Veteran’s Health Administration

The Sutter Health Network (SHN) is a network of doctors, medical foundations, and hospitals found in Northern California that offer a varied assortment of medical services and support programs to the public. The SHN was ranked as the ninth largest healthcare system in America in year 2009- based on their annual revenue. The Network involves itself with their local community; special care is taken to keep their health care costs down in order for their patients to get the best care possible at low cost.

Health organizations regularly implement Federal Government Programs to manage health care costs for their patients. The Sutter Health Network is one of the health networks that have applied a Federal Program called the Veteran’s Health Administration. The Veteran’s Health Administration (VHA) provides military personnel currently in the military as well as the honorably discharged or retired soldiers with high quality health care and benefits earned through their service.

These benefits include primary care pertaining to their service, care for special disability veterans, OEF/OIF/OND care management, medication co pays, specialized medical programs, counseling services, prosthetic therapy and sensory aids, services for blind/visually impaired veterans, mental health care treatment, work restoration programs, nursing home care, caregiver programs, and sexual trauma recovery. With the current economic recession, the number of veterans and military personnel who are now filing for Veterans’ Health Administration to cover their personal and family medical expenses has grown exponentially.

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The Sutter Health Network accepts coverage from the VHA and provides most of these benefits and health programs included. They connect veterans with primary care physicians or specialists in a number of different fields, surgery centers, urgent medical attention, complementary medicine, mental health care, and hospice. Connecting veterans and persons still serving the army or navy with the health care assistance they need increases the SHN’s revenue with each person they support.

This helps the patient prevent monetary consequences from health concerns and increases national savings, which benefits the Sutter Network in a financial and economic sense. “At Sutter Health, we believe our patients deserve access to high-quality health care—regardless of their ability to pay or whether they have medical insurance. ” The Sutter Health Network mission statement shows that they believe everyone deserves access to high-quality health care. They provide medical care for those in need, regardless if they can financially cover the expenses or not.

The vision for their practice is to “enhance the well-being of people in the communities we serve through a not-for-profit commitment to compassion and excellence in health care services. ” They value community, innovation, affordability, compassion, caring, excellence, and integrity. Each year, Sutter Health invests millions of dollars back into its communities. In 2012 alone, the network of physician organizations, hospitals and other health care providers invested $795 million in health care programs, services and benefits for the poor and underserved and the broader community.

The SHN has donated thousands in support of the US military personnel and their families. In 2012, as a part of their commitment to assist those individuals, the SNH donated $25,000 to improving the lives of service men and women. The donation was split between the Fisher House Foundation, to provide housing for military families, and the River of Recovery, to support soldiers through recreational and rehabilitation program. Sutter Health provides information for toll-free support helplines support groups, and associations; which include National Peer Support, Veteran Affairs Suicide Hotline, VA Special Issues, and Military Pathways.

Pat Fry, the president and CEO of Sutter Health Network, was awarded the Patriot Award by the Employer Support of Guard and Reserve (ESGR) for demonstrating leadership in support of veterans, employees on active duty, and their families. One of the values the Sutter Health Network works to maintain is the excellence of their medical care and the high levels of safety for patients and doctors. The SHN implements various forms of technology and personnel measures which are used to improve their healthcare delivery.

Sepsis quarantine and prevention is taken seriously. Multidisciplinary care teams participate in a sepsis summit to review detection strategies, system wide measures monitor and track sepsis outbreaks, and sepsis bundles (checklists and recommendations for health care providers) are being introduced in emergency departments, intensive care units, and medical-surgical units where most severe cases of sepsis originate. Central-line infections and pressure ulcer prevention are recognized as serious hospital conditions and are taken seriously.

Identification of patients at risk for pressure ulcers, or “bed sores”, promotes early identification and treatment. Installation of pressure-relieving mattresses and support surfaces are used for patient comfort and safety. Central-line associated blood stream infections (CLABCI’s) are serious and can cause life-threatening situations. Medical caregivers in the SHN are extensively trained for awareness of CLABCI’s and how they are prevented. Since the CLABCI prevention was introduced in 2007, it is estimated that around 202 cases have been avoided.

In 2012, the SHN started the innovated Advanced Illness Management (AIM) program which reduces hospitalization time and health care costs. One person enrolled in the AIM program is Edward Fogarty of Rocklin, an 81-year-old Air Force Veteran who lives a fulfilling life while managing COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) and heart problems. Through the SHN’s new program, Edward is provided quality at-home nursing and personal care that manages his health, medication, and care without having to be emitted to a hospital.

Keeping updated with current health informatics improvements and newly released technologies is essential to providing superior care to patients. The SHN uses the recently applied electronic health care records which enable immediate and easy access to all relevant information of the patient including medical history and insurance. Sutter Health became the first health care system in the Western United States to bring two separate eICU centers online, allowing continuous monitoring of critically ill patients by advanced video and remote monitoring.

In one hospital, ICU mortality had been lowered a staggering 17. 3 percent from the year 2002, when the technology was employed, to 2004. Barcoding for medications and patients is a new and innovative development. Sutter Health is the first and only health care system so far in Northern California to implement this radical technology from Bridge Medical Center. A bar code is added to a patient’s wristband, and three separate codes are then input and used to match and monitor medication ordered by the over-seeing doctor, verifying that the patient receives the correct type and dosage amount.

Sutter Health’s bar-coding technology has prevented approximately 28,000 medication errors across more than 2. 6 million attempted drug administrations throughout 10 hospitals in its first 18 months alone. The Sutter Health Network provides the highest quality care possible for their all of their patients, including military veterans. They take care to stay current with health informatics trends and technologies in order to do so. The support they gain from employing the Veteran’s Health Administration help provide military personnel, past and present, with the medical support or assistance as needed.

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