OneWorld Community Health Centers | EXCHANGE Issue 1 , 2024
HIGHER LEVEL OF SERVICE Page 6
FROM OUR CEO
Every day, we
witness the challenges and struggles faced by individuals and
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Medical Assistant Apprenticeship Program
families seeking access to essential services. Whether it is medical treatment, mental health support or community resources, OneWorld plays a critical role in bridging the gap between need and accessibility. By providing access, we are not only improving the well-being of individual patients but also strengthening our community for generations to come. When patients receive the care they need, they are better equipped to lead healthy and fulfilling lives. They can pursue their goals, contribute to their communities and inspire future generations to prioritize their health and well-being. Our commitment to providing access is reflected in our mission to care for all people. By breaking down barriers, we are creating a brighter and more equitable future. Thank you for your dedication to serving our community with compassion and excellence. Together, we have the power to make a difference.
Checking off the boxes
Higher level of service
Committing to health equity
12 Excellence at work 14 Community Matters
This year’s Onesies for OneWorld event was a total success! Thanks to the generous contributions of our donors, sponsors and community partners, we raised over $50,000. The funds will go towards our Baby Boutique and benefit our patients directly, providing baby clothes, diapers and baby care items. We want to extend an extra thank you to our sponsors, American National Bank, Hiland Dairy, Lozier Foundation, Nebraska Medicine, WoodmenLife and KETV for your support in this year’s event. Thank you for helping our tiniest patients and their families get a strong start!
Andrea M. Skolkin Chief Executive Officer
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OneWorld’s Medical Assistant Apprenticeship Program allows medical assistants to earn their Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) certification.
OneWorld’s apprenticeship program helps employees earn clinical medical assistant certification
Since July 2022, OneWorld’s Medical Assistant Apprenticeship Program has helped over 30 medical assistants earn their Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) certification. The program, funded by the Health Center Association of Nebraska and Direct Relief, is hosted online by the National Healthcareer Association and is an integral component of OneWorld’s new Pathways Program. Participants complete 17 modules at their own pace, and once completed, take the official CCMA exam. “Our health assistants have Certified Nursing Assistant certificates, which provides them with basic knowledge of things like vital ranges, but does not explain why those vital signs are important,” said Amari Ware, MSN/MBA, RN, Clinical Education and Regulatory Manager. “The CCMA certificate elevates their knowledge, and helps them appreciate what their patients are going through because they know the why behind things.” Ware leads one cohort of 4-6 staff through the apprenticeship program every 5-6 months. During the course, Ware monitors the progress of each participant to ensure they are working through the coursework and are prepared to take the exam.
In addition to the modules, six practice tests are available that provide a focused review to help each participant know areas they need to focus on reviewing to be successful on their official test. The exam is 180 questions with a 3-hour limit. Ware said the exam is applied-knowledge and scenario-based, so it combines knowledge learned from the course with critical thinking skills. “This program has been great for our employees,” said Ware. “I had one participant who was so grateful and said that between work and kids she never thought she would be able to get her certificate, but this program gave her that opportunity.” Once participants earn their certificate, they also receive a pay increase to reflect their hard work in earning their certification. Ware said she is hopeful that every OneWorld health assistant will have the opportunity to complete the apprenticeship program. “This program benefits our staff, and that has a ripple effect,” said Ware. “The more well-versed and knowledgeable our employees are the better care we can provide for our community.”
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CHECKING BOXES OFF THE
Tess Copperstone, Health Assistant, joined the OneWorld team in January 2024.
OneWorld patient improves mental health, seeks to help others do the same
Before Tess Copperstone joined OneWorld as a Health Assistant, she was a young woman struggling with her mental health in need of a new primary care clinician in Omaha. She had recently moved from a small town in Iowa and realized the 1.5-hour roundtrip drive for medical appointments was not feasible. At the time, Copperstone worked in the pharmacy department for Nebraska Medicine, and said the OneWorld patients she worked with who went to Nebraska Medicine for specialty care spoke highly of OneWorld.
“I took their experiences into consideration, and decided to call to make myself an appointment,” said Copperstone. “I was really struggling with my mental health, so I’m very grateful that I took the initiative to schedule that appointment and get the help that I needed.” The day of her appointment at the Teen and Young Adult Health Center South clinic, Copperstone walked into her assigned exam room with a written list of her needs. She began talking to Amy Lacroix, MD, Pediatrician, and said she immediately felt heard.
