VNS Health Teams and Terminology Guidance

• Never use “VNS” alone.
• Don’t spell out “VNS” as “Visiting Nurse Service”; “VNS” is not an abbreviation.
• Don’t allow “VNS Health” to break over two lines of text. You can insert a nonbreaking space between the two words by typing Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar on a PC and Option+Spacebar on a Mac.

Examples of how to refer to the team:

• Someone from the VNS Health Home Care team will contact you.
• A team member from Home Care can answer your questions.
• Speak with someone from the Home Care team from VNS Health.
• Refer your patient to Home Care.

Examples of how to refer to care teams and the services they provide:

• Your home care team might include a nurse, a rehab therapist, a social worker, and a home health aide.
• VNS Health’s home care services can bring you peace of mind.
• Your home care nurse will explain your care plan.
• Refer your patient for home care services from VNS Health.

Examples of how to refer to the team:

• Someone from the VNS Health Personal Care team will contact you.
• A team member from Personal Care can answer your questions.
• Speak with someone from the Personal Care team from VNS Health.

Examples of how to refer to the services:

• VNS Health’s personal care services may be covered by insurance if ordered by a physician, or they can be paid for privately.
• Speak with a Personal Care team member about our private care services.

Don’t use “the Hospice team”; its “the Hospice Care team.”

Examples of how to refer to the team:

• Someone from the VNS Health Hospice Care team will contact you.
• A team member from Hospice Care can answer your questions.
• Speak with someone from the Hospice Care team from VNS Health.
• Refer your patient to Hospice Care.

Examples of how to refer to care teams and the services they provide:

• Your hospice care team includes a home health aide and a social worker.
• Comfort, relief, and peace of mind — that’s what you can expect with hospice care from VNS Health.
• Your hospice care nurse will explain your care plan.
• Refer your patient for hospice care services from VNS Health.

Examples of how to refer to the team:

• Don’t use
  • VNS Health Behavioral Health or the VNS Health Behavioral Health team*
  • the Behavioral Health Care team (it’s the Behavioral Health team)
• Instead use
  • A member of the Behavioral Health team from VNS Health will contact you.
  • A team member from Behavioral Health can answer your questions.
  • Refer your patient to Behavioral Health.

*These usages can be misread as implying that VNS Health Behavioral Health is a official line of business with a d/b/a.

Examples of how to refer to the services provided by the team:

• VNS Health offers behavioral health services for children in crisis.
• Refer your patient for behavioral health care from VNS Health.

Examples of how to refer to the team:

• Don’t use
  • VNS Health Care Management or the VNS Health Care Management team*
• Instead use
  • Someone from the VNS Health Care Management team will contact you.
  • A team member from Care Management can answer your questions.
  • Speak with someone from the Care Management team from VNS Health.

*These usages can be misread as implying that VNS Health Care Management is a official line of business with a d/b/a.

Examples of how to refer to services provided by the team:

• VNS Health’s/Our care management services are available in the NYC area.
• The patient is at high risk for rehospitalization, so he receives care management services, including remote monitoring.

Note that you can use “Professional Solutions team” as a blanket term to refer to the VNS Health Care Management and VNS Health MSO teams: e.g., “Before joining the Professional Solutions team, she worked as a field nurse.” However, use lowercase “professional solutions” to refer to the services themselves: e.g., “VNS Health offers professional solutions to help large health care organizations improve outcomes and lower costs.”

Don’t use in consumer-facing content.

VNSNY CHOICE is now VNS Health Health Plans (d/b/a).

Although “VNS Health Health Plans” is the d/b/a, avoid using it if possible. On the VNS Health Health Plans website, you can use “we” or “our team” because it will be clear who “we” and “our” refer to.

Don’t use “Health Plans from VNS Health” or “Health Plans” to refer to the organization; this is to prevent anyone from misinterpreting these phrases as d/b/a names. Don’t use “VNS Health Plans.”

Note that “health plans from VNS Health” refers to the plans, not the organization that offers the plans.

Examples of how to refer to the team:

• Our health plan advisors can help you find the best plan for your needs.
• You can also visit our Contact Us page to email a health plan advisor.

Examples of how to refer to the health plans:

• VNS Health offers a family of health plans that make it easier to live healthier in the comfort of your home and community.
• Learn more about our health plans.
• VNS Health Total brings together Medicare Advantage and Medicaid Managed Long Term Care.
• The VNS Health Total plan brings together Medicare Advantage and Medicaid Managed Long Term Care.

