FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: John Marshall, Communications Director
Telephone: 314-842-8655 Ex.189
Email: jmarshall@signaturehealth.net
Website: http://www.signaturefoundation.org
Signature Healthcare Foundation Presents Senator Paul Simon Award to Nurses for Newborns
(St. Louis, October 19, 2006) The Signature Healthcare Foundation is pleased to announce the presentation of the Paul Simon Award to Nurses for Newborns. The award recognizes creative and effective methods to save money and increase business efficiency in the health care system.
To garner the award, Nurses for Newborns adapted the internet-based 4th Dimension (4D) database software to serve as its fully integrated database system. Using the 4D software, Nurses for Newborns staff can enter the homes of patients with their laptops and record the result of each visit as it occurs. This saves a substantial amount in overhead by limiting the workload typically associated with data entry. Data is only entered once – by the nurse when it is fresh on his or her mind – thus decreasing the chances of mistake. Nurses for Newborns can track referrals, pregnancy data, demographics, risk factors and many other variables. The entire process adds up to significant savings when compared to traditional methods of data entry.
In addition, the Nurses for Newborns finance department uses 4D for direct billing, contracts, and payroll, allowing the organization to bill payers electronically, saving hours of work in the process.
According to Herman Noah, President of the Signature Healthcare Foundation Board, “Nurses for Newborns is an excellent example of increasing business efficiency to benefit newborn babies at risk. The Foundation is pleased to recognize the efforts made by Nurses for Newborns in an effort to creatively reduce health care costs. We are proud to recognize the spirit of the late Senator by awarding Paul Simon Awards.”
The Signature Health Care Foundation
Signature Health Care Foundation was formed in 2002 by Signature Health Services, Inc., with a vision to “be a recognized leader in the local and national health care dialogue and spearhead physician leadership in improvements and efficiencies in the health care delivery system.” The mission of the Foundation is to utilize physician leadership to improve the quality, efficiency and affordability of health care in the St. Louis area and nationally. Grants are awarded to not-for-profit organizations that attend the Foundation's annual policy forum. This year's forum was held on the morning of Thursday, October 19, at the Frontenac Hilton.
About Nurses for Newborns
Nurses for Newborns was formed in 1991 when Sharon Rohrbach, RN, was disturbed by the number of newborn infants who were coming into the emergency room and being admitted with life-threatening illnesses that could have been prevented, or dying, because insurance companies had stated sending newborns home at 24 to 48 hours after birth. She recognized the lack of services for special needs, premature, and other high-risk infants in the greater St. Louis area, left her job, and used her own resources to co-found Nurses for Newborns. Since that time, Nurses for Newborns has developed five nurse home visiting safety-net programs that have proven effective with high-risk families over a multi-year period.
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