Gold Coast Veterans Foundation Launches Mobile Veteran Outreach

Our Mobile Veteran Outreach program is the best defense Veterans have against Covid-19

CAMARILLO, Calif. (PRWEB)
May 11, 2020

The region’s leading non-profit for veteran services and its partner agencies, have placed 20 of the highest risk military veterans into virus-safe shelter as part of its ASAP (Accelerated Shelter And Protection) program. Gold Coast Veterans Foundation is working with United Way, State and Ventura County agencies to place extreme high-risk homeless veterans in motel rooms, achieving three goals. Veterans are safely housed, their risk of contracting COVID-19 is reduced, and its potential spread to the public is reduced. GCVF is a small Camarillo agency noted for its unique ability to reach, engage, and rescue the most difficult, contact-resistant, and hardest to serve veterans often “written off” by other public and private social service agencies.

Emergency motel rooms have been provided by United Way, State and County agencies for 300 homeless to date. The task of locating, engaging, transporting, and placing homeless veterans into these rooms has gone to GCVF. The organization’s Director of Veteran Outreach, Rafael Stoneman, points out that as difficult of a task as that is, it can be even harder once the veteran is placed. “Managing the interactions between some of the more difficult veterans, law enforcement, the motel management, and the public gets to be very stressful…” says Stoneman; “there needs to be a case manager… a buffer and problem-solver… that’s available 24/7 in order for the program to be sustainable. We provide that case management, including transportation and help with their essential needs… we even bring home-made hand sanitizer because they’re not able to find or afford it.”

Rescuing and placing veterans during the pandemic put an unexpected strain on the organization, which has not yet received any government funding. Stoneman had recently been through a challenging battle to help a Navy combat veteran and his 5 months pregnant Army veteran wife (who is suffering from PTSD). The couple, who had been living in a vehicle, were finally placed into a Ventura County funded motel room. “Three lives were saved when I got them into that motel…” said Stoneman, with a sigh of relief.

About 75% of the $100,000 in 2020 emergency funding has been pledged by foundations, including Ventura County Community Foundation (VCCF), Gene Haas Family Foundation, Livingston Memorial Foundation, and the Hurlbut-Johnson Foundation via the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. But the sheer number of homeless veterans whose lives are at high risk for getting and/or spreading COVID-19 is enormous, and the program cannot keep up with current demand. The organization has launched a public appeal for funding to expand its life saving programs during the pandemic. Donations are urgently needed to ensure veterans are not without housing on May 15 when government funding is scheduled to end and private nonprofit funding is exhausted on May 30.

About Gold Coast Veterans Foundation – The leading non-profit serving veterans in Ventura County, GCVF provides a “one-stop” resource center connecting veterans with benefits and comprehensive care. Nine core programs intervene to disrupt the root causes of suffering, homelessness and poor life outcomes. These include mobile veteran outreach, case management, health care, job training & placement, workforce development, shelter/housing services, counseling, and wellness. The charitable organization has become highly respected for its ability to rescue and repair the lives of contact-resistant homeless veterans who were “written off” by other public and private social service agencies. All services free of charge. http://www.gcvf.org (805) 482-6550.

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Pharmacies typically operate as a ‘just-in-time’ inventory business. This means they rely on continual shipments of drugs to fill their on-demand pharmacy orders. A disruption anywhere among the supply chain could pose severe threats,” Treff says

GAINESVILLE, Ga. (PRWEB)
May 11, 2020

As COVID-19 began to spread across the world, U.S. consumers left store shelves all but barren in rushing to stock up on essentials while—at the same time—the supply chain was still struggling to catch up with demand. It did not take long until ventilators, personal protective equipment (PPE), and other lifesaving medical resources were also in short supply. The World Health Organization estimates that manufacturing of PPE alone must increase by 40% worldwide in order to meet current and future demands.(1) According to a tenured veteran of the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry and president of one of MC-Rx’s lines of business, Steve Treff, industry experts and society alike worry that the next wave of supply chain shortages could target prescription medications.

“Pharmacies typically operate as a ‘just-in-time’ inventory business,” Treff says. “This means they rely on continual shipments of drugs to fill their on-demand pharmacy orders. A disruption anywhere among the supply chain could pose severe threats.”

