2025 Access Champions

The Patient Access Collaborative recognizes members who have demonstrated excellence in patient access. These individuals have positively impacted patient access at their health system by improving access workflows, breaking down access barriers, or going above and beyond their call of duty to ensure patients get access to the ambulatory enterprise.

Anesh Haq

Supervisor - Desk Operations, Mayo Clinic Rochester

Nominated by Loyd Speer, Operations Manager

"Anesh is the Supervisor - Desk Supervisor with Cardiovascular Surgery, when she took over this work unit in early 2024 the Access for patients was challenging with regards to ease of scheduling and ease of contacting the schedulers. She worked collaboratively with the Appointment Office to make changes to the desk improve those Access top scores. This could be anything that the desk does successfully for patients to get appointments, receive messages back in the portal or phone calls back, even things that are specialty related and unique to CV Surgery. From the desk standpoint Anesh changed the lay out and incorporating digital self-check in and incorporated a Desk Operations Specialist (DOS) in the lobby to assist the patients with timely check in, communications with patients about delays and appointment scheduling updates. This change allowed her to team to work daily as a WQ monitor and with that, her team is able to schedule appointments for patients in a timely manner and stayed on top of it. With those changes implemented the top box scores for access improved.

Yearly (2023 to 2024)

Access Domain:
•    Ease of scheduling appointments: 80.3 increased to 82.6
•    Courtesy of registration staff: 89.7 increased to 93.0
•    Ease of contacting: 76.1 increased to 80.0
•    How well prepared for visit: 73.6 increased to 81.2
These improved Access top box scores for 2023/2024 are a direct result of Anesh's leadership and collaboration with her colleagues in CV surgery and why she would be deserving of this award. "

 

Ann Leonard 

Desk Supervisor, Mayo Clinic Rochester

Nominated by Carrie Deetz, Desk Operations Manager

Ann has worked tirelessly on a few critical access initiatives for Primary Care.

Ann was a crucial partner in the ICS Podiatry initiative. This initiative created the implementation of fast pass for appropriate appointments. Triage was evaluated and new process flows were created to ensure patients know their status or were communicated with alternate options. This allowed earlier access to open for patients that met the tier 1 and tier 2 medical needs. This has created the ability to see higher acuity patients on the calendars and created increased access.

Ann helped lead the Procedure Clinic initiative. A complete change to the order sets were required to ensure access needs are met and proper scheduling occurred for patient and provider satisfaction. Ensuring that mapping and appointment times were accurate created access to the procedure clinic. Updating the orders also allowed for more accurate scheduling and less rework.

Ann also continues to work on other specialties in the Primary Care ICS practice. The need to create scheduling efficiencies and accurate workflows requires a deep dive into necessary order changes and working with the supervisor of the MSAC team. Together they created new subgroups to ensure accuracy and less rework. 

Ann was key in producing communications to the practice and the other primary care sites. These communications included the new scheduling process flows and screen shots of the updated order sets. Ann also ensured that any new scheduling instructions were also included to provide clarity for the schedulers.

Araceli Mendoza

Referral CORE Scheduling Lead, Nebraska Medicine

Nominated by RaKay Morrison, Manager-Referral CORE

Araceli Mendoza has been a member of the Nebraska Medicine Referral CORE Centralized Scheduling Team (Referral Team) since February of 2020. She started as a Scheduling Associate and was promoted to a Lead this past May. Throughout her time on the team, she has certainly proven herself to be an Access Champion.

In 2021, the Referral CORE Program was born at Nebraska Medicine. The goal was to establish a highly reliable ambulatory referral program. As such, Araceli was instrumental in helping to map out current state workflows and processes used by the Referral Team to manage referrals. She elevated pain points and areas of opportunity within the current workflows that helped the development of the future state workflow, which is now used. And she is always on the lookout for ways to make the Referral Team more efficient and effective. For example, the Referral Team used to make calls to external sites at the end of the business day to request records. However, the team would spend a lot of time on hold with the external site as their call volumes were high at the end of the day. Araceli proposed calling for records earlier in the day to reduce hold times. And she was willing to try it out first before introducing it to others. She also had courage to ask if records for referrals to massage or chiropractic care were truly needed. Referral CORE Leadership agreed those records were not meaningful or necessary. By asking the question and gaining approval, she helped the Referral Team be more efficient and effective with their time.

