Patient and Family Frequently Asked Questions

We recognize and respect patient choice. You are welcome to choose any entity you wish for care after you or your loved one leave the hospital. Patients and their families often look to us to provide options we believe are in their best interest. Through the formation of the CCN, we now have partner entities we can recommend with confidence. These partners are dedicated to the same goals we are: better quality care, reduced cost and higher patient satisfaction. These participating entities have undergone site visits, clinical review and analysis, and have met stringent quality requirements. They also report monthly to our Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Quality Committee to ensure these standards are scrupulously maintained.

Absolutely. ACO beneficiaries will always be able to see their own physician while recovering in a participating CCN facility. Their care, however, may involve the input of additional physicians and nurses who are specially trained and qualified to work with patients in post-hospital care settings.

Patients and families requiring post-hospital care can choose any program, provider, facility, or agency they wish. We encourage patients and families to educate themselves about their choices. You can do your own research by visiting providers, touring various locations, and reviewing available quality and provider-performance data. The Franciscan Northwest Physicians Health Network (FNPHN) has specifically created the CCN to help patients and families with the selection process by offering a group of credentialed, quality-oriented entities that meet the FNPHN ACO’s established performance and quality standards and expectations – and have agreed to be monitored and to uphold these standards and expectations in order to remain in our network.

Participants were chosen over a lengthy and rigorous review process that considered their historical quality and performance measures and results, their clinical capacity to care for our ACO beneficiaries, and their geographic coverage across the regions served by the FNPHN. Participating providers and entities are required to demonstrate ongoing quality and performance through monthly reporting to our ACO Quality Committee. Failure to meet the established expectations of quality may result in suspension or removal from the network.

All participating entities are required to ensure patient privacy in compliance with state and federal law.

FNPHN cannot guarantee the provision of “good care.” The FNPHN has developed the CCN to provide greater continuity of care for ACO beneficiaries and to establish expectations of quality within the post-acute care provider community. Through these efforts, we believe that over time, the CCN will improve the quality of care and the quality of health for our ACO beneficiaries. We will review and report our findings when enough data has been gathered.

ACO beneficiaries who have a problem or issue are encouraged to contact any one of the following:

Maureen Pence, RN, BSN Director, Clinical Operations and FNPHN Continuing Care Network Coordinator 253-627-1151 or [email protected]

Mark Rake-Marona Associate Vice President Franciscan Hospice and Palliative Care 253-534-7026 or [email protected]

Laureen Tomich, RN, BSN; Virginia Mason Franciscan Health Program Manager - Transitional Care at 253-426-6187 or [email protected]