Geisinger Caring for More Moms-to-Be With Nurse-Family Partnership Expansion

DANVILLE, Pennsylvania, Dec. 12 -- Geisinger Health issued the following news release:

Geisinger announced today the Geisinger Clinic Nurse-Family Partnership is expanding into two more central Pennsylvania counties and will begin caring for an additional 75 first-time mothers. This expansion will be a pilot model showing how providers, community groups and health insurance can collaborate and greatly impact the lives of new moms and babies.

Called the Nurse-Family Partnership Health Care Integration Expansion Project, the Geisinger Clinic Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) will begin caring for an additional 25 moms-to-be between Juniata and Mifflin counties. Services will also expand to an additional 25 first-time moms in both Columbia and Northumberland counties, bringing the total numbers of moms in the program to 237.

Collaborating with Geisinger Clinic NFP in this expansion are the Central Susquehanna Community Foundation, Evangelical Community Hospital, Geisinger Health Plan, Geisinger Women's Health, Nurse-Family Partnership National Service Office and OB/GYN Associates.

"The expansion project focus is to intentionally and systematically link Nurse-Family Partnership's nursing intervention model with a health plan to create a replicable model for the integration of Nurse-Family Partnership and managed care services," said Loreen Comstock, MSN, RN, director of Geisinger Clinic NFP.

As part of this unique pilot, the program will incorporate two innovative strategies to increase access and to serve the highest number of patients. One strategy includes utilizing telehealth as an extension of home visits and providing information to moms. The second strategy uses recent Nurse-Family Partnership graduates as peer community workers to support nurses and their caseloads.

This pilot focuses on care coordination and communication, including access to a patient's electronic health record, secure provider messaging and regular visits with case managers and clinical leaders. It also includes an automated screening tool for identifying first-time mothers for program referral.

"When Nurse-Family Partnership, a health plan and providers collaborate in an integrated manner to care for moms and babies, more moms will enroll and stay in the program," Comstock said. "We believe better outcomes will be achieved for both the patients and providers."

Since beginning in 2001, Geisinger Clinic NFP and the Central Susquehanna Community Foundation have worked collaboratively and provided positive outcomes for moms and babies, especially in the areas of immunization rates, spacing of second pregnancies, mom's returning to work when a baby turns 2 years old, and reduced low-birth weight and premature birth rates. In the most recent state review, Geisinger Clinic NFP received a perfect score.

The program is free and works to help a woman have a healthy pregnancy and be the best mom she can be after the baby is born. To be in the Nurse-Family Partnership program, a woman must be expecting her first baby, enroll early in the pregnancy (prior to 28 weeks), meet income requirements and live in Columbia, Juniata, Mifflin, Montour, lower Luzerne, Northumberland, Snyder and Union counties.

To learn more about the Geisinger Clinic NFP, call 800-349-4702.

About Geisinger

One of the nation's most innovative health services organizations, Geisinger serves more than 1.5 million patients in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The system includes 13 hospital campuses, a nearly 600,000-member health plan, two research centers and the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. Geisinger is known for its focus on caring and innovative programs including the ProvenCare(R) best-practice approach to maximize quality, safety and value; ProvenHealth Navigator(R) advanced medical home; Springboard Health(R) population health program to improve the health of an entire community; ProvenExperience(TM) to provide refunds to patients unhappy with their care experience; and Geisinger's MyCode(R) Community Health Initiative, the largest healthcare system-based precision health project in the world. With more than 215,000 volunteer participants enrolled, MyCode is conducting extensive research and returning medically actionable results to participants. A physician-led organization, with approximately 32,000 employees and more than 1,800 employed physicians, Geisinger leverages an estimated $12.7 billion positive annual impact on the Pennsylvania and New Jersey economies. Repeatedly recognized nationally for integration, quality and service, Geisinger has a long-standing commitment to patient care, medical education, research and community service. For more information, visit www.geisinger.org, or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.