With a Goal to Improve the Health of Hudson Valley Residents, Hundreds Attend Summit Hosted by WMCHealth PPS

VALHALLA, N.Y. (December 14, 2017) – More than 200 Hudson Valley agencies dedicated to bettering community health convened recently at the fourth annual PPS Summit and Quality Meeting hosted by the Westchester Medical Center Health Network's (WMCHealth) Performing Provider System (PPS) and its Center for Regional Healthcare Innovation. The WMCHealth PPS was established to participate in New York State's Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program, a statewide initiative that aims to restructure the state's health care delivery system by reinvesting in the Medicaid program with the goal of reducing avoidable hospitalizations over five years.

The summit's overall goal was to update members on the status of project implementation through the end of the program's second year; address health care delivery challenges facing the region and develop tools effective in tackling those challenges. Additionally, the assembled group also discussed the social determinants of health; how active, community-based organizations can impact health care and how these groups can use existing assets to improve outcomes.

More than 100 PPS partner agencies were represented at the Summit.

"If attendance, participation, and idea-generation are indictors of our PPS partners' desire to improve Hudson Valley health care, then we are certainly headed in the right direction," said summit organizer Janet "Jessie" Sullivan, MD, Vice President and Medical Director, Center for Regional Healthcare Innovation for the Westchester Medical Center Health Network. "Change of this nature and scope can be daunting, but it is vital to the health of our region and possible only through the diligence, creativity and collaboration of our network. On behalf of the Center for Regional Healthcare Innovation, I would like to thank our PPS partners for their continued contributions to the program."

Collaborating to Improve Community Health

The Center for Regional Healthcare Innovation is WMCHealth's project management organization that collaborates with community-based service providers of all kinds to improve the overall health and well-being of Hudson Valley residents. It is a component of the larger DSRP initiative in New York State to reduce preventable hospitalizations by 25% for those insured through Medicaid.

Through needs assessments and initiative training, the Center for Regional Healthcare Innovation works in tandem with PPS community partners on projects including an integrated healthcare delivery system; an effort to reduce repeat hospitalizations; disease management and illness-prevention programs; improved access to health and wellness services and engaging and empowering communities in order to foster healthier lifestyles.

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