July Patient Services Newsletter-2023

PATIENT SERVICE

Hello!

Greetings from the Visions for Success Committee!

Thank you!

VISIONS MANUAL

Access the Visions manual, dress code & electronic award nomination form on the Wolfe Eye Clinic G Drive. G:\Everyone\PatientService

Thank you to those who have submitted nominations for the Wolfe Award and to everyone who was nominated for providing excellent patient service! Please continue to deliver the ultimate patient experience!

Friendly Reminder!

Reminder, when submitting a nomination it is important that your comments are specific and describe in detail how the employee went above and beyond or handled unusual circumstances, situations, or services. We are excited to be able to review nominations, however generalized comments do not meet the committee’s criteria to grant awards; details matter!

AWARD WINNERS

Patient Service Newsletter

Congratulations to the following four-time award winning employees who will receive a Visions for Success gold name badge to showcase their three pins and $500 as recognition for consistently exceeding our Visions for Success standards!

Kerry Akins (Ames Registered Nurse)

January 2023 | Nominated by Stacey Olson

We were at a busy satellite location (Webster City). I was calling the patient back to get the eye exam started. The patient’s wife stopped me and asked, “How much will this exam cost, we don’t know if insurance will cover this or not?” Kerry stepped in, brought the patient’s wife in an exam lane and together they called the insurance company. The patient and patient’s wife were grateful. Someone went beyond to help them. Especially when they have been trying for weeks to get a hold of the insurance company.

March 2023 | Nominated by Brianna Shideler

Kerry has traveled to Spencer clinic more times than can be counted. But she came up in a snowstorm to help with clinic on a day that I was by myself to make sure that I had enough help to get through the day. Which also took her over 3 hours to get home that afternoon. Besides this day, I took vacation at the end of January that I had planned prior to being the only nurse for Dr. Fox which meant he had no staff for the week I was going to be in Mexico. Kerry offered to come up that week while he was in clinic and cover staff for him. This made it so that Dr. Fox didn’t have to take any days off and still allowed for me to take the vacation/PTO that was approved for my time off. This also made it so that we didn’t have to reschedule any of our patients, as many of those had already been reschedule several times due to changes in our schedule or weather-related changes. Kerry is always going above and beyond to help in other locations where she is needed even if that means cutting out her own paperwork days, etc. We appreciated all she has done to come up and help us here in the Spencer office!

May 2023 | Nominated by Steven Anderson, MD

I am nominating Kerry Akins for the Wolfe Eyes on You Award. Since the Spencer office has been short staffed, Kerry has stepped up and offered to go to Spencer to work with Brianna and Dr. Fox to help with training and to help in clinic as much as she possibly can. She has given up many of her paperwork days to do this as well as days that my team would be ok without a third assist in clinic. She has taken time away from her family as well to stay overnight in Spencer to be available for days in a row. During this time frame, after some very sad news from the Spencer office, she took it upon herself to go to Spencer on her paperwork days to help get paperwork done for one of the nurses so that she did not have to worry about work and could focus on being with her family. Kerry consistently displays an incredible example of teamwork within the Wolfe family and performs her duties with excellence. I am very honored to have her be a part of my team!

Kerry Akins (Continued)

June 2023 | Nominated by Kerry Lowery

The driver of a patient went out to use the bathroom and when he came back, he was having a little bit of a difficulty breathing. He said he gets like this when it’s hot. He felt our office was hot. He was on oxygen. I went back and pulled Kerry A. out of a room, and she immediately came and checked on him. She checked his pulse and asked all the right questions. He wanted to go out to his car with the air conditioning going so she took him out. She got his phone number and then called and checked on him. He said this was common for him but she explained “It’s important to make sure.” She called him a short time later to check on him. She did a great job immediately. We can always count on her for this type of thing.

Lisa Boender (West Des Moines Retina Imager)

February 2021 | Nominated by Taelor Christensen

Lisa stepped up and helped enter the tech information when our computers were down. She entered about 1520 charts into Integrity on 2/17/21, while she was training. Lisa saw that the lobby rugs were bunched up, so she straightened them out so patients wouldn’t trip. She always helps when needed and when it’s not her job to help. She is always helpful and nice to everyone and patients.

