While Open Door is devoted to providing affordable health care and wellness programs to the communities we serve, we couldn’t do it without the support of Visionary Sponsors such as MVP Health Care. Not only does Open Door work closely with MVP to provide the best possible health insurance experience to many of our patients, it is also fortunate to have MVP as a financial supporter of our Open Door Foundation.
According to Christopher Del Vecchio, president and chief executive officer of MVP, “If we’re going to serve the community, then we need to understand the community and be a part of it. Open Door believes this too, and that’s what we’re both doing.”
Del Vecchio says, “I think Open Door’s commitment to creating a patient-centric care experience directly aligns with our belief system that patients need to be at the center of care. It’s the only way that I think we’ll be successful in dealing with whole-person health and wellbeing, and it’s one of the key ingredients in what we admire the most about Open Door.”
“What drives the Open Door-MVP relationship is the commitment to the communities we serve, and we’re so like-minded on mission and vision. Open Door is focused on building healthier communities in the counties it does business in, and we’re right there, too, says Del Vecchio. “The willingness of both parties to come together and partner on strategies to make peoples’ lives better, improve their health and access to care, and deal with health equity issues are really important.
According to Del Vecchio, “Our relationship with Open Door ranks right up there with the best partnerships we have. As president and chief executive officer of Open Door, Lindsay Farrell has set a great example and has built up a phenomenal organization over the past three decades she’s been there.”
According to Farrell, “An unswerving focus on the member is the hallmark of Chris Del Vecchio’s leadership at MVP Health Care. So often health insurance is confusing and burdensome; yet MVP is committed to making it much easier for customers.”
“Chris’s ability to execute on this customer promise is what makes him so effective as a chief executive of a very large company. At the same time, Chris understands the Healthcare Value Imperative and that is why the relationship between Open Door and MVP is so strong. Both organizations are committed to providing the right health care at the right time and reducing the barriers that get in the way. Our partnership supports thousands of local people who depend on both organizations to get this right,” says Farrell.
As a nationally-recognized, regional not-for-profit health plan, MVP offers a wide range of health benefit plan options and has more than 700,000 members across New York and Vermont. It is powered by the ideas and energy of more than 1,700 employees. The company works collaboratively with more than 19,000 regional health care providers and facilities, and a national network of more than 500,000 providers,
A full-line health care company, MVP offers Medicare Advantage, Dual Special Needs, Medicaid Managed Care, Health and Recovery Plans (HARP), and is on the Health Exchange. They also have insurance for small and large group employers. “We have a full portfolio of health insurance, which is unique in our footprint. As a non-for-profit, we are committed to our communities and want to do as much as we can for as many people as we can,” says Del Vecchio.
In addition, MVP has onsite staff at select Open Door locations that help patients with health insurance enrollment and also work on administrative issues that pop up and other items that may get in the way in order to smooth out the process for members.
Regarding the future of health care, Del Vecchio says, “the Covid pandemic created rapid transformation for health insurance and it disrupted many traditional norms. When we think back before, three years ago telemedicine was hardly ever used and now it’s become a mainstream modality, regardless of peoples’ ages. We have people in their 80’s hopping on Zoom calls and conducting appointments with their providers.”
Del Vecchio says, “Bottom line, people want health care on demand more than ever. I think people are going for an ‘Amazon’ type experience. They want health care when they want it, and we’re going to have to figure out those demands with technology, tools and different ways of thinking about care,” he says.
Del Vecchio thinks plans like MVP and organizations like the Open Door are perfectly suited to solve those challenges because they understand the local markets and are already patient-centric driven organizations. In addition, both nonprofits understand the social determinants of health collectively and know how to bring that about for Open Door patients/MVP members. “I think it’s an important time and a huge opportunity to be in health care right now, and it’s very exciting,” he says.
Laura Joseph Mogil is an Open Door Foundation board member and freelance writer.