According to experts at John Hopkins University, the prescription drug supply chain is vulnerable even without a pandemic looming, as the industry is so dependent on international suppliers like China—a key provider of the raw materials used to make prescription drugs—and India, which is a major producer of generic drugs.(2) As early as February, the FDA had already reported the first drug shortage caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.(3) On top of pharmaceutical industry experts, society is plagued by fears of how the international supply chain will affect medications—with 30% of Americans concerned about drug shortages.(4) The novel coronavirus has brought to light weaknesses in this supply chain process, and now it is up to industry experts to examine those vulnerabilities, execute necessary changes, and prepare for how to move forward.

Limitations on refills were lifted as part of many state governors’ emergency orders to help ensure patients maintained access to critical medications resulting pharmacies seeing increases in patients requesting to extend 30-day prescriptions to 90 days.(5) Even though stakeholders said they had been able to meet these requests (as of early April), many predict it to only be “a matter of time” before the supply chain begins to crumble under panic-induced pressures.(6)

One precaution MC-Rx put into practice very early on during the crisis to ensure its 6+ million members in the U.S. and Puerto Rico would be able to get necessary medications was to closely monitor such requests. “We decided to provide our clients’ members with a month’s supply of their prescription out of our mail service pharmacies instead of three months so that there would be enough supply in stock for everyone over time,” Treff says. “Prescriptions were refilled in a timely manner to alleviate member concerns and this also helped control the finances of our clients to make sure they weren’t getting hit with higher bills during the financial downturn. Nearly two months in, we judge this strategy to be successful in helping our clients financially, ensuring our patients received their medications, allowed for patient outreach compliance programs, and reduced our risk of drug shortages.”

Other measures have and continue to be implemented in efforts to limit the damage to the supply chain. Social distancing and shelter-in-place guidelines have led to more mail medication deliveries, with many companies—like MC-Rx—even offering free shipping. And while the trucking sector has been hit particularly hard due to a lack of drivers caused by the closures of critical entities like DMVs and driver training schools, innovation is paving the way for new delivery options—such as with drones set to transport prescription medications to over 135,000 residents home to the largest retirement community in the U.S.(7) But there are still many improvements to be made in order to plan for both the now and future implications of supply chain interruptions.

“There are many different complex components to the pharmaceutical supply chain,” Treff says, “and when one of them is disrupted, it has repercussions for the rest. But the federal government, state pharmacy organizations, pharmacy chains, and pharmacy benefit management companies are taking steps to make sure that people will be able to get the medication they need in the future. So far, drug shortages in the most common critical disease states—diabetes, high blood pressure, COPD and asthma—have not been reported although might have occurred at individual pharmacies.”

About MC-Rx

MC-Rx is a full-service pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), with corporate offices in Gainesville, Georgia and Caguas, Puerto Rico, focusing on transparency, best-in-class service, and offering clients “lowest net cost” pricing. MC-Rx was formed by combining two URAC-certified, world class PBMs—ProCare Pharmacy Benefit Manager and mc-21. The ProCare companies were founded in 1988 with the vision of providing innovative computer software systems and services to various sectors of the healthcare industry. ProCare processed their first pharmacy claim in 1994 using their proprietary, internally developed and managed systems, and expanded in 1998 to full-service pharmacy benefit management through the acquisition of NextGen PBM. Today, the ProCare companies also include two affiliated mail-order and specialty pharmacies, ProCare PharmacyCare, and are one of only four PBM providers that own all of their component systems. MC-Rx now provides comprehensive, industry-leading service to clients in Puerto Rico and the U.S. For more information, visit http://www.mc-rx.com.

1.    Chaib, Fadela. “Shortage of personal protective equipment endangering health workers worldwide” World Health Organization Newsroom, Marcy 3, 2020, who.int/news-room/detail/03-03-2020-shortage-of-personal-protective-equipment-endangering-health-workers-worldwide

2.    Volkin, Samuel. “How has COVID-19 impacted supply chains around the world?” John Hopkins University HUB, April 6, 2020, hub.jhu.edu/2020/04/06/goker-aydin-global-supply-chain/

3.    Hahn, Stephen M., M.D. “Coronavirus (COVID-10) Supply Chain Update” FDA Statement, February 27,2020, fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-supply-chain-update

4.    Blank, Christine. “Survey: Americans Worried About COVID-19 Drug Shortages.” Drug Topics, 30 Apr. 2020, drugtopics.com/latest/survey-americans-worried-about-covid-19-drug-shortages.

5.    COVID-19: Information from the States (April 27 2020). Natnal Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations. naspa.us/resource/covid-19-information-from-the-states/.