January 2022 | Nominated by James Davison, MD

On 11/16/21, patient Steven R. was seen in clinic for a cataract evaluation. Dr. Davison reviewed patient’s testing and gave him an eye exam. The patient had no vision complaints, so cataract surgery was not scheduled at that time. Later in the day, Lisa stopped by to ask Dr. Davison what he thought of this patient’s macular OCT. Dr. Davison reviewed the OCT again, and discovered peripapillary CMV, which he missed at first view. It is very likely that, while holding the printed OCT, Dr. Davison’s thumb was covering the concerning area of the OCT. The patient was then called and scheduled to see Dr. Alliman for a consultation and probably injection. Without Lisa’s diligence, knowledge and patient-centered care, this condition needing treatment would have been missed. Lisa went above and beyond, taking the time to follow up on this patient’s unique OCT. Dr. Davison is very thankful

February 2022 | Nominated by James Davison, MD

Lisa found another finding on an OCT that I missed. There was an RPE detachment in the inferior peripheral macula. We had been looking on paper display for months but now Mod Med shows everything! Reminder to me to look at this every time. Thanks Lisa.

March 2023 | Nominated by Cheyanne Weis

I want to recognize Lisa for going above and beyond. She has taken the initiative the last two or three times that we have been in Pleasant Hill, to go around and pick up the dirty clips from the rooms, clean them, and sterilize them. That is normally the job of the nurse, but she has gone out of her way to help us out without us needing to ask her and it has been greatly appreciated.

Tara Haskin (West Des Moines Patient Representative)

January 2020 | Nominated by Jason O’Neil

Tara is always willing to help out her co-workers and go above and beyond. Recently she has taken over side jobs for another co-worker who is on leave. On top of that, she is helping train two new employees, both up front and back in insurance. Tara is floating back and forth between departments and does not ever complain. She has become the go-to with any questions and is always happy to help. She has gone well above her regular job duties the last few weeks and continues to do so. Being short-staffed recently, her efforts have helped out even more.

July 2022 | Nominated by Kim Padgett

Tara was in charge of taking care of some reschedules for Dr. Christiansen for the following week. She called one patient to move and was informed that this would be her 3rd move since July. Patient also told her she wanted appointment and surgery done before the end of September when she would be leaving for 6 months. Tara went to work calling a couple of physician teams to see what could be done. She ended up putting her in with Dr. Christiansen in MTN and had surgery days.

September 2022 | Nominated by Matthew Rauen, MD

I would like to recognize the tremendous effort for multiple employees. On 9/1/22, power was lost on the WDM campus. This led to a need to re-schedule half of the LASIK cases for that afternoon. To accommodate the schedules of the LASIK patients and patients who were already scheduled in the clinic, the staff decided to do LASIK cases between hours of 600 AM and 800 AM. This required team members to begin their days as early as 300 AM. Some employees will be seeing clinic patients as late as 600 PM tonight as we are also addressing a cornea emergency this afternoon. Thank you for recognizing the efforts of these employees who decided to put needs of patients first. Just outstanding commitment.

May 2023 | Nominated by Kim Padgett

On Monday 05-01-23, it was a very windy day. Tara was making her way out of the clinic to head back to her desk at the LASIK area. When she stepped outside the clinic, there was a little elderly patient that was definitely having a tough time walking to her car due to the wind gusts. Tara didn’t miss a beat and went over and took the lady’s arm and walked her to her car so she wouldn’t fall or be blown over and hurt. She made sure that the patient was in her car safely, before walking back to the surgery center. Tara is a great employee that goes above and beyond in many ways – many of these are unnoticed. She is very deserving of this award.

AWARD WINNERS

Congratulations to the following third-time award winning employees who will receive a Visions for Success crystal key pin and $200 as recognition for consistently exceeding our Visions for Success standards!

Kerry Akins • Heather Anderson • Jeni Taylor

Congratulations to the following two-time award winning employee who will receive a Commitment to Excellence garnet gem and $75 as recognition for exceeding our Visions for Success standards!

Kaitlyn Frank • Mary Witt

Congratulations to the following first-time award winning employees who will receive a Commitment to Service sapphire pin and $25 as recognition for exceeding our Visions for Success standards!

Meghan Murphy • Jeanette Sanchez • Branden Storjohann • Cheyanne Weis • Mary Witt

Ashlyn Branan (MTN), Kathy Carlson (WDM), Jenni Harlan (MTN), Megan Love (MTN), Nicole Smith (FDO), Jacob Vandepol (WDM)

Read all about it!

Meghan Murphy (West Des Moines Retina Tech) 03-02-23

I want to recognize Meghan for going above and beyond. She has taken the initiative the last two or three times that we have been in Pleasant Hill, to go around and pick up the dirty clips from the rooms,

clean them, and sterilize them. That is normally the job of the nurse, but she has gone out of her way to help us out without us needing to ask and it has been greatly appreciated.

Meghan helped the retina nurse team without interrupting clinic flow.