Examples of how to refer to the team:

• Speak with someone from the VNS Health MSO team.
• Someone from the Management Services Organization team will contact you.
• The VNS Health MSO team can provide support to your practice so you can focus on delivering high-quality patient care.

Examples of how to refer to the services:

• VNS Health offers care management and management service programs ranging from acute settings through end-of-life care.
• Our transitional care management services can improve post-acute care recovery for recently discharged high-risk members.
• VNS Health’s palliative care management services can help you identify patients who would benefit from palliative care.

Note that you can use “Professional Solutions team” as a blanket term to refer to the VNS Health Care Management and VNS Health MSO teams: e.g., “Before joining the Professional Solutions team, she worked as a field nurse.” However, use lowercase “professional solutions” to refer to the services themselves: e.g., “VNS Health offers professional solutions to help large health care organizations improve outcomes and lower costs.”

• Use “&” not “and.”
• Don’t use “the VNS Health Center for Home Care Policy & Research.”
• On second mention, you can refer to “the Research Center” or “the center.”
• Don’t abbreviate as CHCPR.

Programs

• Veterans Home Care program — one of our three veterans programs, the other two being the Veterans Outreach program and the Veterans Hospice Care program
• Gender Affirmation Program (GAP), not GAP Program or GAP program
• Caregiver Support Services (capitalize when referring to the team)
• Maternity, Newborn & Pediatrics program

Services

• home health aides
• nursing
• senior care
• rehabilitation therapy
• behavioral health services
• social work
• after-surgery care
• wound care
• dementia care
• stroke care
• clinical assessments
• health care escorts
• geriatric care management
• caregiver support services (don’t capitalize when referring to the services)

Services

• assistance with activities of daily living
• help with grocery shopping and meal preparation
• symptom monitoring
• health care escort services
• companionship

Programs

• Cancer Hospice Care program (includes specialized Oncology Hospice Care program), hospice care for people with cancer
• Cardiac Hospice Care program
• COPD Hospice Care program
• Veterans Hospice Care program
• HOPE (Hospice Outreach Patient and Provider Education) Program
• Hospice Fellowship Training Program

Services

• hospice care and services, including emotional support, spiritual care, grief support groups

Programs

• Health Home and Children’s Health Home
  • These programs are part of Health Home Care Management (state-defined term).
• Children & Family Support Team (CFST)
• Home-Based Crisis Intervention (HBCI)
• Outpatient Mental Health Clinic
  • Consumer-facing content: use “Outpatient Mental Health Clinic,” “the clinic”
  • Government affairs and funding content: use “Article 31 Outpatient Clinic,” “the clinic”
• Mobile Crisis Team(s) (MCTs) and Children’s Mobile Crisis Team(s) (CMCTs)
  • Service areas: the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens
  • Don’t write so that the location appears to be part of the name: for example, write “the Mobile Crisis Team that serves Brooklyn” not “the Brooklyn Mobile Crisis Team.”

Services

• behavioral health services as part of home care and hospice care
• outreach programs, including geriatric mental health treatment services and geriatric community outreach

Services

• comprehensive care management
• transitional care management
• longitudinal care management
• complex care management
• geriatric care management
• palliative care management
• managed care contracting
• hospice benefit management

Programs

• Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP), the NFP program, VNS Health’s NFP
  • Serves the Bronx and Nassau County
  • Don’t write so that the location appears to be part of the name; for example, write “Nurse-Family Partnership in the Bronx” not “the Bronx Nurse-Family Partnership.”
• Veterans Outreach, the Veterans Outreach program
• LGBTQ+ Outreach, the LGBTQ+ Outreach program
• VNS Health community centers, the; the VNS Health Community Center in Chinatown/Flushing/Sunset Park; the community center in Chinatown/Flushing/Sunset Park
• the Chinatown Neighborhood Naturally Occurring Retirement Community, the NNORC
• VNS Health Community Calendar, the Community Calendar
• HOPE (Hospice Outreach Patient and Provider Education) Program
• Community Impact Report (title of report)
• Community Collaborations

Services

• behavioral health services
• outreach programs and events
• education
• charitable care
• fundraising
• volunteers