Felician University was awarded a $100,000 grant from Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey to partner with Osler Medical Group in Hasbrouck Heights. Instrumental in Felician receiving this grant was Board of Trustees member Thomas Bellavia, M.D., DABFP, who is Chairman of Osler Health and President of Heights Medical Associates.

The project focuses on identifying and decreasing gaps in care with respect to mammography and colonoscopy screenings within the Osler patient population. It seeks to define “patient gaps in care” as being the disparity between recommended best practices and the actual care that is delivered to individuals. Gaps in care have negative consequences to both the patient and the healthcare provider and can manifest themselves in many ways, including individuals missing age-based or seasonal screenings.

With the target group identified, Osler will initiate an outreach campaign by direct mail and email to the target group, inquiring as to their willingness to participate in the phone-based research study.

The project received approval from the Felician University Institutional Review Board (IRB) and will employ a human-centered design approach (HCD). HCD is an agile methodology for complex problems that gathers information from individuals “in their own space.” It looks for common issues from which to develop a range of possible solutions. HCD looks holistically at the patient experience on an emotional level, as well as structural and practical barriers to solving problems.

The project team includes Program Director Dr. Louis R. Ruvolo, Center for Innovation, Psychology doctoral candidate Samantha Jaile, Data Science sophomore Farah Alnami, Dr. Warren Reich, Associate Professor in Psychology, and the COO and CIO at Osler.