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“Dr. Lacroix was very thorough, and I am appreciative of that because it made me feel like she really cared about me as a person and wanted to help me,” said Copperstone. One of the major items on Copperstone’s list was her personal concerns about her mental health. Copperstone said that Dr. Lacroix spoke with her about adding therapy into her care plan, and arranged for Kevin Heeb, PLMHP, Behavioral Health Therapist, to join the appointment. “I had no idea that I was going to be able to start therapy that day,” said Copperstone. “Everything on my list and more was met within one appointment.” Since her first appointment, Copperstone has continued to see Sage Volk, PLMHP, OneWorld Behavioral Health Intern, every 3-4 weeks for therapy sessions. She has also maintained quarterly appointments with Dr. Lacroix to make adjustments as needed to her care plan to help Copperstone stay on the path of improving her health. “I’m happy to say I am in a much better place now than when I first came to OneWorld,” said Copperstone. In January of 2024, Copperstone went from patient to staff by joining the team of health assistants. Copperstone said she aspires to attend nursing school and saw the opportunity to work as a health assistant as a way to further her career and prepare for nursing school. While working in the medical setting is not new for Copperstone, she said she is looking forward
Copperstone works with Arely Ruiz, Clinic Supervisor, at OneWorld Plattsmouth.
to learning new skills and being directly involved with patient care. “My personal experiences give me a unique perspective of the importance of whole person care,” said Copperstone. “I’m looking forward to helping patients complete their check lists of needs, just like how the team at Teen and Young Adult Health Center South did for me.”
Increasing access to traditional behavioral health therapy In 2023, OneWorld officially added traditional behavioral health services to increase access to mental health services for patients and the community. These efforts began with providing traditional therapy at Millard South High School. This service has expanded to OneWorld’s primary care setting as well through the addition of multiple therapists.
Behavioral Health Therapist, Kevin Heeb, PLMHP, serves as the primary clinician at Millard South High School. Offering these services directly in the school removes many access barriers and helps normalize therapy for teenagers and their parents/guardians.
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OneWorld Pharmacy medication packaging program simplifies medication management HIGHER LEVEL OF SERVICE
When it comes to taking medication, daily routines involve counting pills and remembering what dosage and time to take each prescription. This requires constant management and can be mentally exhausting, especially for individuals with a complex prescription regimen. When medications are not taken as prescribed or forgotten, they cannot work as they are meant to and do not help the patient improve their health. The OneWorld Pharmacy’s
track and stay on track,” said OneWorld Pharmacist, Elizabeth Marquez, PharmD. “Every patient in this program can have full confidence that their packs are correct, and that’s because we put a lot care and time into every package.” In 2021, OneWorld purchased the Parata Perl PASS machine that takes all of a patient’s prescriptions and packages them into individual pouches by date and time for 1-3 months at a time. Each pill pouch has the patient’s name, the name of each medication
Medication Unit- dose Packaging Program removes the difficulties that come with managing medication, so patients can stop worrying about when and if they took their medications and start focusing on bettering their health. “We help patients keep
in the pouch, prescription number and other legal requirements printed in addition to the date and time. This ensures patients have
access to all of the medication information they need. To start out, the pharmacy team, led by Dr. Marquez and OneWorld Pharmacist,
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OneWorld Pharmacists, Elizabeth Marquez, PharmD, and Amy Schafer, PharmD, lead the medication packaging program.
Amy Schafer, PharmD, worked with OneWorld clinical pharmacists to identify patients who needed help managing their medications and outreached to OneWorld clinicians. Today, the program has nearly 150 patients actively using this program for their medications. “This program provides a higher level of service,” said Dr. Marquez. “If the dosage is for a half pill, we split the pill in half so the patient doesn’t have to worry. We do all of the work on the back end to make sure the right dosage is going in the right pouch at the right time.” Before beginning the packaging process, Dr. Marquez said the team looks through the patient’s chart information to confirm current
prescriptions, look for upcoming appointments, possibilities for discontinuing a medication and adding or changing medications. This is done to ensure the prescriptions included in the patients’ pack are up-to-date and accurate. The pharmacy team also tracks when each patient’s current set of pouches will be out, when they are due for their next set and stays in contact with patients to make sure they are staying on track. In addition to accuracy, customization is a major part of the medication packing process. “We speak with each patient about their preferences for taking their medications,” said Dr. Marquez. “The packing process is very
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The pharmacy team utilizes the Parata PASS Safe Loader to ensure medications are accurately packaged.
customizable. For example, we can split up pills that need to be taken on an empty stomach from pills that need to be taken with food so there is no need for the patient to remember.” Dr. Marquez said that while most medications can be packaged with other medications, there are exceptions. Some manufacturers specify that their tablets must be kept in their original containers. Other prescription products such as inhalers, loose powders, liquids or creams and ointments cannot be packaged in this system.
For these medications, the pharmacy team inserts a reminder pouch into the package. These pouches are empty, but are included at the appropriate time of day with the medication information on the pouch to serve as a reminder. This program comes at no additional cost to patients. The only fee patients are responsible for is for the dispensing of the medications themselves. Dr. Marquez said an additional benefit for adult children who care for their parents and manage their medications is that these packages make it
“
We are excited about this program because we feel it has made a difference. We have seen great results and we are excited to continue to provide this high-quality service and care for our patients.”
