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Collaborating with Members in Their CareLoreen Loonie's Independence Radio Interview
ICS member and Independence Radio host Stephanie Wallace spoke with Loreen Loonie, Senior Vice President for Communications and Marketing, about what makes ICS a unique and nurturing community. "We think that membership has responsibilities," Loreen told Stephanie. "We want members to come to ICS and understand that they are our partner. "Every ICS member has a PCSP – a person-centered service plan. The member is, and should be, the driver of the conversation when that plan is put together, because by participating and communicating with us about what they want their life to be like, we can figure out how ICS can help them get what they need. "ICS started out as a small organization that was focused on people with disabilities. We knew most of our members and they knew us. So we figured out a lot of things together along the way as we grew. For example, we figured out that offering members a community was important because a lot of people with disabilities couldn’t get into places in their neighborhoods where they might enjoy classes and social gatherings. So, ICS has a tradition of collaborating with our members to figure out how to meet their needs."
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The Best Bet for Coordinated Care Last month New York State launched an advertising campaign urging people who need long-term care to give fully-integrated managed care plans a try. These FIDA (Fully Integrated Duals Advantage) plans, which were piloted in 2015, are for people who have both Medicare and Medicaid. As a pioneer in care coordination for people with disabilities and chronic health conditions, ICS believes a plan that covers all of our members' care needs—homecare, equipment, supplies, doctor visits, hospital stays, medication—offers the best opportunity to coordinate care and, in turn, to optimize our members' health and wellbeing. The ICS FIDA plan—Community Care Plus—also has many advantages for providers, including a simplified claims process, because a single plan is billed for both Medicare and Medicaid services. Providers get support in coordinating care for their patients through a care team that documents changes to the patient’s care plan, and works to ensure that medical appointments are scheduled and kept, and medication and treatment instructions adhered to. The care team also keeps providers informed about other services the patient receives, such as home care, bed soar prevention, fall prevention, and nutritional services, all of which can help patients avoid preventable hospital and nursing home stays.
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| One of the biggest benefits for both members and providers is that the ICS care team is authorized to approve services such as home care hours, transportation, ambulatory aids and other services, within Medicare/Medicaid guidelines and in accordance with the needs of the member, simplifying care planning and eliminating service delays.
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Meet Our New Alzheimer's Expert
After a long search ICS has hired an expert in caring for people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Nettie Harper will lead and shape services for the many ICS members with memory loss, and guide us in supporting the caregivers who love them. Nettie didn’t plan to work with people with dementia. Starting out in college her plan was to go to law school. That all changed when she began volunteering at an adult day program and fell in love with the experience. Read more.
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Nettie Harper, ICS Dementia Program Director
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Cooperative Home Care — "Ambassador of Health"
ICS sister organization, Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA), was honored by New York City’s Dominican Parade Association as an “Ambassador of Health.” The Committee noted that CHCA “empowers workers to achieve economic independence while supporting older adults and people with disabilities in their communities.” This year’s parade theme, “Honoring and Empowering Dominican Women,” was especially fitting for CHCA, which is predominantly run and owned by women. In just the past two years, CHCA has enrolled 890 immigrants from the Dominican Republic in its free, four-week training and employment program, nearly all of whom were unemployed. More than 750 of these women and men successfully completed the training program and were hired into high quality home care jobs supporting older adults and people with disabilities to live at home in their communities. These newly trained workers earn competitive wages and comprehensive benefits, along with the opportunity to become owners of one of the nation’s most successful worker-owned cooperatives. Learn more here.
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It's Easy to Verify Eligibility
If you are an ICS provider and need to verify a member's eligibilty, just call 1.877.ICS.2525 and provide the member's name and date of birth.
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Home Modifications Aid Independence
A new study funded by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation shows how simple home modifications can help someone stay safe and independent in their home. Services we provide to ICS members include simple home optimization items like sliding bath/shower chairs, threshold ramps, or improved lighting. For more involved home modifications, the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities offers help through Project Open House. This can include widening doors, converting steps into ramps, replacing inaccessible plumbing fixtures, installing grab bars, door openers, accessible door handles, accessible height shelving, railings, and installation or conversion of doorbells and smoke and carbon monoxide detectors when an audible or visual system is needed to accommodate someone with vision or hearing loss. Learn more here.
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7th Annual ICS Women's Health Conference Rocked!
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| The annual "From Within" Conference, now in its 7th year, is an initiative of the ICS Women’s Health Access Program. It is the only annual health conference in the nation specifically for women with physical disabilities, a group that routinely experiences dramatic barriers to routine health care services. Disability rights luminary Jim Weisman discussed the importance of voting, self- advocacy and civic engagement for people with disabilities. NYC Council Member Helen Rosenthal talked about citizen advocacy and a series of new laws making City services more accessible to people with disabilities. Kathleen Whyte, Senior Director for Community Relations, New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, received the ICS Women’s Health Advocate Award. Women with disabilities from all over New York City gathered for a day of celebration and education, with workshops including Women’s Health & Wellness; Body Image; Love, Sex and Intimacy with a Disability; and Transitioning from School to Work. Learn more here.
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How to Make a ReferralWant to refer someone who could benefit from ICS’s services? Our new online referral system makes it easy to provide us with the required information, and any additional details you wish. It also means better service, allowing our Intake Department to quickly contact your clients to begin the enrollment process. To use the ICS referral system, click here or go to icsny.org and use the “Get Started” tab at the top of the page.
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Key Provider Relations StaffOur partnership with our providers in meeting the needs of our plan participants is very important. The ICS Provider Relations Department has responsive, knowledgeable staff who can answer questions and offer assistance. Key contacts are below. Deana Lawson, Vice President for Contracting & Provider Relations – 646.653.6188 Bolivar Altamirano, Manager, Provider Relations – 646.653.6243 Carmen Galvan, Provider Relations Representative – 646.653.6436 Eva Rosa, Credentialing Supervisor – 212.584.2505
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