In an effort to keep our patients and staff healthy, we are screening all patients before you enter a Healthy Connections clinic. A staff member will meet you at the door to take your temperature and ask you some screening questions related to COVID-ID infection. If a COVID-19 risk is identified, you will be directed to a designated area for further evaluation. Otherwise, you will proceed to check in with your visit as usual. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause. We will continue to post updates at www.healthy-connections.org/covid-19. #Coronavirus #Covid19
Congratulations to our Healthy Connections February 2020 Employees of the Month:
- WEST: MELISSA RAPP AND JAMIE LAXAMANA
- EAST: TECHIA THOMAS
As Employees of the Month, they are entitled to either a $50 gift card or one day off.
Throughout the month of February, Melissa, Jamie, and Techia have exemplified our Healthy Connections three pillars of Excellence, Compassion, and Community.
This month, Healthy Connections selected co-employees of the month for the West Clinics. Melissa is a patient care coordinator at the Mena clinic. Jamie is an LPN in the Mena clinic. And Techia is a RN Case Manager based at Hot Springs Chippewa and working with other East Clinics.
Check out what Melissa’s co-workers had to say about her:
- She’s always helping everybody. She does so much extra. She’s great at her job
- She always smiles. She is a patient and co-worker advocate. Very reliable, knowledgeable, kind, and can handle all kinds of situations. She works great with everyone and does more than she is supposed to.
- She is always going above and beyond to help out. When someone cannot finish a job, for whatever reason, they ask her and she gets to it without a question asked.
Check out what Jamie’s co-workers had to say about her:
- Jamie is an overachiever, always wanting to learn something new.
- Jamie is eager to learn, eager to help, and strives to do the best she can for her patients and co-workers every day. She is truly an asset to the organization.
- Jamie always helpful, willing, and always has a great attitude with everything. She sets an example of how a nurse should be.
- And check out what Techia’s co-workers had to say about her.
And check out what Techia’s co-workers had to say about her:
- Techia has the best attitude, and her willingness to go the extra mile for her patients makes a big difference.
Do you know who should be our next Healthy Connections Employees of the month? You can nominate them at www.healthy-connections.org/nominate.
Each February, the American Dental Association (ADA) sponsors National Children’s Dental Health month to raise awareness about the importance of oral health. This year’s slogan is: “Brush and clean in between to build a healthy smile.” Healthy Connections recognized this again this February by offering dental sealants to elementary students in Polk County. Oral cancer screenings were also offered to area high school students. This program has been offered each year since 2002.
The program is done with the assistance of the Healthy Connections staff and dental hygienist students from the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.
Healthy smile tips include:
- Brush your teeth twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste
- Clean between your teeth daily
- Eat a healthy diet that limits sugary beverages and snacks
- See your dentist regularly for prevention and treatment of oral disease
Dental sealants are a plastic material that is placed by dental professionals on the chewing surfaces of permanent back teeth to prevent cavities. The sealant provides a physical barrier that prevents cavity-causing bacteria from attacking the surface of the tooth. The thinner, weaker enamel in the deep grooves of the chewing surface of the tooth cause this area to be prone to tooth decay. Left untreated, tooth decay can eventually lead to pain, poor dental and physical health and tooth loss.
Dental sealants on permanent molars reduce the risk of cavities by 80 percent.
This experience is often the child’s first trip to the dentist so the Healthy Connections’ team blocks off a full day of regular patient care and engages help from the entire staff to provide a fun atmosphere where the children are taught the proper techniques in brushing and the benefits of oral health habits. By increasing dental health and hygiene, the child’s overall health outlook is enhanced and improved. Healthy Connections’ dental sealant program reflects our mission and vision to promote health and wellness for our children and families in the Western Arkansas area.
Children that participate in our Dental Sealant Program receive instruction in Oral Hygiene, such as how to brush and floss, and are given a toothbrush and dental floss to take home.
Visit www.-healthy-connections.org/dental-sealants/ for more information about the program.
And check out www.healthy-connections.org/teeth/ for more information on our dental clinics in Mena and Hot Springs.
NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home™ standards emphasize enhanced care through patient-clinician partnership
The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) announced that Healthy Connections, Inc., clinics in Mena, Hot Springs, Malvern, Arkadelphia, Mount Ida, and De Queen have received NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition for using evidence-based, patient-centered processes that focus on highly coordinated care and long‐term, participative relationships.
The NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home is a model of primary care that combines teamwork and information technology to improve care, improve patients’ experience of care and reduce costs. Medical homes foster ongoing partnerships between patients and their personal clinicians, instead of approaching care as the sum of episodic office visits. Each patient’s care is overseen by clinician-led care teams that coordinate treatment across the health care system. Research shows that medical homes can lead to higher quality and lower costs, and can improve patient and provider reported experiences of care.
The Healthy Connections Montgomery County Community Clinic in Mount Ida (534 Luzerne St.) previously earned this recognition. Other clinics now recognized include:
Appointments for these clinics can be made by calling toll free (888) 710-8220.
“We are honored to receive this recognition from NCQA,” said Tony Calandro, CEO of Healthy Connections. “This is a testament to the mission of Healthy connections to provide outstanding, compassionate care to the patients we serve.”
Healthy Connections has three of Arkansas’ 13 PCMH Certified Content Experts on its staff, including Michelle Gibson, RN; Amanda Barrett, LPN, and Rachel Tomaskovic, RN.
To earn recognition, Healthy Connections demonstrated the ability to meet the program’s key elements, embodying characteristics of the medical home. NCQA standards aligned with the joint principles of the Patient-Centered Medical Home established with the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Osteopathic Association.
Over the past 21 years, Healthy Connections has become a lot of things to the communities it services, including primary care/family medicine provider, dentist, pediatrician, or medical specialist. But mostly it is a place all people can go to receive quality care regardless of their ability to pay.
Healthy Connections accepts Medicaid, including ARKids 1st, Medicare and most private health insurances. There are also appointment openings for all patients, sometimes even same-day, at all of the clinics. As a Federally-Qualified Health Center, Healthy Connections providers treat thousands of patients each year who have no insurance or not enough insurance to cover essential health and dental services. This is done as part of a sliding-fee schedule, which is determined by the total family income of the patient. Qualified applicants can receive treatment at a reduced rate.
For more information, visit www.healthy-connections.org.
About NCQA
NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA’s Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA’s Web site (ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices.
Healthy Connections recognizes the unprecedented and extraordinary circumstances dentists and all health care professionals face related to growing concern about COVID-19.
Here at Healthy Connections, we want to assure our family of patients that we are taking the current coronavirus threat seriously. Everybody has questions, many of us feel anxious about our health or that of loved ones, and all of us are living with uncertainty.