September 2017 Newsletter

Join Us for the Nov. 7 Member Meeting!

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Please join us for this working session, which will be focused on strategic planning for the Coalition. The meeting will feature interactive discussion on our activities to date, and plans for future initiatives. We'd like to hear from you about how the Coalition can be most effective. We will also be gathering information about member activities that support the Coalition's goals.

Tuesday, November 7, 2017
2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
101 Huntington Avenue, 12th Floor
Boston, MA


Improvement Collaborative Supports Advance Care Planning 

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The Conversation Ready Massachusetts Collaborative is a program aimed at ensuring that people in Massachusetts have their end-of-life care wishes expressed and respected. It’s managed by The Conversation Project, and uses the Breakthrough Series Model developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement to help spread best practices. The Collaborative runs from 2017-18 with in-person learning sessions, monthly all-team calls, and team reports to help further the “all teach, all learn” dynamic and to accelerate improvement and innovation. Expert faculty help teach the content and guide the twenty participating organizations.

The Conversation Ready work has been developed in an effort to answer the question: “what do health care organizations need to do be ready to receive, record, and respect the end-of-life care wishes of those they serve?” In addition to helping patients identify health care proxies, there is a strong focus on understanding what matters most to patients. The program is based on a set of principles: engage patients and families; steward and respect people’s wishes; exemplify the work in providers’ own lives; and demonstrate cultural competency.

Teams set individual goals, with a focus on the core principles. The IHI team coaches participants, with an emphasis on trying new ideas on a small scale using a “Plan-Do-Study-Act” (PDSA) approach. Collaborative leaders have been delighted with the diversity of participating organizations and the breadth of initiatives undertaken. “We could not have asked for better enrollment in terms of level of engagement, different types of organizations, and geographic spread,” notes Collaborative Director Kelly McCutcheon Adams. “Projects range from securing health care proxies for Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking families to exploring the wishes of newly-admitted hospice patients.”

“I’m very happy to be part of this statewide initiative,” says Nora Buckley, Senior Manager of Population Health at Tufts Health Plan. “The PSDA method is effective, and participants help teach each other. Our team is making definite progress towards our project goal.”

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Listed below are the enrolled organizations. The project is made possible by a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

  • Alzheimer's Association (MA/NH Chapter)
  • Baystate Health
  • BID-Plymouth/Cranberry Hospice
  • Boston Senior Home Care
  • Broad Reach Hospice and Palliative Care
  • Brockton Visiting Nurse Association, Inc.
  • Cape Cod Healthcare
  • D'Youville Life & Wellness Community
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute,Brigham and Women's Hospital
  • Elder Service Plan of Harbor Health Services, Inc.
  • Fenway Health
  • Great Lakes Caring Home Health and Hospice
  • Hebrew SeniorLife Hospice Care
  • Home Health VNA
  • Lahey Health at Home
  • Lasell Village Milford Regional Medical Center
  • Salmon Health and Retirement, Salmon VNA and Hospice, and Reliant Medical Group
  • South Coast Visiting Nurse Association, Inc.
  • Steward Home Care
  • Tufts Health Plan Medicare Preferred

End With Care Directory

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End With Care is an educational resource directed to individuals, families, friends, and caregivers who are facing end-of-life challenges. They have a Resource Directory to help consumers and health professionals find end-of-life care providers, organizations, and related agencies serving communities throughout Massachusetts. We invite you to visit the directory to see if your organization is listed – and if not, to sign up for a free listing. This is an opportunity to help benefit those you serve. If you have any questions, please inquire via email.


Creative Thinking at End Well Symposium

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Design thinking is a methodology aimed at solving complex problems by applying action-focused solutions. There’s a great opportunity to apply this technique to health care. Specifically, we could be applying more creative and design thinking in shaping care for those with serious illness and the end-of-life experience. Read more about this – and register for the End Well symposium in December. The Coalition is a Community Partner for End Well.