As community health nurses, we possess strong clinical and critical thinking skills and have the analytical ability to solve problems and make decisions. We can adapt my nursing care to the needs of a diverse group of patients. As a community health nurse some of our responsibilities may include:
- Administering vaccinations
- Directing expectant and new mothers to healthcare resources so thy can receive proper care for themselves and their infants
- Conducting education programs or handing out information about lead poisoning, substance abuse, dangers of smoking, teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
- Stopping the spread of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, influenza, COVID-19 or hepatitis.
- Aiding the elderly in managing chronic health conditions and with medication reconciliation.
- Providing care to sick or injured children and adults.
As a community health nurses , we can work in small towns, cities or rural areas. In addition, we may be employed in a variety of healthcare settings such as:
Clinics
Church
Community Outreach Programs
Schools
Community health nursing is essential to the health and welfare of the entire population. Healthcare should be accessible to everyone. By doing community health nursing, not only will we deliver patient care, but we can also help reduce the occurrence of injuries, illnesses and deaths by informing people about health risks. Through education about healthy choices and advocacy to reform the imbalance in healthcare, community health can make a difference in the lives of the disadvantaged communities.
As consultants for skilled nursing facilities O'DOAL can:
- Advance consistent standards, positions, and recommendations pertaining to long-term care
- Promote evidence-based approaches to common problems and risk of long-term care patients and residents
- Coordinate and create cross-disciplinary educational programs
- Improve coordination among key professionals to reduce fragmented and incompatible initiatives and approaches
- Clarify accountability for the standard of care according to the law and regulations
- Promote effective root cause analysis of commonly identified issues that affect long-term care performance and practice
- Promote more effective approaches to improving long-term care
- Offer a united voice on matters that address and advance the quality of services and care for individuals of long-term care facilities
MEET THE LEADERS
Kwame Foucher, MD, MBA, FAAFP
Kwame Foucher, MD, MBA, FAAFP
Kwame Foucher, MD, MBA, FAAFP
Dr. Kwame, as he is also known, is passionate about his role as father in the lives of his children and He has a track record of personally overcoming tremendous adversity from being raised with only intermittent at best contact with his father, to now having an enviable relationship with his dad, to rising from himself being an at-risk child to becoming a medical doctor providing care in the same community where he was raised. With new data showing that adverse childhood experiences shorten life-expectancy, he has decided to step out with purpose and apply his medical knowledge and experience to empowering and encouraging fathers to improve their relationships with their children. This led to his founding of the Awesome Dad community and developing a coaching curriculum for fathers.
In addition to being a physician in the exam room providing direct primary care to adults and children alike as a board certified fellow of the American Academy of Family Physians, his professional career has involved 2 years at UnitedHealthcare (UHC) as the Market Medical Director for Illinois and several more years focused on sustainability of health benefits through affordability initiatives at prominent Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial health plans. He has led quality management programs and been responsible for securing clinical objectives and industry-leading benefits for health plan members at local hospitals and physician affiliates. Dr. Kwame led clinical services, quality, and affordability initiatives that work to keep health care benefits attainable for regular families in need.
Dr. Kwame, as many of his patients and colleagues refer to him, earned a Magna Cum Laude Bachelor of Science degree from Morehouse College (Phi Beta Kappa) and earned his MD and MBA degrees from UCLA’s MD/MBA program where he was a multiple scholarship awardee. He served and completed residency at University of Illinois-Chicago and is a board-certified fellow of the American Academy of Family Medicine. He enjoys helping his patients to live healthy and fulfilled lives — which led him to also develop extensive managed care experience, besides his work at the patient bedside. He has served as a physician executive/ Medical director with both Cigna and Accretive Health, en route to UHC, and also has a demonstrated passion for population health, community-based care, and providing care for the underserved. Additionally, Dr. Kwame serves as the Medical Director for O’DOAL where serving the community is paramount while providing COVID-19 testing, COVID-19 vaccination administration, flu shots and other essential services.
Dr. Kwame currently resides in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, Il. His children are exceptional as students and citizens and have participated in volunteering to raise money for Christmas and Thanksgiving for families in need for several years. He loves his work coaching and watching growing children thrive in their social and emotional skills development. As a father managing through adversity, and having personal experience with overcoming adversity, he is eager to work with dads old and young as their fatherhood coach — helping them to also become an Awesome dad! Read his book Awesome Dad Playbook: A Father’s Guide To Raising Resilient, Healthy and Happy Children and join our community on facebook: Team Dad with Dr. Kwame.
Dr. Octavia I. Altheimer
Dr. Octavia I. Altheimer
(CEO of O'DOAL)
Dr. Octavia I. Altheimer- is a visionary and a leader with innovative management strategies. She has demonstrated the ability to lead diverse teams of professionals to new levels of success in challenging healthcare industry settings.