OneWorld Pharmacist, Elizabeth Marquez, PharmD
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The Parata Perl PASS machine packages medications into individual pouches that indicate date and time of day.
easier to identify if their parent is not taking their medications. “With individual pill bottles, it can take longer to identify medication lapses, which can cause harm to the patient,” said Dr. Marquez. “This program takes away that guess work.” The pharmacy team continues to find ways to make this program accessible for non-English speakers and individuals who cannot read. For Spanish-speaking patients, the machine can print the time of day in Spanish to
make interpreting the pouches easier. For low-literacy individuals, the team creates a color-coding system to differentiate the times for each pouch. Once the patterns are established, all they have to do is look at the color to know they are taking the right pouch. “We are excited about this program because we feel it has made a difference,” said Dr. Marquez. “We have seen great results and we are excited to continue to provide this high-quality service and care for our patients.”
Affordable medications for the community All community members, regardless of patient status, are welcome to use the OneWorld Pharmacy. OneWorld offers discounted and/or competitive prices for prescriptions and over-the-counter medication, both generic and name brand. On average, filling a prescription at OneWorld for a patient costs 20-50% less than filling at other pharmacies. Insurance, Medicaid or Medicare is welcome, but coverage is not required for care.
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Health Equity Committing to
OneWorld staff partnered with Nebraska Medicine to help patients receive colonoscopy screenings.
OneWorld partners with Nebraska Medicine to increase access to colonoscopy screenings
In 2021, OneWorld, in partnership with Nebraska Medicine, launched a program to help uninsured patients receive colonoscopies for no cost. That year, the program helped six individuals. Two short years later, the program has helped over 100 uninsured patients, equating to over $1 million in savings for patients. “One of the main barriers to getting a colonoscopy for uninsured patients is cost,” said
Jennifer Mayhew, Chief Administrative Officer. “Without insurance, these screenings can cost upwards of $8,000 out of pocket.” Mayhew said in addition to cost, there is hesitancy to be screened because of the possibility of finding something cancerous or that would otherwise require further treatment. “We don’t only want to screen people for cancer, we want there to be resources to use if there is a diagnosis,” said Mayhew.
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The development of this program began in 2019, when OneWorld leadership met with leaders of Bellevue Medical Center, including Robert Taylor, MD, General Surgeon, to discuss providing colonoscopies for patients at no cost. Once the details of the program were finalized, the next step was to identify
said Reyes Sanchez. “We are able to be very timely, and this is great for many reasons. One of those being if there is a cancer diagnosis, the sooner it is detected, the better.” Out of the over 100 colonoscopies performed, polyps (growths on the inside of the colon lining) have been the most common discovery. These growths are removable, and when removed, help decrease an individual’s risk for colon cancer. Mayhew said one patient has received a colon cancer diagnosis, but because the patient was a part of the colonoscopy program, they were able to transition them quickly from diagnosis to establishing oncology care at Nebraska Medicine. Colonoscopy screenings are recommended every 10 years after the age of 45 on average, however if a patient’s colonoscopy screening yields abnormal results, they can be referred for screening that is more frequent. Patients who participate in the OneWorld and Nebraska Medicine colonoscopy-screening program are eligible for more than one screening to ensure they have access to this critical service. “There is a lot of desire for continuity in studies,” said Mayhew. “Not only do patients know what to expect and what physicians they will work with, but all of their records are kept in one place, which is a huge benefit for the patient and medical team.” Reyes Sanchez said since this program began, OneWorld is seeing greater completion rates for colonoscopies, especially among Hispanic males. “In the past, this was a struggle to get patients in for their colonoscopies, but we are completing more and that is a great indicator that our patients trust us and are seeing the importance of these screenings.” As the program continues to grow, Mayhew said she is looking forward to watching the momentum change for the better as the understanding of the importance of these screenings and willingness to get these screenings done increases amongst the populations OneWorld serves. “This program got started because of Dr. Taylor’s desire to provide these services at no cost, Nebraska Medicine’s willingness to be partners in health equity and OneWorld’s commitment to increasing access to care,” said Mayhew. “There have been so many individuals involved in this program, there is not enough thanks to go around.”