6.    McCook, Alison. “COVID-19: 90-Day Refills May Strain Supply Chain.” Specialty Pharmacy Continuum, 8 Apr. 2020, specialtypharmacycontinuum.com/Covid-19/Article/04-20/COVID-19-90-Day-Refills-May-Strain-Supply-Chain/57779.

7.    Scripps National. “UPS, CVS Will Use Drones to Deliver Medication to Nation’s Largest Retirement Community.” WPIX, 28 Apr. 2020, pix11.com/news/national/coronavirus/ups-cvs-will-use-drones-to-deliver-medication-to-nations-largest-retirement-community.

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Hinge Health exercise therapy directly reduces chronic pain

SAN FRANCISCO (PRWEB)
May 11, 2020

As more patients and employers turn to remote healthcare options in response to COVID-19, a new large-scale study finds Hinge Health’s digital health solution significantly reduced participant musculoskeletal pain. The study demonstrates that each Hinge Health remote exercise therapy and coaching session has a direct correlation to pain reduction. In the world’s largest digital musculoskeletal (MSK) longitudinal study (N=10,264), each Hinge Health participant had an average pain reduction of 69%, reduced depression and anxiety 58%, increased productivity 61% and decreased surgery likelihood 67%. Hinge Health’s unique 1-on-1 coaching model helped drive the industry’s highest 12-week completion rate, 73%, with each participant completing an average of 35 exercise therapy sessions.

Hinge Health Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Jeffrey Krauss said, “Hinge Health is the first digital MSK company to publish a peer-reviewed large-scale study. Hinge Health’s best-in-class adherence and elective surgery avoidance rates validates why we’ve made the market-leading investment to have both physical therapists and 10x more health coaches support participants with chronic MSK pain.”

The 3-year longitudinal cohort study, published in JMIR, represents a breakthrough in the efficacy and adherence of digital, noninvasive, solutions for chronic musculoskeletal pain. In an analysis of 10,264 participants with either knee (N=3796) or low back (N=6468) pain, 4 in 5 participants who completed the program reported a significant reduction in chronic pain.

In response to COVID-19, more patients and employers are turning to remote healthcare delivery to address chronic health conditions and avoid non-essential visits to medical facilities.

AutoZone’s Vice President of Benefits, Compensation, and HR systems, Matt Harmon said, “Since COVID-19 has become a barrier to in-person physical therapy and healthcare, having Hinge Health was key to helping our AutoZoners with chronic pain get much needed exercise therapy and coaching right now, at home.”

As patients defer treatment of chronic MSK pain, Hinge Health’s digital musculoskeletal solution allows patients to get the treatment they need now, at home, without overburdening hospitals or risking COVID-19 exposure at a medical facility.

Hinge Health CEO and co-founder Daniel Perez said, “Since COVID-19, we’ve seen a surge of employers and health plans contact us to help after they saw thousands of in-person physical therapy and elective surgeries cancelled. We’ve recently expanded our clinical team 20% to support the surge in new members, and we are adding another 30% additional clinical capacity before the summer.”

About Hinge Health

Hinge Health is pioneering the world’s most patient-centered digital hospital, starting with musculoskeletal health. Hinge Health’s back and joint pain care pathways combine wearable sensor-guided exercise therapy with behavioral change through 1-on-1 health coaching and education. Hinge Health is the #1 musculoskeletal solution for employers and health plans. Available to millions of members, Hinge Health empowers people to reduce chronic pain, opioid use and surgeries. Learn more at http://www.hingehealth.com.

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Move United Logo

Move United is based on the concept that sport brings people together and drives them to achieve more. That is true even when we are apart, Move United Executive Directory Glenn Merry

ROCKVILLE, Md. (PRWEB)
May 11, 2020

Move United’s Annual Leadership Conference was originally slated to be an in-person event in Colorado Springs, CO in partnership with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization adapted to the new environment, moving the event online. A first for the organization, the online platform provides constituents new accessibility to training and education opportunities. The conference delivers more than 25 sessions over five days, May 11-15, 2020.

Thanks to the generous support of the Bob Woodruff Foundation, coupled with additional investment by Move United, registration fees for the conference are being waived. The result has been increased access, broader information sharing, and extended community connections beyond the existing Move United membership network.

