this page is also managed by the said persons. When the page first launched there was concern around negative comments, fortunately nothing negative has come through – if something negative were to come through Nina has guidelines in how to respond and manages. NICU also has a private group via Facebook in which they use to remind their members of upcoming events and/or to get members to volunteer for events – this group is private and only available to NICU parent/family members.

Committee On-Boarding - After Committee Co-Chair has spoken with candidate she invites them to an upcoming meeting; should they decide to join they go through the volunteer process via Volunteer Services. After Erin chats with candidate she sends them a list of past and upcoming projects along with a list of member expectations.

Patient Experience Team Updates/Efforts Melissa (Leigh) Casillo, Pt Exp Director – Leigh has accepted a position outside of UMMMC and will be resigning effective 9/11/2015. “I want to express my gratitude for a rewarding professional growth and opportunity during my employment with UMass Memorial, and my work with PFAC” Crystal Lehto, Pt Exp Project Mgr – Crystal will be starting in a new role at the Medical Center on 9/21; she will be the acting Clinical Quality Project Manager for the entire Department of Radiology across the Medical Center. “My 5 years in Quality has been great; I can only attribute that to a great, fantastic team of people!” Any patient experience needs you may have, please contact Ana Mechlin as she will be helping to triage and act as the interim project manager until the role is filled.

ED Brochures— The Emergency Department and Patient Experience have been collaborating on an ED brochure that will be offered to patients in our ER waiting rooms at both campuses. The brochures will contain information about wait times, ED Greeters, visitors and much more. The goal of the brochure is to put those in our waiting areas at ease about how the ER works and what they can expect when seen by a doctor. Resources for the ED brochure were granted by the 2015 Innovation Fund!”

Network Expansion: Welcome to Marlborough hospital’s PFAC – they will be included on upcoming quarterly co-chair meetings, and the Newsletter going forward New Implemented Idea - A Pilot program funded by the Innovation Fund has positioned an Information Staff person at the desk This issue was brought forward from the PsyPFAC; that patients were complaining, there is no one at the desk in the lobby of Hahnemann Campus when they arrived. If they are not sure where they are going for an appointment, they have no one to ask.

MEET OLIVIA

Other Items SAVE THE DATE End Of Year Gathering for all UMMMC Patient & Family Advisory Councils Monday, December 7, 2015 6 – 8pm University Campus 55 Lake Ave, Worcester, MA Faculty Conference Room, S1-342 Formal Announcement will follow

SEPTEMBER – CALENDAR OF EVENTS Fri, Sept 18 – Multiple Sclerosis Dinner & Movie, The All are invited to a special screening of When I Walk, a 2013 Sundance Film Festival documentary by filmmaker Jason DaSilva, detailing his personal journey and struggles of living with MS. This free event, hosted by our Multiple Sclerosis Center, will be held on Friday, September 18th at the Beechwood Hotel from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Dinner is included, and a presentation and discussion on MS practice updates will follow the film. Preregistration is required. For more information, contact Carolyn Griffin at 508-856-5006 Sat, Sept 19 – 6th Annual TDD Triathlon, Douglas State Forest, Wallum Lake Rd, Douglas, MA 9am – 5pm. Described by a number of participants as their favorite triathlon! The TDD Triathlon is a memorial race for Tyrus, Dante, and Daniel Vescio, triplet sons of local racers, Don and Elaine Vescio. The race is a fundraiser for the UMass Memorial Newborn Intensive Care Unit in Worcester, MA. Proceeds help other babies get the chance to live long, healthy lives. For more information visit: https://sites.google.com/a/firm-racing.com/home/tdd-triathlon Sun, Sept 27 – UMass Medicine Cancer Walk - Join us for the 17th annual Cancer Walk & 5K Run. The funds you raise help make breakthrough discoveries every day, saving lives and helping our patients manage their illness.

• Run Registration: 7 am • Run Start: 8 am • Walk Registration: 8 am • Walk Start: 10 am Location Address: UMass Memorial Medical Center, University Campus, 55 Lake Avenue North, Worcester, MA 01655

We welcome any suggestions for topics that you would like to see in future newsletters. Please feel free to send your suggestions to: melissa.spinazola@umassmemorial.org To Get Involved: www.umassmemorial.org/PFAC