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Family First Health

A community health care center

Family First Health open enrollment sessions

enrollmentOpen enrollment runs from Nov. 1 to Jan. 31, 2016. Get some help from your Family First Health friends at one of our enrollment sessions.

From July 1 to Sept. 30, we’ve helped 197 clients with a total of 144 enrollments. Make a plan to come on down and let us help you, too.

Before you come, make sure you have everything you need.

York City

Held at the George Street Center, 116 S. George St.

  • Thursday, Nov. 12, 12 to 6 p.m.
  • Thursday, Nov. 19, 12 to 6 p.m.
  • Thursday, Dec. 17, 12 to 7 p.m.
  • Thursday, Jan. 14, 12 to 6 p.m.
  • Thursday, Jan. 21, 12 to 6 p.m.
  • Thursday, Jan. 28, 12 to 6 p.m.

Gettysburg

Held at SCCAP, 153 N. Stratton St.

  • Thursday, Dec. 3, 2 to 7 p.m.

Hanover 

Held at Guthrie Memorial Library, 2 Library Place

  • Thursday, Dec. 10, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Held at Hanover Wellness Center, 400 York St.

  • Thursday, Jan. 7, 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Things you need before you enroll in the healthcare marketplace

  1. From Flickr.
    From Flickr.

    Information about your household. Figure out who’s applying for coverage before you start your application. Click here for help to determine who needs coverage.

  2. Home and/or mailing addresses for everyone applying for coverage.
  3. Information about everyone applying for coverage.
  4. Social Security Numbers
  5. Information about the professional helping you apply. If you’re getting help applying, click here for help.
  6. Document information for legal immigrants. Need help? Click here.
  7. Information on how you file your taxes.
  8. Employer and income information for every member of your household (for example, from pay stubs or W-2 forms — Wage and Tax Statements). Learn what to include or not.
  9. Policy numbers for any current health insurance plans covering members of your household.
  10. A completed “Employer Coverage Tool” for every job-based plan you or someone in your household is eligible for. View or print the tool here.
  11. Notices from your current plan that include your plan ID, if you have or had health coverage in 2015.

Healthy choices and apples with Bells

Our friends at Bells Socialization Services pose with Archie the apple.
Our friends at Bells Socialization Services pose with Archie the apple.

Archie and I took a trip down the block today to visit our friends at Bells Socialization Services to talk about healthy choices and our Starts with Apples campaign. It was great timing as their healthy choice snack that day was apples and peanut butter.

All month, we at Family First Health have been touting the importance of small healthy choices like — posture, walking, hydration.

After we took time to pose with Archie and talk about Starts with Apples, the group sat down to learn about apples. Plus I got handouts so I could share with you.

Snack time at Bells!
Snack time at Bells!

10 reasons to eat apples

  1. Apples are full of fiber — 5 grams of them. That helps reduce intestinal disorders, helps control insulin levels and cleanses and detoxifies.
  2. Apple pectin helps reduce cholesterol levels.
  3. Five apples a week lowers the risk for respiratory diseases, according to two studies.
  4. Apples strengthen the heart, quench thirst, lubricate the lungs, decrease mucous and increase bodily fluids.
  5. Apple cider vinegar can help prevent the formation of kidney stones.
  6. Eating apples daily can reduce skin diseases.
  7. A Brazilian study said an apple before each meal helped women lose 33 percent more weight than those who didn’t.
  8. An apple has 50-80 calories and no fat or sodium.
  9. Apples have vitamins A, C and flavonoids with smaller amounts of phosphorus, iron and calcium.
  10. Apples have potassium which may promote heart health.

Is it bad to put peanut butter on apples?

Nah, at least not in moderation and as long as you choose natural peanut butter over regular. Because peanut butter is: a GOOD fat source, source of protein and fiber and high in energy.

Peanut butter also helps control hunger, lower colon cancer risk in women, helps against memory impairment, prevents gallstones, lowers Type 2 diabetes and lowers the risk of heart disease.

So chop up that apple and smear some natural peanut butter on!