Araceli does not hesitate to elevate concerns related to schedule templates or scheduling decision trees. For example, if a provider communicates “scheduling errors” that, upon investigation, were found to have been scheduled correctly per the template or decision tree, she will immediately elevate the issue to her Manager and/or Capacity Management for review and correction. If a scheduler error did occur, she connects with the Referral Team scheduler and provides training to prevent future errors. Araceli also takes ownership for oversight of referrals in the work queues. She reviews older referrals to ensure the patient has had an outreach attempt or to see if an appointment was scheduled so the referral can be linked. 

Araceli’s longevity with the Referral Team, approximately 5 years, is a testament to her commitment to both patients and the Referral Team. She genuinely cares for the patients, and it shows in her interactions with them. She always positive, warm, and welcoming on the phone, no matter the situation. She is highly accountable and is committed to helping meet patients’ needs. If she can’t provide help for the patient, she commits to finding someone who can. Not only is Araceli committed to supporting and addressing referrals owned by the Referral Team, but she also provides some oversight for urgent/emergent referrals owned by the receiving specialty. If she sees some that have not been addressed in a timely fashion, she will partner with her manager for outreach to the receiving specialty to ensure the patient’s needs are addressed in a timely manner. 
Araceli is a team player. She is always willing to help support the Referral Team and others in different departments. She leans in with kindness and curiosity in all her interactions. Recently, she collaborated with Neurology to demo the Referral Team’s MyChart lettering sending workflow for Neurology to evaluate if it could help them address a patient communication challenge. She also assisted urology will management of their referrals when they were temporarily short staffed. She has built a strong and collaborative relationship with Nebraska Med’s Primary Care Behavioral Health Team. They seek her out for help with questions and dissemination of scheduling updates out to the Referral Team. Araceli was also instrumental in the development of a Referral Team training guide and in the training of new hires. The entire Referral Team continually express gratitude for Araceli’s expertise and willingness to help with questions. She is an expert in referral management. 

In her role as Lead, Araceli has oversight of referrals within the workqueues. She elevates concern over referrals being missed to her manager to review and discussion on next. She reviews older referrals to verify the patient has been contact and/or if their referral has been scheduled. She ensures referral are linked to appointments in Epic improve and ensure accuracy of Referral Conversion Rates. She played a huge role in improving the Referral Conversion Rate* from 70.19% in FY23 to 70.73% in FY24 (2,117 more referrals scheduled). She also helped increase the percentage of referrals contacted within three business days* from 74.65% in FY23 to 90.45% in FY24. 
Araceli’s drive and commitment to referrals is evidently clear each day. I am grateful for her skills and expertise. Her future is bright within Access! 
*Data includes internal referrals managed by the Referral Team. 

 

Aysia Haikin

Executive Director of Business Operations, University of New Mexico Health & Health Sciences 

Nominated by Aaron Williams, Sr. Executive Director, Ambulatory Operations   

On behalf of the University of New Mexico Health System, I would like to recommend Aysia Haikin, our Executive Director of Business Operations, for the Patient Access Champion Award. Aysia has excelled in the following areas:

1. Workflow Improvements: Under Aysia's leadership, the Business Operations team has spearheaded several initiatives to streamline patient access processes, significantly improving the efficiency of ~150K referrals and 1M inbound/outbound patient calls, annually. .
A key example is the implementation of our home grown, system-wide Appointment Referral Management System (ARMS) which reduced our wait times by 20% and increased our same-day appointments by 8% overall. Her ability to identify bottlenecks impeding access has led to the implementation of several innovative solutions – leading to smoother and more efficient access across our entire ambulatory enterprise.

