Chris Wasel, President, Strategic Partnerships, Vantage Healthcare

This episode recorded live at the Becker's 3rd Annual Spring Payer Issues Roundtable features Chris Wasel, President, Strategic Partnerships, Vantage Healthcare. He shares how Vantage is aligning value-based care, patient satisfaction, and care accessibility through innovative on-site services in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities across New England.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
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easier and more accessible as we drive organizations
and people forward.
This is Haley Recker with the Becker's Payer
Podcast, and we are recording live at the
Becker's third annual spring payer issues roundtable.
I am thrilled today to be joined by
Chris Wassel, president of strategic partnerships at Vantage
Healthcare. Chris, thank you so much for being
with me today. Thanks for having me today.

(00:45):
Can I have you go ahead and introduce
yourself? Tell us a little bit more about
your background and your organization? Yeah. Yeah. So,
again, my name is Chris Wassill. I'm the
head of strategy
and development for Vantage Healthcare.
I have, over twenty years experience
in
health care operations,
strategy,
and value based payment.

(01:06):
With Vantage Healthcare, we're the largest
provider group of its type in New England.
We operate in all six states
to around 220
locations.
We're a mobile,
physician practice, so have about a 110 providers,
and we go on-site to skilled nursing facilities
and assisted living communities. And we participate in,

(01:29):
value based payment programs like ACOs, and we're
looking at I SNPs and other pro such
programs.
Well, that's amazing. And I today, I'd like
to focus our conversation on quality of care.
Mhmm. There's an imperative to reduce costs while
also improving quality and advancing health equity. So
how would you approach aligning these priorities in
your organization's strategic vision?

(01:52):
I think the last couple of years,
there's been more opportunity
for,
practices like ours
and operators such as skilled nursing facilities
to participate in value based payment
programs, and it hasn't been the case in
the past.
And with that, particularly in the skilled nursing
facilities,

(02:13):
most of the patients we serve there are
dual eligible.
And,
with that
and with the value based payment program participation,
particularly with our,
ACO participation,
it provides us with more tools and,
the means to better
treat those dual eligible patients in place, reduce

(02:36):
hospitalizations,
and, also, it gives the opportunity
for
the operators to to participate
and do a better job managing care and
managing patients in place.
Absolutely.
Now I really wanna hone in on that
member satisfaction
here. Member satisfaction is essential to thrive in
today's competitive health care market. What experience or

(02:58):
engagement strategies have proven effective for your organization,
and how are you measuring success?
Yeah. So we
we launched a new service line.
It was about four years ago. So we
started out providing services in skilled nursing facilities,
and we identified a need also,
in assisted living communities.

(03:19):
So,
there was low satisfaction
in some cases with,
patients and their family members
with the health care component of assisted living
communities, which are
typically geared more towards a social model.
So,
you know, with that, we were able to,
create,

(03:40):
a part of our physician practice that delivered
on-site care. A lot of the
dissatisfaction was around having to transfer
patients off-site for their medical appointments and a
lot of other appointments,
and we were able to really eliminate that
by bringing that care on on-site. So it
really increased
satisfaction.

(04:00):
However,
you know, over over time as we've grown
that part of our practice very quickly,
and with that, it's created, you know, other
challenges.
Like, you know, we have heavy family involvement,
so it creates a lot of inquiries
to our nurse care coordinator teams and support
staff. And with all the call volume coming

(04:21):
in, it really
provides an opportunity for us to look at
other ways to manage all that volume and
do a better job to be able to
really meet members' needs as far as follow-up
on those inquiries.
Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for joining
me today.
Again, this is Haley Rucker with the Becker's

(04:41):
Payer Podcast recorded live at the Becker's third
annual spring payer issues roundtable. Chris, thank you
so much. Thank you. Have a good day.