Geisinger Health System launches ProvenWellness Neighborhood

Geisinger Health System’s ProvenWellness Neighborhood, a model of care that will focus on individuals who are uninsured or under-insured with critical health care needs, recently launched in the Scranton community. The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation awarded a $600,000 grant to support the implementation of the program. The Scranton Area Foundation awarded a $10,000 grant.

With two “care pods,” one based at Geisinger-Mount Pleasant, Scranton, and the other at the Wayne Memorial Community Health Center’s Honesdale Family Health Center, ProvenWellness Neighborhood involves licensed social workers and community health assistants serving the community.

It is to build on the success of Geisinger’s Patient Centered Medical Home (PCHM) program “ProvenHealth Navigator,” a model that encourages a transition away from episodic illness and toward a comprehensive coordinated primary care approach. The program is structured to empower patients to be more informed about their health, better able to navigate the health care system and more equipped to make educated decisions about their health care options.

In its first year, ProvenWellness Neighborhood is anticipated to serve a minimum of 1,000 Medicare, Medicaid and uninsured or under-insured patients. In its second year, it is anticipated to serve 17,000 patients that have not been able to connect with health care in the traditional ways. In May alone, when referrals began to arrive, more than 70 people were served through the program.