VNSNY CHOICE SelectHealth Rewards Mount Sinai Health System for Management of Patients with HIV
VNSNY CHOICE SelectHealth, a New York State Department of Health Special Needs Plan for Medicaid-eligible New Yorkers living with HIV, awarded Mount Sinai Health System $420,500 as part of its 2015 HIV Primary Care Provider Quality Program for accomplishing reduced HIV viral loads in its plan members.
The award recognizes and supports HIV care providers within the Mount Sinai Health System for outstanding patient care, resulting in successful control of HIV infection among many plan members. More VNSNY CHOICE SelectHealth members with suppressed viral loads are treated by Mount Sinai than by any other health system.
“We’d like to acknowledge how well Mount Sinai performed in caring for our plan members with HIV,” said Eli Camhi, VP and General Manager for VNSNY CHOICE SelectHealth. “The real winners here are the members.”
“Mount Sinai has achieved the highest number of viral-load suppressed patients in our network,” said Jay Dobkin, MD, Medical Director for VNSNY CHOICE SelectHealth. “When antiretroviral treatment reduces the HIV viral load, it also reduces the risk of HIV transmission.”
“VNSNY CHOICE SelectHealth recognizes that the promise of HIV therapy to prevent the ravages of AIDS and restore to health even those with advanced disease is only realized through the commitment and efforts of expert, caring health providers teaming up with informed, motivated patients. VNSNY CHOICE SelectHealth hopes the recognition of these providers will enable even greater efforts and success in the future,” continued Jay Dobkin, MD.
SelectHealth’s focus is to ensure its HIV-positive members receive antiviral treatment and achieve a sustained and suppressed HIV viral load (< 200 copies/ml). This program, which has its roots in value-based care and is consistent with the goals of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “Ending the Epidemic” efforts, evaluated data retrospectively for 2015 and rewarded HIV primary care practices for maintaining an HIV viral load in their patients of less than 200 copies/ml. Members of SelectHealth receive care through a team that includes an HIV-experienced primary care provider, care managers, pharmacists, and a wide variety of other specialists. Additional care coordination is offered through health homes and community-based providers.
“SelectHealth is a strong partner with Mount Sinai in providing HIV primary care,” said Matthew Baney, Senior Director of the Institute for Advanced Medicine, which directs all of Mount Sinai’s HIV prevention and treatment programs and cares for more than 10,000 patients annually. “We have a long history of working well together and putting quality in front of all else. It also helps that we use EPIC, a standardized medical record system that captures the quality metrics required for state-of-the art care. This award from SelectHealth reflects the efforts on both of our parts to provide the best care to patients throughout our Institute, and underscores the firm commitment of our staff to deliver on quality.”
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint-venture outpatient surgery centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. We are consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals, receiving high "Honor Roll" status, and are highly ranked: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Urology. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 12 in Ophthalmology. U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital among the country’s best in several pediatric specialties.
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