Robert Taylor, MD General Surgeon at Bellevue Medical Center
patients for the program. Aside from requiring patients to be uninsured, Susana Reyes Sanchez, Associate Director of Operations, said OneWorld targets patients who are considered high risk due to family history of cancer and patients who have positive fecal occult blood tests. OneWorld staff provide case management for all program participants, and serve as the liaison between OneWorld and Nebraska Medicine to help overcome language barriers, coordinate transportation as needed, confirm patients’
finances are aligned and other communication pieces with the medical teams. With the idea to continue increasing access, Quan Ly, MD, Surgical Oncologist at Nebraska Medicine, reached out to OneWorld in 2021. Mayhew
Quan Ly, MD Surgical Oncologist at Nebraska Medicine
said Dr. Ly has played a large role in the expansion of the colonoscopy program, helping add Nebraska Medicine’s main campus as another location for patients to get their screenings. “Dr. Ly helped us take the data we have along with our challenges and successes to advocate for this service to expand,” said Mayhew. “By adding the main campus, this program can grow because the campus is bigger and has more capacity.” In addition to not worrying about cost, patients in this program are able to get their screenings completed within 1-2 months on average. Across Nebraska, there are a limited number of gastrointestinal physicians. This has resulted in wait lists that are at least nine months long for services including colonoscopy screenings. “Our program removes that availability barrier,”
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EXCELLENCE AT WORK Certification Recognition Over the last five months, Health Assistants, Luz Priscila Lopez and Giselle Garcia Martinez have studied, practiced and demonstrated their skills and knowledge to earn their limited radiography technician certifications through the OneWorld Pathways Program supported by Direct Relief. With these certifications, Priscila Lopez and Garcia Martinez will be able to perform radiography for the chest, spine, arms and shoulder areas. “This certification has enhanced Luz and Giselle’s skills and helped them grow professionally, which ultimately translates to the OneWorld Radiology team being able to provide better services and expertise as a whole,” said OneWorld Quick Sick and Radiology Clinical Department Manager, Adrian Fernandez.
Luz Priscila Lopez, Health Assistant
Giselle Garcia Martinez, Health Assistant
Gender Affirming Care Hotline
EXCELLENCE IN CARE
In June 2023, OneWorld created the gender affirming care taskforce. The group is made up of clinicians, operations, nursing and administrative leaders who are dedicated to improving gender affirming care services at OneWorld. To help streamline care, the gender affirming care taskforce designated the OneWorld Teen and Young Adult Health Center West as the entry point for gender affirming care. The main number, (402) 769-7077, is also now the number for the new Gender Affirming Care Hotline. Associate Director of Nursing, Tania Murrell, said the staff are very knowledgeable and familiar with LGBTQIA2S+ health care and are excellent stewards for gender affirming care services. “I think this hotline is a small step toward building trust and eliminating the disparity that currently exists,” said Murrell. “We are trying to build a safe place where we can care for all people and show that we are knowledgeable and welcoming.” In addition to increasing access to care, the taskforce is committed to staying up to date with changes in legislation to ensure that patients can trust that OneWorld is providing safe care.
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Schedule your child’s appointment online anywhere, anytime with our Patient Portal. • Covid-19 and flu vaccinations • Follow-ups • Immunizations • Sick visits • Well-child checks • School and sports physicals
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COMMUNITY MATTERS
For over two decades, OneWorld has hosted a monthly tuberculosis clinic to provide treatment for individuals diagnosed with latent TB. Individuals are screened for TB at the OneWorld Quick Sick Clinic or during a medical appointment. If the screening comes back positive, OneWorld schedules a chest x-ray to determine if the TB infection is active or latent. For positive/abnormal chest x-rays, OneWorld confers with the Douglas County Public Health Department to ensure individuals begin their treatment right away to limit the risk
Individuals can get screened for tuberculosis at the OneWorld Quick Sick Clinic.
financial or language assistance. OneWorld’s TB clinics and screening efforts help maintain the low numbers of TB-related infection in the Greater Omaha area and prevent public health outbreaks. These proactive services help all members of the community have access to quality health care.
Once treatment is completed, patients receive a treatment completion card and letter to refer to for future needs. Regardless of TB type, OneWorld provides case management to ensure patients have a staff member to consult for questions and a direct resource for other needs such as
of a public health outbreak. For negative/normal chest
x-rays, OneWorld offers four- and nine- month treatment regimens. During patients’ first appointments, OneWorld clinicians review treatment plans and potential side effects and complete a blood draw to monitor the effects of the treatment.
Because Community Matters.
VOLUNTEER AT ONEWORLD
ABOUT QUICK SICK CLINIC
The OneWorld Quick Sick Clinic provides same-day, convenient care for minor injuries and illnesses. As a walk-in clinic, the focus is on making quality care accessible by staying open evenings and on weekends. Staffed by medical professionals and clinicians trained to provide care for colds, earaches, flu, rashes, stitches, upper respiratory and sinus issues and more, the clinic is a vital community resource. Testing for pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections is also available.
OneWorld volunteers help bring our mission to life. Join people from diverse cultures and make a positive impact in the health and well-being of OneWorld patients.
For more information, visit oneworldomaha.org.
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Andrea Skolkin Chief Executive Officer (402) 502-8842 askolkin@oneworldomaha.org
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