Branden Storjohann (Marshalltown IT Support Specialist) 04-13-23

Throughout our call center movement Branden has been phenomenal. Branden was tasked with the movement of all 12 of our workstations into the new call center. This was going to be at least a weeklong job to ensure the agents could stay on the phones during call hours, but Branden had everyone moved in in under two days, all outside of the call center’s hours. He strategically planned everyone’s move to ensure everyone would be ready for their shift. He worked quietly and quickly to not disturb those on calls. Not to mention he was extremely considerate

of our workstations as we have a lot of materials. After our movement was complete, Branden continued to check in with us to make sure everything was running smoothly and that all our cords were out of our way. We have run into a few extra hurdles with our computers with this movement, but Branden has been extremely thoughtful and patient with us when getting us through these computer issues. Branden goes out of his way every day to ensure our day goes smoothly

While part of job duties, Branden worked outside his normal work hours and planned the move to provide as little disruption to the call center as possible. Thanks for going above and beyond!

Jeni Taylor (Fort Dodge Transcription) 04-19-23

This week has been a little hectic with a nurse being out for a family emergency. It has been awesome that we have such great employees. When Jeni heard a nurse was out she volunteered to come up and help with SPF in any way she could. We had clinic on Thursday and Kerry Akins was coming up

and would be by herself. Jeni said she would come up and help in any way she could. She worked on getting Dr. Fox’s dictation done as soon as finished with a patient. She got chart notes printed out for upcoming surgeries and worked with Sue Kyser to get some notes completed. Thanks so much Jeni!

Jeni traveled to the Spencer office to assist Dr. Fox’s team during an emergent staffing crisis. Thanks for being a great team player!

Mary Witt (West Des Moines Registered Nurse) 04-19-23

It has been a crazy week as an employee was out and that left SPF without nurses. Dr. Fox was needing to do some post ops this am, just retina clinic today as SPF has to go to MTN meeting. I was working up his post op patients and Dr. Fox was bringing in patients. I was going to bring one in for him and there

was Mary cleaning up SPF’s room from the previous patient, saving his dictation and getting ready to help out with the next patient. She wasn’t asked to help, Dr. Fox said she just popped over and started helping. What an awesome team player.

Without being asked Mary stepped up to help Dr. Fox see post-op patients when he was without a nurse team. Thanks for being a team player!

WINNERS CONTINUED

Cheyanne Weis (West Des Moines Registered Nurse) 04-26-23

I wanted to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation for the exceptional care provided to my mother during her recent visit to your clinic. Specifically, I wanted to recognize the outstanding efforts of your employee, Cheyanne, who went above and beyond to assist my mother with using the restroom. My mother, who has Alzheimer’s and has mobility issues, needed assistance using the restroom, Cheyanne didn’t hesitate to help. She was patient, and kind, ensuring my mother was safe and comfortable throughout the process. Her kindness and professionalism were truly remarkable,

and I cannot thank her enough for the exceptional care she provided. Cheyanne is an incredible asset to your team, and her dedication to providing compassionate and personalized care is a testament to the high standards of your clinic. I am grateful for the exceptional care provided to my mother, and I will always be grateful to Cheyanne for going above and beyond to make her feel comfortable and cared for. Thank you for providing such exceptional care, and please extend my sincere gratitude to Cheyanne for her outstanding efforts.

A patient’s family took the time to recognize Cheyanne for outstanding care which “is a testament to the high standards of your clinic.” Thank you for your excellent patient care, Cheyanne!

Mary Witt (West Des Moines Registered Nurse) 05-16-23

I would like to nominate Mary for her incredible work with one of our patients. Lori has been coming for years and has had awful anxiety about receiving shots. She does not hide the fact that she takes medication for her nerves before her appointment, and she almost always leaves in tears following her injection because it’s so hard for her. Today was completely different. Mary walked Lori out and I was checking out another patient but immediately noticed Lori and Mary having a conversation and Lori laughing and smiling after her injection, which was unheard of. When it was time to check Lori out, I noted the change in her and asked her what was different. She laughed and said, “It was the clamps. Mary asked me if it would help to

try it without the eye clamps.” She said no one had ever asked her that before and she had no idea they would inject her without using them. She followed up by saying, “I don’t have any pain or burning or any anxiety about the shot. I might actually like coming here now!” Mary took the time to offer something different…something that could help Lori have a better experience here and I think that’s something worth recognizing. Like I said, Lori has always been very emotional about these appointments, and it was easy to just submit to the idea that “this is just Lori”, but despite that, Mary continued to seek ways to help Lori through this process. Seeing her leave with a smile was amazing. Thank you, Mary!