“Move United is based on the concept that sport brings people together and drives them to achieve more. That is true even when we are apart,” said Move United Executive Director Glenn Merry. “During this period of COVID-19, it is more important than ever to adapt. Our decision to move to an online format follows the successful launch of #AdaptAtHome, a health and fitness campaign delivering daily online live videos for our athletes to remain active. We are removing barriers to participation in order to bring people together, working collaboratively to support the health and wellbeing of people of all abilities.” To date, the Adapt At Home initiative has delivered more than 330 live and on-demand adaptive health and fitness classes during the past six weeks.

The Leadership Conference is part of Move United’s education program which has provided adaptive sports training to more than 2,000 people from 325 organizations across the country. Historically a hands-on, experiential learning and networking experience, the new stay-at-home environment has driven the adaptation to online content and discussions. Move United has seen a more than five-fold increase in conference registration. Over 1,300 people from across the country have signed up to participate.

On Monday, May 11, the 2020 Move United Virtual Leadership Conference will open with a keynote presentation entitled “Road Map to the Future,” featuring Merry and Move United’s Director of Competition Susan Rossi, who will discuss the future of adaptive sports.

Throughout the week, a series of sessions follow designated themes planned for each day:

Tuesday, May 12: Pathways to the Paralympics

Wednesday, May 13: Organization Management and Development

Thursday, May 14: Inclusive Outdoor Recreation

Friday, May 15: Membership Network Insights.

The week will close with a keynote presentation from Paralympic hopeful, Cassandra Grenier.

Move United Education promotes professional development for the adaptive sport industry through education and training. In the past year, Move United has committed nearly a half-million dollars to train hundreds of instructors and coaches around the country. Peer-to-peer knowledge sharing is the cornerstone of Move United’s education and training events and has shaped each leadership conference since 2009.

For more information on the Move United Virtual Leadership Conference, or to register, visit http://www.moveunitedsport.org/conference.

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May 15 is Wear Your Life Jacket to Work (or Home) Day

“We can practice social distancing and CDC guidelines while enjoying our nation’s waterways. Let’s remind everyone of the importance of wearing a life jacket and boating responsibly.” – Peg Phillips, Executive Director, National Safe Boating Council

MANASSAS, Va. (PRWEB)
May 11, 2020

The National Safe Boating Council encourages all boaters to participate in Wear Your Life Jacket to Work (or Home) Day on May 15, 2020, the launch of the 2020 Safe Boating Campaign. No matter where boaters are safely working, they can join in the fun by wearing their life jacket and posting creative pictures on social media for a chance to win a prize.

“If you love boating, this awareness day is for you! No matter if you’re on the job or working safely from home, Wear Your Life Jacket to Work Day is an opportunity to have fun and share with others just how much you love boating,” said Yvonne Pentz, communications director of the National Safe Boating Council, the lead organization for the Safe Boating Campaign, a worldwide effort focused on responsible boating.

Boaters may participate by sharing a picture of them wearing a life jacket at work (or home) on social media along with the hashtag #lifejacket2work and tagging @boatingcampaign (Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram).

Winners will be chosen randomly throughout the day to receive boating swag from the Safe Boating Campaign, such as t-shirts, dry bags, first aid kits, stickers, and more.

U.S. Coast Guard statistics show that drowning was the reported cause of death in four out of every five recreational boating fatalities in 2018, and that 84 percent of those who drowned were not wearing life jackets.

Following Wear Your Life Jacket to Work (or Home) Day is National Safe Boating Week, to be held May 16-22, 2020.

“We can practice social distancing and CDC guidelines while enjoying our nation’s waterways. Let’s remind everyone of the importance of wearing a life jacket and boating responsibly,” said Peg Phillips, executive director of the National Safe Boating Council. “Wearing a life jacket is the easiest safety step a boater can take, similar to a wearing a seat belt when you’re in a vehicle.”

There are many U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets for different activities like boating, fishing, paddling or hunting. Boaters should select a life jacket that they’ll want to wear, that fits snug and comfortable, and is appropriate for the recreational water activity and environment.

Boating and fishing access information, educational resources, and more safe boating tips can be found at https://safeboatingcampaign.com. The Safe Boating Campaign is produced under a grant from the Sports Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund and administered by the U.S. Coast Guard.

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SONSIEL

Every minute we spend on collectively built and purposed solutions ensures we are contributing to greater recovery and improved outcomes.

