October Patient Service Newsletter 2023

October 2023 | Issue XLVII

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!

Friendly Reminder!

Reminder, when submitting a nomination it is important that your comments are specific and describe in detail how the e mployee 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 employee 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!

Carrie Tessau (West Des Moines Technician) July 2019 | Nominated by Susan Hayes On June 27th, the Peds team was in need of an additional tech, due to one tech being on vacation and one out sick. After looking at the schedule we noticed Carrie was the float. After approaching Carter, it was quickly decided that Carrie would come down. She volunteered and said she enjoys working with kids. She was a little nervous at first; we always feel like a “fish out of water” when we are helping out in unfamiliar departments that we don’t normally work in (myself included) but Carrie did great! Did what she could when she could and maintained a complete positive attitude the whole day. Thanks Carrie!

June 2021 | Nominated by Kim Padgett I want to nominate Carrie Tessau for her willingness to go above and beyond her assigned duties over in the LASIK department.

She did just that on Wednesday, June 30th. Dr. Johnson’s last patient was in the post op room alone with her mother (who didn’t speak English) as they were just finishing up and getting ready to leave. Carrie was walking by the room and noticed how visibly upset the patient seemed as the post op nurses were taking care of another issue. Carrie didn’t miss a beat and went into the room and asked if everything was okay and how she could help. The patient was overwhelmed with the whole process (sometimes the valium has some affect) and just needed some extra attention. Carrie sat and talked with the patient, explaining all this to her and her mother. Dr. Johnson’s nurses then took over and walked the patient out to the waiting room to wait for her ride which was running late. About 10-15 minutes later after shutting everything down and closing the rooms in the back, while going to punch out, Carrie noticed the patient was still waiting and still very emotional. She did not blink an eye to step in and wait with the patient to keep her calm as she waited. She sat beside the patient in the waiting room to keep her (and her mother) calm as her numbing drops were wearing off and she was becoming very uncomfortable. She adjusted the patient’s shields as they were dropping off her forehead and gave her some water. When the patient’s dad came 10 minutes after that, Carrie walked her out to the car, helped her inside to get comfortable and gave her a full box of Kleenex for the ride home. This is an excellent example of how Carrie is a huge asset to the Wolfe Clinic and just one instance of many where she has gone above and beyond. She is always the one who will volunteer to help a patient out and put their needs before hers. She does the same for her fellow co-workers both in LASIK and in the clinic. She does it with a great attitude and smile. I am so lucky to work with such an amazing individual and she needs to be recognized for this.

September 2022 | Nominated by Matthew Rauen, MD 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.

October 2023 | Nominated by Kim Padgett I would like to nominate Carrie Tessau for the Eyes on You award. On Friday 09/15/23, we were in LASIK with Dr. Rauen.

There was a patient that was extremely anxious and scared about her procedure. Carrie had been helping the team preop by giving valium and patient instructions, etc. Knowing that this patient was more anxious than normal, she walked by the patient’s side throughout the whole process from preop to postop. She also held her hand and consoled her during the surgery which calmed that patient down so LASIK could be done safely. The patient was super thankful and voiced this several times in the surgery room. This is something that goes very unnoticed in this department. Carrie is always willing to hold someone’s hand when they are in the heat of the moment and scared, and she doesn’t hesitate to do so. Carrie also demonstrates this attitude across in the tech area of the clinic. She is constantly being pulled from one area to another and back again. She does this with no pushback to her peers and a smile on her face. A quality that is so good to have. I hope that she gets this award as she is so deserving of it.

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 Lowrey 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!

Alicia Smith 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!

Dana Kriz • Jessica Leonard • Peyton McGuire

NOMINATIONS Melissa Kaegbein (HWA), Robyn Kohler (WDM), Hannah Oppedal (Ames), Chelsy Roberts (WDM), Laura Storjohann (WDM), Eric Vos (Ames)

Read all about it!

Alicia Smith (Waterloo Registered Nurse) 07-19-23 Alicia was finished with work walking out of the building when she noticed one of the cataract surgical dismissal patients sitting in the hallway. It had been at least 30 minutes since she had checked out of the clinic. She stopped to check on her, and the patient said that her transportation hadn’t arrived yet. Alicia took the time to contact the transportation again to confirm that they were on their way. The

patient was also really sad and talked to Alicia about it. She explained that her family lived in town, but no one would bring her to surgery today. She was really down and just missed them. Alicia offered a hug, and the patient said that was exactly what she needed.

How sweet of Alicia to take time out of her day to help out and brighten someone else’s!

Thanks for ensuring our patient had transportation and being there for them.

Way to go Alicia!

