Home Health Care Community Announces Newly Aligned Research Foundation to Improve Patient Care

Dr. Steven Landers named new chair of home health research foundation

WASHINGTON, April 1, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The home health community has come together under the newly realigned Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation (the Alliance), bringing together for-profit, not-for-profit, regional, and national home health care providers and three major home health care trade associations.  Recently reorganized as a 501(c)(3) non-profit research and education organization, the new Alliance Board of Directors will include major non-profit and academic leaders in the home health community.  Home health providers, academics, and stakeholders in the Alliance membership aim to demonstrate the value home health care offers to patients and the U.S. health care system through an expanded research and education agenda.

Steven Landers, MD, MPH has taken on the role of the Chairman of the Alliance's Board of Directors.  Formerly with Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Landers currently serves as President and CEO of Visiting Nurse Association Health Group, one of the largest nonprofit home health, hospice and community care providers in New Jersey. In his role as Chairman, Dr. Landers will help advance the quality of home health care research and drive new models of care delivery.

"I am honored to be named chair of a foundation that brings together such a diverse group of home health organizations under a common goal," stated Steven Landers, MD, MPH.  "It is an exciting opportunity for home health leaders to demonstrate, through proven research, how innovative home health care models and new technologies can be used improve patient outcomes while helping reduce costs to our nation's healthcare system."

The Alliance's new direction and increasingly diverse membership will continue to strengthen the home health community's efforts to improve quality and efficiency of care for patients and the health care system.  "We are committed to focusing on research, education, and the value of home health care in the United States," said Teresa Lee, Executive Director of the Alliance.  "With Dr. Landers' experience, leadership and commitment to home health care, I'm confident the Alliance will continue to be a leading resource in home health care research and quality improvement."

In addition to Dr. Landers, the new members of the Alliance's Board of Directors include:

• Lynn Jones, Chairman of the Board, Visiting Nurse Associations of America (VNAA), and President, Senior Vice President of Post-Acute Care Services at Christiana Care Visiting Nurse Association;
• Lew Little, Chief Executive Officer, Harden Healthcare;
• Bruce Leff, MD, Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Joint Appointment, Department of Health Policy & Management, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Associate Medical Director at Johns Hopkins Business Development and Strategic Alliances;
• Eric Berger, Chief Executive Officer, Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare;
• Marcia Reissig, RN, MS, Chief Executive Officer, Sutter Care at Home;
• Peter Boling, MD, Professor and Division Chair, Virginia Commonwealth University; and
• Mary Ann Christopher, MSN, RN, FAAN, President and Chief Executive Officer, Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY).

The new directors join the Alliance's founding Board members who include: J. Mark Baiada, President of BAYADA Home Health Care; William F. Borne, Chief Executive Officer of Amedisys, Inc.; Kathleen Gilmartin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Interim Healthcare; Val Halamandaris, President of NAHC; Keith Myers, Chief Executive Officer of LHC Group; Tony Strange, Chief Executive Officer of Gentiva; and William Yarmuth, Chief Executive Officer of Almost Family. 

To learn more about the Alliance and to view the latest research on home health care, please visit www.ahhqi.org. 

The Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation (the Alliance) is a non-profit research foundation comprised of leaders in the home health care community – including several of the largest home health care providers in the United States and the three largest national trade associations representing home health care providers. The mission of the Alliance is to foster research and education on the value of home health care to patients and the overall U.S. health care system. The Alliance is dedicated to improving the nation's health care system through development of high quality and innovative solutions aimed at achieving optimal clinical outcomes.  To learn more, visit www.ahhqi.org.

SOURCE Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation