Nurse First
 Important
NoticeMontana Medicaid for children is now Healthy Montana Kids Plus As of October 1, 2009 Medicaid for kids, ages 0-19, is called Healthy Montana Kids Plus. Services for kids stay the same under Healthy Montana Kids Plus. Nurse First will continue to provide children in Healthy Montana Kids Plus with the services available through the Nurse First Advice Line, Montana Health and Wellness Information website and the Team Care Program. Adults with Medicaid will continue to receive those services. |
What is Nurse First?
Nurse First is Montana Medicaid’s demand management program that
empowers patients to become more active in their health care and provides
assistance to providers in managing their care. The goal is to improve
patient health status, assure access to quality care, and reduce avoidable
visits and admissions. Nurse First consists of a nurse advice line,
disease management and the Team Care Program.
Nurse
First Advice Line. The advice line is a 24x7, toll free and confidential
nurse triage line staffed by licensed-registered nurses. Eligible patients
are encouraged to call when symptomatic, before making appointments
or visiting an urgent care or emergency room. The nurses assess the
symptoms, then provide a care recommendation to seek services at the
appropriate time and level of intervention. Nurses do not diagnose nor
provide treatment. The service is voluntary though strongly encouraged.
Benefits to providers:
- Decreases evening/weekend on-call traffic
- Reduces no show rates
- Allows providers to focus on higher acuity patients
- Safely reduces avoidable healthcare utilization
- Less PHONE traffic
Montana Health and Wellness Information. The Montana Health and Wellness Information website contains a knowledgebase on thousands of health topics including health conditions and diseases, medical tests and medications. A symptom checker uses a body template to help you associate symptoms with detailed information on health conditions. In addition, an audio library is available to listen to information on many of the website’s health topics.
For more information on Nurse First program services contact the Nurse First Program Officer at (406) 444-4540.