WINNERS CONTINUED Kerry Lowrey (Fort Dodge Patient Representative) 07-25-23 Patient was checking out today and was struggling to get a refill from his VA. He was on a steroid drop every 2 hours and has been without for 2 days. Kerry offered to help him make calls to get them filled. She literally was on it from 12:17 to 3:21. She made 4 calls to different sources getting the run around. She was

so helpful and totally helped a veteran in need. She ended up faxing Rx to VA in Sioux Falls Pharmacy with instructions to call the local HyVee to get it paid for the local VA. He was so thankful. She even gave her name and # if needed to call for more help.

Thank you, Kerry, for taking the time to help our veteran patient.

Jessica Leonard (Wolfe Surgery Center Surgical Technician) 07-28-23 I nominate Jessica Leonard for the eyes on you award for going above and beyond for my patients. I entered the OR and there was quite the commotion going on.

The patient was not laying down ready for surgery, instead they were sitting up and about to vomit. Jessica and the team did an amazing job to provide support for the patient to avoid aspiration. Jessica literally caught vomit while supporting the patient. She was

doing whatever she could to help the patient. It was instinctual. I’ve witnessed it a multitude of times. She always provides care for the patient first regardless of the stress of the situation. To my knowledge, surgical technicians are underrepresented for this award.

Jessica and her colleagues are key to my success as a surgeon, and there is no doubt in my mind she is deserving of recognition.

Good catch, Jessica! Thanks for reacting quickly and taking care of the patient.

Peyton McGuire (Spencer Technician) 09-20-23 Peyton, one of our new technicians, came in with information she had typed up on how to work up SPF and DDS patients here in Spencer. She had been taking notes while training and had typed them all up to share with the other new techs that have started here. Very detailed and accurate notes. She had also

typed up all the steps in doing testing such as itrace, IOL and Pentacam. She went above and beyond by getting this information to share with the other new techs. I wasn’t expecting this at all, she said she did it in between working up patients. As a new employee I thought this was great!

Way to show initiative and help other new hires, Peyton!

Dana Kriz (Hiawatha Surgical Scheduler) 07-28-23 I referred a patient to MAYO Clinic but because the patient’s insurance was out-of-network, it was a complicated process to get approval. I called Dana just to ask a few questions regarding the prior auth process and she took on the task herself by telling me she’d take it over and communicate with the patient too. This was such a relief as prior auth’s can

be arduous and time consuming. Dana was very thorough with everything and made everything better!

I know the patient was going through a difficult time with a Ret. Detachment, which was compounded with insurance difficulties, but Dana helped ease it all.

Thank you, Dana!

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

WOLFE-WORTHY STORIES Wolfe Acheivements On Friday, October 13th, the University of Iowa held the opening ceremony for the John Graether Wet Lab. Multiple phaco machines, microscopes, and digital simulators were tested this day. Dr. John Graether himself and Dr. Louis Scallon attended the ceremony in honor of the donation.

WOLFE-WORTHY STORIES Congratulations Dr. Robyn Ritchey on your BIG Day! Robyn Ritchey, Au.D. (soon to be Nepper once her name has been officially updated) enjoyed her wedding day on September 23rd with friends, family and husband, Damion!

WOLFE-WORTHY STORIES Wolfe Gift Basket

Wolfe Anniversary

Dr. Peter Bracha and his team enjoy treats from a paitent during West Des Moines Clinic. Sweet patients make work that much more fun!

Happy 1 year anniversary to Peter Bracha, MD!

Wolfe Lunch Dr. Austin Strohbehn’s team members enjoy lunch at the Carroll office.

WOLFE-WORTHY STORIES Wolfe Intern Our Marshalltown office had the opportunity to train a technician, Norah, over the summer!

Wolfe Nextech Super Users HUGE thank you to all of our Nextech Super Users who will have a significant part in our successful transition as a team to the new EMR system.

WOLFE-WORTHY STORIES Wolfe Thank You’s!

Dr. Greg Christiansen and his team were appreciated for their work in the Wolfe Surgery Center.

Ronald felt the team listened to his needs and concerns and his surgery was addressed in the right way.

Kaitlyn Mahany from West Des Moines received a meaningful letter from a patient’s daughter.

She made communication easy in a stress free way.

Eileen sent Dr. George Clavenna a wonderful card.

She is very grateful for all of his help!

WOLFE-WORTHY STORIES Wolfe Thank You’s!

Check out the artwork below from one of Dr. Jared Nielsen’s patients!

Read the thankful note below to Dr. Steven Anderson for his meraculous skills as a surgeon.

Keep up the good work!

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