Beyond the office visit with Caring Together

Here's just a few of our amazing Caring Together staff. From left, Tadd, Carrie, Shannon and Eartha.
Here’s just a few of our amazing Caring Together staff. From left, Tadd, Carrie, Shannon and Eartha.

Since I’ve started here as the Marketing and Outreach Coordinator, I’ve heard so many stories that show not only how much our staff loves the work caring for you, but also how far many of them are willing to go to care beyond our walls.

Most of us only see our doctors during a visit — maybe 20-30 minutes at most. We call for prescriptions or emergency visits. But here at Family First Health, I’ve seen so many people go above and beyond.

Taking Caring Together for an amazing example that, yes, made me cry.

On a recent day, a Caring Together client — we’ll call her Sarah — came in for a visit to get her set up for HIV meds. Sarah was really feeling poorly and we had to call an ambulance to get her some additional care. As they wheeled her out, several of our staff stood in tears, and her case manager Carrie Prowell walked her to the elevator saying she’d be in touch soon.

[Read more…] about Beyond the office visit with Caring Together

Understanding health starts with you

This month is Family First Health’s Starts With Apples campaign.

It nicely coincides with October being Health Literacy Month.

You might say — in the words of my Alabama kin — “Do what?”

Understanding health information and using that information to make good decisions about your health is called health literacy — and according to the 2015 Community Health Needs Assessment conducted by the Healthy York County Coalition, it’s an area that both York and Adams counties are struggling in.

Our CEO Jenny Englerth wrote that in a letter to the editor for the York Daily Record/Sunday News.

Take a listen to our Community 106.1 spot on health literacy and we’ll come back to what we can do about it.

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Here at Family First Health, we think this starts in the workplace. After all, the average person spends 90,000 hours at work in his or her lifetime. It doesn’t have to be a giant overall, you can start with baby steps.

  • Park a little farther away than usual.
  • Take the stairs not the elevator.
  • Set a timer to remind yourself to get up and walk around during the day.
  • Put an apple in your lunchbox.

An apple a day is the start to good health. The rest is up to you.

Family First Health Minute to hit the airwaves

Family First Health will be joining up with Community 106.1 to offer quick tips and information about your health.

Each month, we’ll address a few different topics of interest to you, and offer resources and other information here.

Community 106.1 is a community radio station being run out of First St. John’s Lutheran Church in York.

Listen to the first installment recognizing October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

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Facts about breast cancer from the National Breast Cancer Association.

  • One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.
  • Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women.
  • Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death among women.
  • Each year it is estimated that over 220,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,000 will die.
  • Although breast cancer in men is rare, an estimated 2,150 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and approximately 410 will die each year.

Take a look at genetic and environmental risk factors here.

So what should you do?

Be aware of your body. Recognize symptoms. Do regular self exams and mammograms. And never ever hesitate to talk to your doctor.

Busy vs. Productive: What’s the difference?

In our last blog post, we introduced the topic of the business of dentistry and the five areas we focus on to develop our business skills: budget, support staff, provider buy-in, revenue and the difference between being busy and productive. Over the next several posts, we’ll cover each topic in more detail.
First up? Busy vs. productive.
Busy is a word often used in dentistry, and it can be synonymous with working hard. Or, it can reflect full schedules with lots of unguided activity. In fact, being “busy” in a practice can be a desperate situation if the practice is not generating adequate revenue.
In our world, busy and productive have different definitions. Busy is working hard in a way that is not connected to the fiscal health of the practice. Productive is meeting the needs of all interested parties while generating adequate revenue.
It can be difficult to know the difference. To be productive you have to understand your patient demographics, the skillsets of your providers, practice overhead and how much revenue is generated by each procedure. Once leadership understands the variables that shape your practice, you can use them to set a productivity goal.
Acting with a productivity goal as a guide will help to create harmony in your practice: Staff feel as if they can manage their work load, patients’ needs are being met and providers are providing reliable care — all while the practice is generating enough revenue to cover its expenses and produce a surplus to allow for long-term planning.
How do you become productive?  View the dentistry your practice produces through a different lens.
  • How long do procedures take in your practice? 
  • What time of day do you and your patients prefer to have procedures done?
  •  Is the practiced staffed at the same level throughout the day?
  •  Do you have enough equipment to have multiple providers complete the same procedures at the same time?
  • What procedures are your providers good at? 

