November Patient Service Newsletter - 2023

November 2023 | Issue XLVIII

PATIENT SERVICE Monthly Newsletter

! o l l e H Greetings from the Visions for Success Committee!

VISIONS MANUAL Access the Visions manual, dress code & electronic award nomination form on the Wolfe Eye Clinic G Drive.

G:\Everyone\PatientService

Thank you!

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!

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!

Rhonda Countryman 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!

Cindy Hines • Melissa Kaegbein • Kelsey Moore • Bobbi Ring

NOMINATIONS Carrie Jones (CF), Sheri Monson (FDO), Mary Witt (WDM)

Read all about it!

Cindy Hines (Waterloo Optician) 10-04-23 After locking the doors at 5pm last night a gentleman rang the bell. Cindy Hines answered the door and asked how she could help him. He said he was from out of town and asked if his glasses could be adjusted. We let him in as he seemed very anxious and desperate. After a few minutes it was clear that he had some health issues and was waiting to hear from his insurance company. He was speaking very fast and was almost hard to understand. Also, he was very emotional and was so appreciative of Cindy’s

kindness. He kept apologizing for keeping us late at the office. We assured him that everything was going to be ok. This is the kind of person Cindy is and I wouldn’t expect her to turn anyone away without first getting all of the information. She definitely deserves to be recognized for her empathy. The only thing we really know about this man is his name is Mike and he just moved here from Fort Dodge.

Thank you or putting patient care first even after hours, Cindy.

WINNERS CONTINUED Kelsey Moore (West Des Moines IT Department) 10-18-23 I’d like to nominate Kelsey Moore for an Eyes on You award. Dr. Davison was presenting for a conference and we were working on putting together a PowerPoint presentation. We were on a tight deadline and needed to make last-minute changes to the presentation while all working at different locations. Dr. Davison was having technical issues accessing/reviewing the presentation. He was in surgery all day and didn’t have the ability to easily troubleshoot. After much back and forth with IT, Kelsey stepped in to help. She met Dr. Davison at the surgery center after his last

surgery and helped troubleshoot. She additionally came up with a plan for the day of his presentation on where/how to access the presentation and if he had any technical issues to reach out to her. Because of her efforts, we were able to wrap this presentation up and I believe everyone feels more comfortable now that there is a plan in place for presentation day.

I am so grateful for her above and beyond efforts as I was not able to be on site to help Dr. Davison myself nor do I have the IT skills to troubleshoot tech issues

Kelsey went above in several ways to ensure Dr. Davison’s presentation went off without a hitch without any technical difficulties. Great job, Kelsey!

Rhonda Countryman (West Des Moines Technician) 11-01-23 I nominate Rhonda Countryman for going above and beyond to make sure a patient was not scheduled for the wrong doctor. Rhonda found a patient who was scheduled with Bitner for a contact lens exam. This saved the patient from going through an exam that was not what she needed and then being referred for

an optometry exam after that. She had the patient rescheduled to the proper doctor. This opened a much-needed spot on Bitner’s schedule and saved the patient time and money. This was customer service above and beyond, in my opinion. Great work, Rhonda!!

Rhonda exceeded her job duties as a tech to be pro-active in providing the best patient care.

Bobbi Ring (Belmond Optician) 11-16-23 I would like to nominate Bobbi Ring for the Visions for Success program. Bobbi has been with this office for 28 years. Bobbi is very dedicated to Dr. Gildner. There are many nights that she will be here after the office closes to make sure orders are complete. A couple of weeks ago on a Friday, which is Bobbi’s day off, she

came to Laurie’s and my rescue as we were having a hard time replacing a wire on a patient’s rimless frame. She came in and got the job done for us, and the patient was very thankful! We truly appreciate her and would like to see her get the recognition she deserves. Thank you!

Thank you for your commitment to patient service even on your day off. Way to go Bobbi!

Melissa Kaegbein (Hiawatha Surgical Scheduler) 11-27-23 Melissa is our (Surgical Scheduling, Hiaw) super user for Nextech. She has been instrumental in helping us navigate the upcoming medical record change by not only answering all of our questions, but also by walking us through it step by step. Questions that she has not been able to answer, she has found the answer.

She was also instrumental to help us have a learning session of just the aspects of surgical scheduling and

the ins and outs of our everyday use of Nextech. One of the best and most helpful things that Melissa has done is making us a Nextech “Bible”. This book walks us through the Nextech record step by step and is a very useful guide to make the transition much smoother. The hard work she has put in to help us succeed with Nextech has been truly incredible and we are truly thankful for her. Thank you

Thank you so much for your commitment to the team and the patients we serve.

WOLFE-WORTHY STORIES Super Saturday Congratulations to everyone on a successful transition to NextTech.

We appreciate all of your hard work and continued efforts during this time!

WOLFE-WORTHY STORIES Wolfe Letters Heart-felt card by a previous Dr. John Graether patient who is now seen by Dr. Cory Bower in Cedar Rapids. This card was sent to Dr. Matthew Rauen in West Des Moines, as this patient was his first corneal transplant patient at Wolfe Eye Clinic.

A patient was impressed by Dr. Ryan Vincent’s care in Ottumwa and wanted to express their gratitude.

WOLFE-WORTHY STORIES Wolfe Letters Continued Dr. Jared Nielsen received two thank you notes from patients personally expressing their gratitude towards him and his team.

WOLFE-WORTHY STORIES Wolfe Letters Continued Dr. Robyn Ritchey and Shelley in our Audiology department out of West Des Moines helped out a patient in need of a hearing aid replacement.

Way to go!

Dr. Denise Gimble and her technician, Morgan, provided care to a patient who was in need of a referral to Dr. Peter Rhee in our Marshalltown office.

Great team work, everyone!

WOLFE-WORTHY STORIES Wolfe Volunteering Dr. Caitlyn Stakeley volunteered her time in Cedar Rapids by seeing 428 patients in 2 days at the Prevent Blindness Outreach Vision Center.

WOLFE-WORTHY STORIES Wolfe Volunteering Continued Thank you to all who supported the Toys for Tots donation! It was a great success this year.

Huge shout out to Stephanie Tratchel’s granddaughter, Piper, who unselfishly shopped for toys to donate to the Cedar Falls office without even asking for one herself!

WOLFE-WORTHY STORIES We would like to thank everyone for the success of our Visions Program. At this time the decision has been made to pause this portion of the Visions for Success program until it can be revised.

The Committee will not accept any additional nominations while the recognition program is being revised.

While we are pausing this program, we know that all of you will continue to strive for the best patient care whether it’s directly or indirectly. We hope to restructure our program so we can recognize ALL within our organization for their good deeds. We will be in touch with details in 2024 once the new recognition program is ready to be rolled out.

Keep up the good work!

Patient Service Committee Members Brynn Allcock • Ashlyn Branan • Lee Bryant • LaRee DeGroote Annette Hughlette • Brandy Meyer • Lydia Orthmann • Danette Pease Carter Roberts • Richard Sabin • Desirée Tacconi • Patti Wendling