VAS NETWORKING SERVICES

An organization that is responsible for providing case management services. The agency provides services which assist an individual in gaining access to needed medical, social, educational, and/or other services. Case management services may be used to locate, coordinate, and monitor necessary appropriate services. It may be used to encourage the use of cost-effective medical care by referrals to appropriate providers and to discourage over utilization of costly services. Case management may also serve to provide necessary coordination of non-medical services such as vocational rehabilitation, education, employment, when the services provided enable the individual to function at the highest level.

Community health workers (CHW) are lay members of communities who work either for pay or as volunteers in association with the local health care system in both urban and rural environments and usually share ethnicity, language, socioeconomic status and life experiences with the community members they serve. They have been identified by many titles such as community health advisors, lay health advocates, "promotores(as), outreach educators, community health representatives, peer health promoters, and peer health educators. CHWs offer interpretation and translation services, provide culturally appropriate health education and information, assist people in receiving the care they need, give informal counseling and guidance on health behaviors, advocate for individual and community health needs, and provide some direct services such as first aid and blood pressure screening. Some examples of these practitioners are Community Health Aides or Practitioners established under 25 USC 1616 (l) under HHS, Indian Health Service, Public Health Service.

An In Home Supportive Care Agency provides services in the patient's home with the goal of enabling the patient to remain at home. The services provided may include personal care services such as hands-on assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs), e.g., eating, bathing, dressing, and bladder and bowel requirements; homemaker services and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), e.g., taking medications, shopping for groceries, laundry, housekeeping, and companionship; and/or supervision or cuing so that a person can perform tasks themselves.

A PACE provider organization is a not-for-profit private or public entity that is primarily engaged in providing PACE services(unique capitated managed care benefits for the frail elderly which include comprehensive medical and social services). The following characteristics also apply to a PACE organization. It must: have a governing board that includes community representation; be able to provide complete PACE services regardless of frequency or duration of services; have a physical site to provide adult day services; have a defined service area; have safeguards against conflict of interest; have demonstrated fiscal soundness and have a formal Participant Bill of Rights.

Source: NUCC, CMS