 

Once these questions are answered, the practice can began the journey toward productivity. Start by reviewing the monthly budget to determine how much money the practice must generate to cover its costs. Decide how many days you have to achieve that goal, then set each day’s productivity goal accordingly.
Once you have an idea of how productive your practice needs to be, decide your procedure mix for the day based on revenue potential for each procedure, demand for procedures and the skillset of your providers.  Create a template of ideal day scheduling, and direct your front desk to schedule appropriately.
At Family First Health, our goal for our dental practice is to have the day’s productivity goals met before lunch and the month’s productivity goal achieved in the first half of the month.
We’re an ambitious crew!

 

Stay tuned for upcoming posts as we dive into budget, support staff, provider buy-in and revenue.

Depression or just feeling blue?

Shared from Flickr user ashleyrosex
Shared from Flickr user ashleyrosex

Friday is Depression Screening Day, so we’ll take a look at the issue and how to get help if you need it.

In York and Adams Counties, 3 in 5 adults report having one or more days with depressive symptoms during the past two weeks. And if you’re not one of those 3 in 5, then odds are someone you love is likely to experience it.

The Healthy York County Coalition and Health Adams County have joined to create feeling-blue.com, to raise awareness and provide some tools

So how do you know if you’re depressed or just feeling blue?

We all have times were we feel sad, but if that’s happening for a long time or every day tasks are hard to complete, then it may be depression.

Here are some signs:

  • Sad and hopeless
  • Lost interest in activities
  • Problems sleeping
  • Tired
  • Nervous or restless
  • Guilty or useless
  • Problems with memory
  • Headaches or stomachaches
  • Appetite change

Please talk about your doctor if you think you might be depressed. If you’re feeling suicidal, don’t wait. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline right away at 1-800-273-8255.

Resources:

Visit these sites for some ways to help.

Family First Health staffer wins Patient Choice Award

Nelly and her husband Angel are surrounded by Family First Health staff after she received the Patient Choice Award.
Nelly and her husband Angel are surrounded by Family First Health staff after she received the Patient Choice Award.

While many Family First Health staff members attended the Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers to listen to speakers and panelists talk about healthcare and better ways to serve you, it was a different experience for one of our own.

The 2015 APEX Awards Luncheon is an annual chance for PACHC to recognize outstanding individuals and teams who have made a significant contribution to primary healthcare in Pennsylvania. The winners were all nominated by their staff.

But one of the awards put the nomination directly in the hands of the patients. And this year, medical receptionist Nelly Quiles took home the honors of the Patient Choice Award for a non-clinician.

Nelly Quiles stands as she's recognized for the Patient Choice Award.
Nelly Quiles stands as she’s recognized for the Patient Choice Award.

Joined by her husband (and co-worker) Angel, and a handful of FFH staff, Nelly was thanked and applauded for all the work she does for you, and for us.

Here are some examples of some of your nominations. Read all of the nominations here.

Mrs. Quiles is always a pleasure to interact with. She has always been willing and ready to deal with clients and demonstrating respect and patients. Mrs. Quiles is very deserving of this award in my personal and professional opinion.

Because she is very friendly and helps everybody. She goes above and beyond with any patient in the clinic.

After the passing of my husband and my grief, she gave me good advice and counseling to my pain. Gave me a good outlook on the future.

I have chosen Nelly Quiles because since my first visit here at the clinic, she made me feel welcome like if she’s known me for a long time. That made me feel very happy hear. She is a very well spoken and respectable lady. I am glad to have met her and I wish her all the best.

The long and short of it? Patients love Nelly’s smile, her willingness to help, and most say she is very nice. Thank you Nelly for all you do!