Maumee, OH - The Pathways Community HUB Institute (PCHI) – a national nonprofit that has developed a transformative care coordination model that helps communities work together to support their under-resourced populations – is moving in an exciting direction as it announces a new president and CEO – Jan Ruma, MEd, CFRE – and the expansion of its partnership with CommonSpirit Health, one of the largest health systems in the U.S.
As the organization’s new leader, Ms. Ruma is working alongside Sarah Redding, MD, MPH, PCHI’s Founder, in assisting communities across the country in addressing the social determinants of health and connecting residents to services including health, housing, transportation and other basic needs.
“Whole-person, community-based care coordination is successful when we work in partnership with multiple stakeholders to align efforts toward the shared goal of health equity,” Dr. Redding said. “I’m excited to welcome Jan to PCHI. With her expertise in implementing the PCHISM Model, Jan understands how life-changing integrated care coordination can be for a community and what it takes to make it happen.”
Ms. Ruma has more than 25 years of experience in healthcare, most recently serving as vice president for the Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio where she was responsible for founding and leading the Northwest Ohio Pathways Community HUB –the first nationally certified PCHISM Model Pathways Community HUB in Ohio – and secured outcome-based contracts with all of Ohio's Medicaid managed care plans and many other public and private funding sources. She holds a master’s degree in training and development, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration, both from Bowling Green State University. Ms. Ruma is a Certified Fund-Raising Executive (CFRE) and holds a certificate in Nonprofit Executive Leadership from the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. She has been recognized for her leadership with several awards including the YWCA Milestones Award, The University of Toledo’s Champion for Human Rights & Social Justice Award, the Area Office on Aging President’s Award, the ProMedica Health Advocate of the Year Award, the Mercy Health - Mercy Children’s Hospital Child Advocacy Award, and the Toledo 20 UNDER 40 Leadership Award.
“The Pathways Community HUB InstituteSM Model is changing lives in communities across the country. It is an honor to lead an organization that I’ve worked closely with for many years and believe so deeply in its mission. The PCHISM Model is a standardized approach, requiring national certification, to implement the social care data model, tools, and value-based contracting strategies developed and refined over the last 25 years. I look forward to working with communities and organizations across the country to further the implementation of the PCHISM Model,” Ms. Ruma said.
The PCHISM Model uses a value-based payment methodology that brings together community organizations and services – hospitals, clinics, health plans, community health workers and others – to identify individuals with modifiable risk factors – medical, social and behavioral – and connect them to services, track outcomes, and contract with payers that directly tie payment back to those outcomes.
CommonSpirit Health - with 140 hospitals and more than 1,000 care sites in 21 states – is partnering with Ms. Ruma and Dr. Redding in bringing the PCHISM Model to six communities it serves in Arizona, California, Nebraska, Nevada, Texas and Washington. This will be the single largest effort by a health system to implement the PCHISM Model.
“We are excited to work with PCHI in the communities we serve. This Model addresses many of the challenges we face when we’re working with communities to improve health. The infrastructure to support community health workers with an outcome-based payment model and a standardized way to collect data will build sustainable care coordination networks that meet residents where they are to provide access to care and services to improve health and quality of life,” said Pablo Bravo, system vice president of community health, CommonSpirit.
PCHI was started in 2015 by Dr. Redding and her late husband, Dr. Mark Redding. The original Pathways Community HUB was piloted in 2005 in Mansfield, Ohio. Today, the PCHI℠ Model is being implemented in 40 communities in 17 states and counting.
Both Ms. Ruma and Dr. Redding are looking to the future and the positive difference PCHI℠ Model community-based care coordination will make for individuals and their families.
“This work is not easy. But when communities come together to build one, robust infrastructure to help people who are most at-risk, it can be transformative. Once connected to routine health, wellness and social services, these individuals can lead healthier, more fulfilling lives for themselves and their families. We are excited about the future and to work further with CommonSpirit and our other partners. We know that by working together, we can do so much more,” Ms. Ruma said.