While this is part of her duties, Mary significantly impacted the care of a patient and provided a positive outcome. Thank you for providing a great patient experience, Mary!

WINNERS CONTINUED

Heather Anderson (West Des Moines Doctor Assistant) 06-20-23

I would like to nominate Heather for the eyes on you for going above and beyond as usual. Heather Anderson helped an elderly patient here for a glaucoma visit with Dr. Christensen go to the restroom during a busy clinic where we are understaffed. The patient’s daughter approached Heather to see where they were on being called back to an exam room. Heather went to check on that and found out that they had a few patients ahead of them before they would be called. She relayed this to the daughter, and she then said, “OK well my father needs to go to the restroom, do you have any gloves?” The patient is wheelchair bound. She went and grabbed gloves for her, she

then mentioned, “This may be interesting as I have a bad back.” Heather offered to help, and she said no she would try to do it herself. Heather mentioned that she would stand out by the door and say something if she needed assistance. As she was standing there, she could hear she was struggling with her father, so she grabbed some gloves and knocked on the door. She said she needed a hand. Heather assisted her, they noticed that his Depends was soiled so she left the room to grab a new one. After they were finished, she helped get him seen by Dr. Christiansen since they had to be up next. They both appreciated her assistance.

Although an expectation of doctor team’s, Heather helped a patient on another team and took an extra step beyond just providing the patient’s family with the requested gloves. Thanks, Heather!

Kaitlyn Frank (Cedar Falls Technician) 07-03-23

We were very busy seeing surgical dismissals. The patient that we had finished seeing needed to get back to the hospital as she said her driver refused to come to the professional building (on the other side of the hospital). She was very frustrated that her driver wasn’t cooperating. She had COPD and had become short of breath just walking the length of

the hallway to the exam room. Kaitlyn was ready and willing to help give her a wheelchair ride back over to the hospital to her driver. The patient was incredibly relieved and so appreciative. A huge thank you to Kaitlyn for jumping right in to help our team assist the patient and to make her experience great!

Kaitlyn took the time to assist a patient through the building and helped out a physician on a busy dismissal day. Way to go, Kaitlyn!

Jeanette Sanchez (Marshalltown Patient Representative) 07-10-23

A patient was dropped off at the front door while wife was driving around to park and get a patient wheelchair. The patient started walking in and suddenly was yelling in pain. Jeanette jumped up and ran to the patient to help hold him up while the

wheelchair was on its way. If she wouldn’t have helped him then he most likely would have fallen. Thanks to her quick action there was no injury. Patient was very thankful.

Thank you, Jeanette, for recognizing a patient in need and jumping right in to help out to help the patient from falling. Great job, Jeanette.

WOLFE-WORTHY STORIES

Wolfe Recognition

The Carroll team shared a well deserved lunch together for Nurses and Administrative Personal Day!

Wolfe Surgeon

Bitter sweet for Dr. Kartvelishvili (HWA), as he shared his last surgery day at MercyOne in Cedar Falls with patients and staff. He enjoyed his last day with lots of treats and a small celebration throughout the day!

WOLFE-WORTHY STORIES

New Glasses

Check out this amazing note from patient, Cassidy, in the Story City office! She is so excited for her new glasses come in her favorite color, and she cannot wait to wear them!

Cataract Surgery

Way to go Dr. Hu and Wolfe Team! Judy’s nerves were put at ease and her vision restored. She could not be more excited for her new vision journey with her left eye.

Wolfe Care

Dr. Logan Vincent went above and beyond for his staff and patients! He expresses great leadership through grace and understanding with everyone.

WOLFE-WORTHY STORIES

Wolfe Surgery Center Recognition

The care provided in our Surgery Center is top notch! See the kind feedback we are recieving from patients and the fun new communication board they have access to.

Rod had cataract surgeries with Dr. Gillmor and called in to express his gratitude with our staff. He said Dr. Gillmor, her staff and all the staff at the surgery center were so nice and very helpful. He is disabled and they all made sure he was taken care of before, during and after surgery. He is very happy with both surgeries and just wanted everyone to know what great staff we have!

WOLFE-WORTHY STORIES

In support and recognition for Dr. Jared Nielsen, Wolfe Clinic will be providing purple ribbon pins to each of you in the next up coming weeks for all of our staff to wear. We kindly ask that you show your support by wearing the ribbon each day at work and to our Iowa State Fair staff outing if you plan to attend. In the meantime, please read the kind letter below written by one of Dr. Nielsen’s patients and come together with us to show our gratitude for such an outstanding doctor.