MARBLEHEAD, Mass. (PRWEB)
May 11, 2020

As COVID-19 raises new health and healthcare challenges for an already taxed workforce and system, nurses and other frontline healthcare workers—given their proximity and time spent in direct patient care—have a unique, invaluable perspective that enables them to see care challenges, and solution options. Technology is an essential tool in bridging the challenge-care gap. To that end, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, the Society of Nurse Scientists Innovators Entrepreneurs and Leaders (SONSIEL), and DevUP announce the first Nurse Hack for Health: COVID-19 Virtual Hackathon, occurring online May 15-17, 2020. The virtual hackathon is a timely opportunity for those on the frontline to apply their experience, resourcefulness and innovative thinking and employ technology to help improve response to the pandemic, and save lives.

The Nurse Hack for Health: COVID-19 Virtual Hackathon will convene nurses, other frontline health workers, software developers, engineers, and other IT staff to help solve COVID-19 healthcare challenges with technological solutions. Over the weekend of May 15-17th, individuals will work in interdisciplinary teams, using the Microsoft® Teams platform, to develop solutions to problems clinicians see in daily practice within one of five challenge areas:

• 
  Technology/Remote Patient Monitoring – Acute Care
• Technology/Remote Patient Monitoring – Home Setting
• Patient Transfer, Hand-off, and Huddle
• Data and Reporting
• Resiliency and Self-care.

Teams will be mentored over the duration of the event by nursing leaders, entrepreneurs, and developers. By the end of the weekend, teams will have developed minimally viable products (MVPs) to be rapidly applied in healthcare settings. Teams will pitch their solutions to a panel of judges, including those with expertise in innovation, technology and business, and evaluated for impact on human health, innovativeness, completeness, speed to market and ability to scale. All final MVP solutions will be open-source intellectual property and the code will be uploaded to the GitHub software development platform so that hospitals, health systems, and community-based organizations will be able to easily access and deploy the solutions.

Remarked Marion Leary, RN, MSN, MPH, SONSIEL Board of Directors, “The Nurse Hack for Health: COVID-19 virtual hackathon is meant to provide nurses with the support, resources, and tools needed to help create solutions to the problems they are seeing on the frontlines during this pandemic. Nurses are true leaders in health and healthcare innovation, and hackathons are an amazing way to connect nurses with other interdisciplinary colleagues, such as engineers and computer programmers, who can help bring their innovative ideas from conception to reality—something that is extremely important right now.”

Said Hiyam Nadel, MBA, CCG, RN, SONSIEL Board of Directors, “Frontline nurses and caregivers’ newly acquired experience with COVID-19 patients makes them acutely aware of gaps in care. They are the best equipped to come to the virtual hackathon weekend identifying these needs. I’m excited to see what they will come up with for solutions with the mentorship and support from J&J, Microsoft, and SONSIEL.”

Stated Rebecca C. Love, MSN, RN, SONSIEL President & Co-Founder, “Stated Rebecca C. Love, MSN, RN, SONSIEL President & Co-Founder, “Never before has our mission been so clear and, in my lifetime, so needed. Every minute we spend on collectively built and purposed solutions ensures we are contributing to greater recovery and improved outcomes. We all are driven to create solutions to save patients’ lives in the face of COVID-19. This event specifically is designed to meet real and far-reaching impacts with knowledge, experience, and expertise. We hope you will join us. My thanks to our partners, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, and DevUP, to the SONSIEL Board of Directors and members, and to all of our healthcare workers, daily committed to this work.”

The Nurse Hack for Health: COVID-19 Virtual Hackathon is free of charge and open to nurses, nursing students, retired nurses, healthcare professionals, engineers, developers, designers, entrepreneurs, and anyone else with an interest in helping to solve a problem related to COVID-19 utilizing technology. Participants must commit for the entire weekend in order to ensure team results. Interested participants must register at https://nursehack4health.org/. Follow the event and efforts on social media with #NurseHack4Health.

ABOUT SONSIEL

SONSIEL is a national and international platform of nurse scientists, innovators, and entrepreneurs, directly impacting health and the healthcare ecosystem through innovation and entrepreneurship; SONSIEL is a purpose-built society of nurses designed to create new opportunities and solutions across healthcare. Nurses are on the front lines, working with all healthcare team members to keep patients and the community safe. For more information about SONSIEL, please visit https://www.sonsiel.org/. Follow SONSIEL on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SONSIEL2 (@SONSIEL2); Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Sonsielnurse/ (@SONSIELnurse); YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpeapLA1QkY45l9NdOkxtQA/ (SONSIEL SONSIEL); and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sonsielnurse/ (@SONSIELNURSE).

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