Sentara Obici Hospital - Community Health Outreach Program

This program helps participants navigate the complex health care system and provides an interdisciplinary approach that helps them follow their medical plans of care.

What is it?

This program helps participants navigate the complex health care system and provides an interdisciplinary approach that helps them follow their medical plans of care.

Who is it for?

Low-income patients with diabetes or heart failure who don’t meet criteria for home health care.

Why do they do it?

Patients with diabetes and heart failure – particularly indigent patients – were frequently in the emergency department (ED) or admitted as inpatients due to uncontrolled diabetes and/or heart failure.

Impact

Results include a 48 percent decrease in ED visits among participants, a 68 percent decrease in inpatient visits, a 60 percent decrease in length of stay and a 55 percent decrease in hospital charges. More than 1,500 individuals have been served over the past 13 years; not a single patient has needed an amputation.

Contact: Virginia Savage
Director of Community Case Management, Education, and Nursing Informatics
Telephone: 757-934-4000
E-mail: vxsavage@sentara.com

Community Connections