HJNO Sep/Oct 2019

36 SEP / OCT 2019  I  Healthcare Journal of New Orleans   Healthcare Briefs accomplishments, recommendations, and an essay reflecting on how they have overcome adversity. A joint Xavier and Ochsner committee reviewed the applications and selected the final scholarship recipient. Moving forward, one schol- arship recipient will be selected, annually, for this scholarship program. The scholarship program is the next evolution in a long-standing relationship between Ochs- ner and Xavier, which dates to the early 1980s when Ochsner andXavier’s College of Pharmacy established an affiliation agreement partnership to provide educational experiences to pharmacy students.Through this partnership, Ochsner has provided clinical training for an average of 80 Xavier pharmacy students each year. Earlier this year, Ochsner and Xavier announced the launch of a new physician assistant program, with the first class beginning in January of 2020. “Nurturing Louisiana talent is essential to the future of healthcare in our great state. It is grati- fying that Sarah Bertrand, one of our Undergrad- uate ResearchApprenticeship Program (UGRAP) graduates, was selected for this inaugural schol- arship from Ochsner Health System. We are grateful for the support from Ochsner and look forward to all that Sarah will accomplish in her pursuit of becoming a physician.” said Dr. Deb- bie Chandler, associate dean for diversity and stu- dent affairs, School of Medicine at LSU Health Shreveport. On Oct. 1, 2018, Ochsner Health System (Ochsner) and LSU Health Shreveport jointly formed Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport to over- see and coordinate activities between the health sciences center and the healthcare delivery sys- tem in Shreveport and Monroe, La. Medicaid-focused ACO to Address Health, Social Determinants of Health in Greater NewOrleans LCMC Healthcare Partners, a clinically inte- grated network focused on improving popula- tion health in the communities they serve, and Louisiana Healthcare Connections, a Healthy Louisiana Medicaid health plan, announced an innovative value-based program designed spe- cifically to improve the health and well-being of Medicaid patients. Within this Accountable Care Organization, or ACO, LCMCHealthcare Partners and Louisiana Healthcare Connections will imple- ment a proactive model of care driven by quality data sharing and analytics. Care management programs will focus on chronic disease management, appropriate uti- lization, and improving care coordination. The ACO will also feature enhanced care manage- ment programs that will coordinate communi- ty-level resources to assist enrolled individuals in overcoming social determinants of health, such as food insecurity, lack of transportation, or inad- equate housing, which are known to negatively impact health outcomes. Based in the Greater New Orleans region, the LCMCHealthcare Partners network represents a collection of healthcare providers, including both employed and community physicians, hospitals, and post-acute specialists focused on improv- ing clinical integration across the healthcare spectrum. The goal is to keep patients well instead of wait- ing until they are sick to provide care. “LCMC Healthcare Partners is a physician led network designed to improve quality and cost outcomes, engage providers, and align payers as our health- care delivery model transitions from fee for ser- vice to value based care.We are excited to expand our population health programs to our Medicaid patients with Louisiana Healthcare Connections in this unique partnership,”said Dr.John Heaton, LCMC Health’s President of Clinical and System Operations. “LCMC Healthcare Partners shares our vision of improved health through the delivery of quality, coordinated care and greater access to primary care services and community-level resources,” says Jamie Schlottman, CEO and plan president of Louisiana Healthcare Connections. “We look forward to working collaboratively to advance value-based care for our members – and their patients – in the Greater New Orleans region.” *All Orleans Parish residents interested in applying for the MA Training Program must be 18 years or older AND meet Low Income Guide- lines to qualify. LSUHealth’s Bonanno Elected President of Accrediting Agency Laura Bonanno, PhD, DNP, CRNA, nurse anes- thesia programdirector and associate professor of clinical nursing at LSU Health New Orleans School of Nursing, is president of the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA). She will serve a one-year term. The Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anes- thesia Educational Programs accredits the 121 nurse anesthesia programs at the master’s or doctoral degree levels in the United States and its territories. Bonanno is a certified registered nurse Sarah Bertrand Laura Bonanno, PhD, DNP, CRNA