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Hudson Health Plan's Margaret Leonard Receives Lifetime Achievement Award for Championing the Role of Nurse Case Managers

In 1998, when Margaret (“Peggy’) Leonard, MS, RN-BC, FNP joined Hudson Health Plan, an MVP Health Care Company, its clinical department consisted of one nurse – Ms. Leonard – and an assistant. Today, as Senior Vice President for Clinical Services, Ms. Leonard leads a 40-person team that coordinates care for members with the most complex and challenging chronic diseases and social needs, or who are most at-risk for pregnancy complications. Not only does her group improve care for Hudson members, it also controls health care spending and enables members to manage chronic conditions.

Her great success in developing innovative programs at Hudson has earned Ms. Leonard a national reputation in her field of case management – also known as care coordination. As a result, the Case Management Society of America (CMSA) – the country’s leading organization in the field – has honored Ms. Leonard with a Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented at the CMSA national conference in June. Only five others have been so recognized since CMSA started in 1990.

“If you look at many of the innovative programs that Hudson has introduced to the field of managed care, you will see Peggy’s fingerprints somewhere,” explains Georganne Chapin, President and CEO of Hudson Health Plan and Executive Vice President for Corporate Affairs at MVP Health Care. “She’s introduced better ways to get patients to take their meds, to get the preventive services they need, and to even deal with homelessness, disability, and substance abuse issues. She understands that patients lead complicated lives, and that case managers have to find innovative ways to address both social and medical issues if they hope to a make a real difference in a patient’s health.”

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Says Ms. Leonard: “I am grateful to be part of an organization that is willing to try new things to improve care coordination, and to have the support of every department – from data services and analytics to customer care – to figure out how to get the job done. I am personally honored to receive this prestigious award from my peers, and I thank Hudson for making it possible.”

‘Doing the Undoable’ at Hudson

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At Hudson, Ms. Leonard is best known for “doing the undoable” and coordinating care for members with exceptionally complex and challenging issues. Her notable projects include:

  • The Westchester Cares Action Program, an award-winning Chronic Illness Demonstration Project that created a multidisciplinary care team to help high-need, high-cost Medicaid fee-for-service beneficiaries gain control of their lives and chronic conditions. The project reduced hospitalizations and emergency department use among participants, and became a model for New York State’s Medicaid Health Homes.
  • A Special Care Program to manage special needs members who received Supplemental Security Income (SSI) because of disabilities and chronic disease. Ms. Leonard’s team identified barriers that prevented this group from getting preventive primary care and dental care, which further harmed their health. The program was selected and showcased as part of the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) fifth Best Clinical and Administrative Practices initiative.
  • Mommy and Me, which introduced an innovative way to identify Hudson members most at risk for pregnancy and childbirth complications. The program provides consistent outreach and coaching by nurse case managers to ensure that mothers-to-be get prenatal care, and that babies receive regular well-baby care and immunizations up until the age of two.

Coordinated Care: A National Priority

Care coordination ensures that patients receive the right medical and other services at the right time while reducing redundant or unnecessary services. Not only does care coordination improve the quality of care; it also eliminates waste. In fact, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), a research arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that specializes in quality improvement and patient safety, has called care coordination a top priority for national action in health care.

Even though care management first emerged in the 1980s, professional standards are still being developed. Ms. Leonard has been instrumental in taking the profession to the next level. She has served as president and a long-standing board member of CMSA, as well as former chair of its public policy committee. She is vice president of the Case Management Foundation and a member of the Case Management Leadership Council. She is involved in numerous other health care activities, including serving on the New York State Board of Nursing and the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Through relentless work, Ms. Leonard has taken the nurse case management profession to new heights and influence, and earned case managers a seat at the table in working with national organizations such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Quality Forum, and the National Committee for Quality Assurance, among others.

Ms. Leonard is also a prolific author and frequent speaker, and is an adjunct faculty member at the College of New Rochelle. She received a Family Nurse Practitioner Post-Masters Certificate from Adelphi University, a Master’s Degree in Nursing Administration from Adelphi University, and a Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing from Adelphi University. Her initial Associate Degree in Nursing was obtained from Nassau Community College. Ms. Leonard divides her time between homes in the New York towns of Tarrytown, Niskayuna, and Lake Luzerne.

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