Announcements

CNE Talks Your Health - Get Your Body Moving!
The May issue of CNE Talks Your Health is focused on getting your body moving. Stories include the benefits of riding your bike (maybe even to work), how the sun can help to enhance your mood, exercising while pregnant, and tips from our experts on dealing with spring allergies. So, what are you waiting for? Grab your sneaks and get your body moving!

CNE Talks Your Health: Help Seniors Age Gracefully
They’ve raised children and sometimes grandchildren. But what happens when the seniors in our lives need our help? With our busy schedules – one or two jobs, children with activities, and various other commitments – how can we make their lives easier, safer and happier as they slow down? Learn More

CNE Talks Your Health: Make Primary Care a Primary Focus
We’re good about bringing our kids to their regular well visits at the pediatrician’s and pretty reliable when it comes to chauffeuring elderly relatives for their doctor’s appointments. Why then are we so quick to put off our own primary care visits? Why does it often take a major illness or health scare to get our attention? The March issue of CNE Talks Your Health is focused on making primary care a priority. Learn More

Care New England and The Providence Center Announce Affiliation
With the goal of enhancing the delivery of behavioral health care in the region, Care New England and The Providence Center have entered into an affiliation agreement that will integrate and strengthen behavioral health services across community-based and hospital-based systems of care. The agreement will enable patients to gain access to all levels of care in a seamless and coordinated way. Details

Care New England Partners with Epic for Ambulatory EMR
Care New England has announced the selection of Epic as its new ambulatory clinical information technology partner. The benefit will be improved coordination of information to advance patient care and enhanced interoperability with CNE hospitals and other providers in the state. Details

CNE Talks Your Health: Injury on the Brain
On any given Saturday afternoon in America, thousands of kids are running around fields, gym floors and courts, chasing down a soccer ball, zinging a shot at the hockey net, or jockeying for possession of the pigskin. Many of them will be tackled, bumped to the floor or smashed into a wall in their quest. Just how many of those seemingly innocent plays could result in brain injuries in the long run is anybody's guess. Sign up for the free monthly eNewsletter. Read more

CNE, Memorial Hospital of RI Submit Affiliation Agreement and Applications
Care New England and Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island marked another milestone in their proposed new partnership with the filing of the Affiliation Agreement and required applications with the Rhode Island Department of Health, the RI Attorney General’s Office and the Federal Trade Commission. Read more

CNE and Memorial Hospital of RI Move Closer to Partnership
In a significant milestone toward joining together, Care New England (CNE) and Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island (MHRI) have reached a definitive agreement to establish MHRI as a hospital partner in the CNE system. Details

CNE Talks Health: Diabetes Awareness
Diabetes can strike anyone at any time. Just because Diabetes Awareness month is over doesn't mean our efforts to educate the community is. CNE Talks Health recently participated in a series of lectures devoted to building awareness and prevention of diabetes. Listen to experts from the CNE operating units discuss the latest treatments, and information about providing care after a diabetes diagnosis. Read more

CNE Talks: Healthy Holiday Resource Guide
The holiday season can only be merry and bright if you feel healthy, both physically and mentally. Taking care of yourself should be at the top of every to-do list your write. Care New England offers a wealth of resources that can help. Learn More

Care New England Launches CNE Talks Health: Diabetes
The second installment of the CNE Talks Health campaign, a Care New England (CNE) health and wellness initiative, launched on Saturday, November 3rd with a focus on diabetes. The campaign - includes experts discussing diabetes prevention, the latest treatments, and information about providing care after being diagnosed with diabetes. Fill out the questionnaire for a chance to win a great prize! Read more

CNE Facilities Experiencing Email Issues
Care New England facilities are experiencing issues sending and receiving email. CNE Information Services is aware of the problem and working to resolve it as soon as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Details

CNE Joins National Initiative to Honor End-of-Life Care Wishes
Care New England has joined with five other pioneering organizations to support a new effort by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) to better prepare health care providers to receive and respect patients’ wishes about end-of-life care. Read more

Care New England and Memorial Hospital Sign Letter of Intent
Care New England (CNE) and Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island (MHRI) have cleared the first step in their partnership discussions with the signing of a Letter of Intent. The letter signals that, at this point in the due diligence phase, both entities are reaffirming the opportunities for enhanced patient care, complementary services and strong growth in the future. Details

Care New England Names Diane Lipscombe, PhD, to Board of Directors
Care New England has announced the appointment of Diane Lipscombe, PhD, to the Care New England Board of Directors. Dr. Lipscombe is a professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Brown University where she has served on the faculty since 1990. Details

Blue Cross Blue Shield and Care New England Sign Letter of Intent
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and Care New England have agreed to reopen their contract one year early to create a partnership that will further improve healthcare delivery and patient health, while slowing increases in healthcare costs. The Letter of Intent (LOI) creates a long-term strategic partnership designed to provide members with an innovative model of care that more quickly advances health system transformation in Rhode Island. Details

CNE Names Executives to System Posts
Toward readying Care New England for the new health care environment, several administrative and physician executives within the system have been appointed to new roles. Details

Memorial Hospital of RI to explore partnership with Care New England
Encouraged by the possibility of complementary services, enhanced patient care and the opportunity for strong growth into the future, Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island and Care New England announced they are entering partnership discussions in a joint statement released by Arthur DeBlois, acting president and chief executive officer of MHRI, and Dennis D. Keefe, president and CEO of Care New England. Details