2. Barrier Reduction: Aysia has consistently demonstrated a commitment to identifying and eliminating barriers preventing patients from accessing timely care. Through collaboration with clinical leadership, Process Improvement Teams and IT, Aysia standardized provider onboarding/offboarding processes. Increasing accuracy rates of scheduling patients with correct providers.   

3. Exceptional Commitment: Aysia goes above and beyond her formal role to ensure patients are prioritized in every operational decision. Aysia has been instrumental in navigating our health system through several critical moments; through years of patients lacking access to care, COVID-19, and supporting new clinical programs in the face of unprecedented demand. Whether it’s jumping on phones to help schedule patients during high peak times or calming down an irate patient who's been waiting weeks to be seen, Aysia consistently ensures patients’ concerns are addressed.. demonstrating her exceptional dedication to our patients and families.

4. Collaboration and Teamwork: Collaboration is at the core of Aysia 's leadership style. Aysia. She  has built strong, cross-functional partnerships with clinical teams, IT, and financealigning everyone towards the common goal of improving access to care. Her ability to facilitate communication and collaboration between diverse groups has resulted in multiple successful initiatives, including the outbound joint venture of PMR/Pain referrals with a neighboring medical center. Her inclusive approach ensures all voices are heard and valued, resulting in more effective solutions and a cohesive, patient-centered strategy.

5. Positive Impact on Patients: The work led by Aysia and her team has had a tangible, positive impact on patients accessing to medical specialties.   population. Through  continuous improvement of patient access workflows and the removal of barriers, Aysia has helped increase the percentage of patients seen within our targeted timeframes. This is evident in the fact that 20% more new patients have access to care within 14 days, a significant improvement over previous benchmarks. Additionally, her teams’ recognition in  patient-centered specialty practices has resulted in higher satisfaction scores in patient access surveys, with patients consistently noting improvements in the ease of scheduling and the quality of their interactions with scheduling team members.

Aysia exemplifies the qualities of a Patient Access Champion through her tireless dedication to improving patient access, removing barriers to care, and driving cross-departmental collaboration. Her work not only optimizes our operational workflows but also directly contributes to better patient outcomes and patient experiences. Her exceptional leadership and commitment make her a standout nominee for this award.

 

Christie Collins

Access Improvement Specialist, Geisinger

Nominated by Leslie Holtzapple, Senior Director Capacity Management and Scheduling

Christie Collins is an Access Improvement Specialist within Geisinger’s Capacity Management team. Christie flourishes in seeking opportunities to improve access for our patients and providers. She is constantly searching for ways to make their entire experience from referral orders to scheduling appointments quick and easy. Christie finds solutions in many forms, including technology, operational and clinical workflow improvements, and much more. All her recommendations and designs keep the patients at the forefront and the experience of all they may encounter during their care journey. She has focused on many initiatives over the past year; however, I would like to recognize her for her efforts in two major projects which both took creativity and forward-thinking as new tools were created or repurposed to redesign hospital discharge scheduling across the system and create a platform for in-patient point of care scheduling before a patients discharge, and a replacement follow-up order for our system disposition process. Both initiatives required creativity, and coordination of many teams to facilitate execution and excellence. All of which, Christie continuously rises to the occasion and always outshines.   

 

Christine Fallon

Director of Connected Care Patient Experience, Boston Children's Hospital

Nominated by Kevin Pawl, Senior Director of Patient Access

I am honored to nominate Christine Fallon, Director of Connected Care Patient Experience at Boston Children’s Hospital, for the Access Champion Award. Christine’s unwavering commitment to ensuring patients and families are digitally engaged with their healthcare has significantly improved access to care at our organization. Her innovative approaches, collaborative spirit, and dedication to excellence make her a standout candidate for this recognition.

Christine has been an invaluable member of our Shared Patient Access Center and Boston Children’s community for the past five years. She oversees the strategy and quality of our Digital Health Support Team, which she established at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this critical time, Christine’s team became the first line of support for patients, families, and providers, ensuring uninterrupted care as we transitioned rapidly from in-person to virtual visits. This team continues to support virtual care for nearly 20% of our daily patient volume.

