Population Health nurses populating Naval Hospital Bremerton

Photo By Douglas Stutz | Members of the Puget Sound Military Health System and Population Health and Forecasting Coordinator, Dan Frederick, MD welcome Kristin Thorstenson, RN, to Naval Hospital Bremerton. Ms. Thorstenson is the first of five Population Health Nurses to join the Navy primary care clinics. Pictured from left: Dan Frederick, MD; Kristin Thorstenson, RN; Tara Bruce, RN; Lt. Col. Bing Tan-Winters; and Lt. Cmdr. Kirt C. Nilsson (Photo by Douglas H. Stutz, Naval Hospital Bremerton).  

BREMERTON, WA, UNITED STATES

04.10.2017

Courtesy Story

Medical Readiness Command, Pacific

By Carrie Petershagen
Puget Sound Military Health System

In an effort to enhance the overall patient experience, population health nurses recently joined the primary care team at Naval Hospital Bremerton's medical home ports. The nursing positions were made possible through a partnership with the Army that focuses on improving disease management for the Navy's patient population within the Puget Sound Military Health System (MHS).

“We are following the Madigan Army Medical Center model started several years ago in which population health nurses work side-by-side with the entire primary care clinic support staff and primary care providers,” said Dr. Dan Frederick, Naval Hospital Bremerton Population Health and Forecasting coordinator.

Population health is an area of medicine devoted to helping the primary care population address both acute care issues and preventive health needs. There is a focus on patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes or heart disease. These nurses work behind the scenes to help physicians identify which of their patients are due for certain screenings, exams and immunizations.

Naval Hospital Bremerton nurses will also collaborate with other population health nurses throughout the Puget Sound MHS to share ideas, process workflows and best practices.

“These nurses will help ensure the comprehensive preventive health needs of our patients are addressed at each clinic visit and allow us to better partner with our patients to help them move toward better health,” Frederick said. “We look forward to demonstrating a high benefit return and expect to see a more engaged and healthier patient population.”

What is the Puget Sound MHS?
The Puget Sound MHS is an integrated medical market consisting of Army, Navy and Air Force medical treatment facilities providing care to over 288,500 local beneficiaries. Working together across service lines ensure service members, retirees and families receive timely access to high-quality health care. The need for an integrated, responsive health system has never been more crucial. Collaboration improves access to care, removes unnecessary redundancies, reduces variation in care and will ultimately improve patient experiences while maintaining fiscal efficiencies in a resource constrained environment.

• Date Taken: 04.10.2017
• Date Posted: 04.10.2017 13:49
• Story ID: 229826
• Location: BREMERTON, WA, US
• Hometown: BREMERTON, WA, US