41 Physicians from Care New England Named Top Docs
Forty-one physicians at the Care New England hospitals – Butler Hospital, Kent Hospital, and Women & Infants Hospital – have been named to Rhode Island Monthly's 2012 list of Top Docs.The list appears in the May issue, now on newsstands. Details

Prenatal Meth Use Creates Behavior Problems
Dr. Linda Lagasse from Women & Infants' Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk has led a team whose research was published in today's Pediatrics. Details

Women & Infants Physician Honored for Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Excellence
Betty R. Vohr, MD, director of Women & Infants Hospital's Neonatal Follow-Up Clinic and medical director of the Rhode Island Hearing Assessment Program, has been presented with the national Antonia Brancia Maxon Award for Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Excellence. Details

Women & Infants Physical Therapist Receives National Award
Physical therapist Wendy Baltzer-Fox from Women & Infants' Women's Health Physical Therapy Services has been presented with the Elizabeth Noble Award from the American Physical Therapy Association. Details

Butler clinicians begin offering consults at Kent, Women & Infants
In a move highlighting collaboration across a health care system, three CNE hospitals are expanding a service to fill a need for mental health services in the region. After successfully piloting the concept at Women & Infants and Kent, Butler is expanding its Outpatient Psychiatric Consultation Program to physicians in the area who may have a patient needing a consult. Details

Care New England Rejoins Hospital Association of Rhode Island
The Care New England Health System will rejoin the Hospital Association of Rhode Island (HARI), effective April 1, according to an announcement by Dennis D. Keefe, president and CEO of Care New England, and Edward Quinlan, president of the Hospital Association of Rhode Island. Details

Care New England Web Sites Transitioning to New Platform
While the CNE web sites are transitioning to a new platform, website visitors may experience errors or not be able to view certain pages. We apologize for any inconvenience and expect our sites to be fully operational within several days. Thank you for your patience as we work to provide a user-friendly and comprehensive online health care resource. Details

CNE Representatives Selected for New Innovation Advisors Program
Congratulations to Nancy Roberts, president and CEO of the VNA of Care New England, and Dr. Betty Vohr, medical director of Women & Infants' Neonatal-Follow-Up Program in the Department of Pediatrics, on being selected to be part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) Innovation Advisors Program. Details

Making New Year’s Resolutions Stick
If you no longer make New Year's resolutions because of past disappointments, do not despair. According to Laura Drury, MSW, LICSW, New Year's is a perfect time to make healthy resolutions, no matter what your experience has been. Learn more about making healthy resolutions for 2012. Details

Two Care New England Representatives Selected for New Innovation Advisors Program to Improve Care for Patients
Nancy Roberts, president and CEO of VNA of Care New England, and Dr. Betty Vohr, medical director of the Neonatal Follow-Up Clinic in the Department of Pediatrics at Women & Infants have been selected to be part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) Innovation Advisors Program. Details

VNA Receives National Recognition
OSC HomeCare and DecisionHealth have announced its HomeCare Elite list of the top performing 25 percent of home health care agencies nationally. VNA of Care New England was named to this prestigious list. Details

CEO Says "Transformational Changes" Needed in RI Health Care System
A commentary by Dennis D. Keefe, president and CEO of Care New England, discussing the need for transformational changes in Rhode Island's health care system, was recently published in the Providence Journal. Read more

Care New England Launches CNE Talks Health
After four successful years executing year-long campaigns to help position clinicians from around Care New England (CNE) as experts on a variety of health-related topics, the system this year is preparing to launch an expanded and updated version of the initiative called CNE Talks Health. Details

Study: Kent Hospital Among Top 5% in the Nation for Patient Safety Only Hospital in Rhode Island to Receive Prestigious Distinction
Kent Hospital was identified as a recipient of the 2012 HealthGrades Patient Safety Excellence Award™, indicating that its patient safety ratings are in the top 5% of U.S. hospitals. Details

CNE Talks Your Health: Not So New Resolutions
This new year resolve to change your lifestyle. Set realistic goals for dieting, exercising and relieving stress by understanding that change takes time. Care New England offers a wealth of resources that can help. Read more

Care New England Executive Selected for Prestigious Program
Nancy Roberts, MSN, RN, of Narragansett, Rhode Island, president and chief executive officer of the VNA of Care New England and executive vice president of Care Management at Care New England was recently selected to participate in the first cohort of The Practice Change Leaders program. Details

CNE Talks Your Health: Are You Living a Heart Healthy Lifestyle?
Almost every lifestyle change people resolved to make this month – quitting smoking, dieting, exercising – have one body part in common: the heart. Despite its importance, Americans still struggle with keeping their hearts healthy. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in this country, with someone dying from it every 37 seconds. Care New England offers a wealth of resources that can help. Read more

Brown, Hospitals Strike IP Agreements
Brown University announced it has expanded its IP management and commercialization services to all of the hospitals within Care New England as well as manage and market select biomedical discoveries and inventions generated by researchers in the Lifespan heath care system. Details

Transition Home Plus Part of "Transforming Health Care" Effort
Care New England's efforts around Transforming the Future of Health Care includes the Transition Home Plus program, developed to assist families of vulnerable premature infants who are at risk of medical problems once they are discharged from the hospital. Learn More