Dr. Octavia I. Altheimer
She has a proven record of maximizing revenue with organizations by developing tools and enhancing the revenue cycle for healthcare systems. Her expertise is unmatched as she has proven herself not only in the corporate, but in the classroom with her students.
Prior to founding O’DOAL Octavia was part of McKesson’s, Siemens Health Services and Dell Perots Consulting team. At Dell Perot, she oversaw the entire revenue cycle process for a large metropolitan hospital in the Chicagoland area. She also has worked with Walgreen’s Pharmacy Benefit Management team where she worked in a consulting capacity to redesign the formulary for several clients while being the lead in implementing and maintaining compliance with Medicare Part D and concentrating on managing regulatory compliance, minimizing denials and achieving appropriate coverage with patients who were enrolled in different tiers of pharmacy benefits. Octavia had the opportunity to complete an internship with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid where she was instrumental in the development and rollout of Medicare Part D.
In addition, Octavia has worked with institutions such as, St. Margaret Mercy, Harris County Hospital District, DaVita, McNeal Hospital, Advocate Illinois Masonic, University of Chicago, Heartland Alliance, and East Chicago Health Center in the areas of billing, ICD9/ICD 10 coding, patient access, patient registration, denial management, cash posting, follow-up, auditing, quality assurance, utilization management, operational consulting, and physician/stafftraining and education. She has established training and quality-oversight programs to include front line managers and directors for patient financial service programs at many of these organizations to maintain compliance with the guidelines for billing and coding. She has extensive expereince with the Epic systems and very has a “metric driven” accounts receivable management philosophy. A niche has been carved out in the financial arena in the revenue cycle in which Octavia takes full advantage of with her expertise.
She is acutely aware of the national education reform’s potential impact on the financial viability of community colleges as to why Octavia has risen to the occasion to reach the students to create awareness that there should be a streamlined approach in the tuition increases process. She has a combination of vision and drive that has proven to be an invaluable resource to many.
Octavia is a veteran of the United States Army. She holds a Doctorate in Health Administration from Central Michigan University, Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration from Governors State University and an Associate’s degree in Health Information Technology.
Jacqueline R. Bailey
Jacqueline R. Bailey
(VP of Clinical Affairs)
Dr. Octavia I. Altheimer- is a visionary and a leader with innovative management strategies. She has demonstrated the ability to lead diverse teams of professionals to new levels of success in challenging healthcare industry settings.
Dr. Octavia I. Altheimer
She has a proven record of maximizing revenue with organizations by developing tools and enhancing the revenue cycle for healthcare systems. Her expertise is unmatched as she has proven herself not only in the corporate, but in the classroom with her students.
Prior to founding O’DOAL Octavia was part of McKesson’s, Siemens Health Services and Dell Perots Consulting team. At Dell Perot, she oversaw the entire revenue cycle process for a large metropolitan hospital in the Chicagoland area. She also has worked with Walgreen’s Pharmacy Benefit Management team where she worked in a consulting capacity to redesign the formulary for several clients while being the lead in implementing and maintaining compliance with Medicare Part D and concentrating on managing regulatory compliance, minimizing denials and achieving appropriate coverage with patients who were enrolled in different tiers of pharmacy benefits. Octavia had the opportunity to complete an internship with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid where she was instrumental in the development and rollout of Medicare Part D.
In addition, Octavia has worked with institutions such as, St. Margaret Mercy, Harris County Hospital District, DaVita, McNeal Hospital, Advocate Illinois Masonic, University of Chicago, Heartland Alliance, and East Chicago Health Center in the areas of billing, ICD9/ICD 10 coding, patient access, patient registration, denial management, cash posting, follow-up, auditing, quality assurance, utilization management, operational consulting, and physician/stafftraining and education. She has established training and quality-oversight programs to include front line managers and directors for patient financial service programs at many of these organizations to maintain compliance with the guidelines for billing and coding. She has extensive expereince with the Epic systems and very has a “metric driven” accounts receivable management philosophy. A niche has been carved out in the financial arena in the revenue cycle in which Octavia takes full advantage of with her expertise.
She is acutely aware of the national education reform’s potential impact on the financial viability of community colleges as to why Octavia has risen to the occasion to reach the students to create awareness that there should be a streamlined approach in the tuition increases process. She has a combination of vision and drive that has proven to be an invaluable resource to many.
Octavia is a veteran of the United States Army. She holds a Doctorate in Health Administration from Central Michigan University, Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration from Governors State University and an Associate’s degree in Health Information Technology.