Under Christine’s leadership, the Digital Health Support Team has evolved to address ongoing needs, including virtual visit support, a dedicated MyChart call center, and at-the-elbow support for families enrolling in our patient portal. Her team now fields over 4,000 calls monthly, resolving more than 400 support tickets related to portal issues. Christine’s focus on streamlining workflows has not only improved efficiency but also enhanced the patient and family experience. For example, her implementation of quality assurance protocols and closed-loop feedback systems has significantly reduced ticket resolution times and increased patient satisfaction.

One of Christine’s most notable contributions is her leadership during Boston Children’s transition to an integrated Epic platform. This shift introduced complex registration workflows, particularly related to patient proxy access. Christine has been a champion of this intricate process, ensuring patients maintain ownership and access to their healthcare records. Shortly after our go-live, it was evident our training on this workflow was insufficient for the complexity of the process. Christine designed and executed an additional training, ensured it was distributed to all front-line staff, and continually followed up on status of completion to ensure all staff had the same training. Christine’s training has now been integrated into all new hire orientation to our Epic platform for frontline staff. She routinely reviews phone calls, identifies weak points in workflows, and escalates root causes with actionable solutions. Her efforts have led to measurable improvements in patient understanding and engagement with the new system.

Christine’s ability to identify and address barriers to care sets her apart. She brings a “can-do” attitude, coupled with industry expertise from her previous role at Verizon, to drive innovation and elevate Boston Children’s customer service standards. Christine has introduced best practices from her prior experience, including standard operating procedures and quality metrics, pushing our organization to deliver a higher standard of care. Her commitment to breaking down access barriers is evident in her hands-on approach, whether assisting families with portal enrollment or resolving technical challenges.

Collaboration and teamwork are hallmarks of Christine’s leadership. She is a trusted advisor to our Compliance and IT training teams, frequently sought after for her expertise and solutions-oriented mindset. Christine seamlessly navigates cross-departmental initiatives, fostering strong partnerships to improve access-related workflows. Her collaborative efforts have enhanced training programs, streamlined communication, and ensured alignment across teams, all contributing to a better patient experience.

Christine’s impact on patient access is profound. Her dedication to ensuring families are digitally enabled has improved access to care for thousands of patients. For example, her initiatives have increased MyChart enrollment rates, reduced unresolved technical issues, and ensured timely virtual visit support. Beyond metrics, Christine’s work has transformed how families engage with their healthcare, empowering them with the tools and knowledge they need to navigate their care journey.

One poignant example of Christine’s exceptional commitment involves a family struggling to access their child’s health records due to complex proxy rules. Christine personally intervened, working with multiple departments to resolve the issue and ensure the family could access the necessary information. Her efforts not only addressed the immediate concern but also led to process improvements that prevented similar issues for other families.

Christine’s contributions embody the criteria for the Access Champion Award:

• Workflow Improvements: She has streamlined patient access processes, improving efficiency and satisfaction through innovative solutions and quality assurance measures.
• Barrier Reduction: Christine actively removes obstacles to care, ensuring patients and families can easily navigate digital tools and access services.
• Exceptional Commitment: Her tireless efforts during the COVID-19 transition and ongoing dedication to improving patient access demonstrate her commitment to excellence.
• Collaboration and Teamwork: Christine builds strong partnerships across departments, enhancing access initiatives through shared expertise and seamless coordination.
• Positive Impact on Patients: Her work has led to measurable improvements in patient engagement, satisfaction, and access to care.

In conclusion, Christine Fallon’s innovative leadership, collaborative approach, and relentless dedication to improving patient access make her an ideal candidate for the Access Champion Award. Her work has had a profound and lasting impact on our patients, families, and organization. I wholeheartedly endorse her nomination and encourage you to recognize her outstanding contributions to patient access.

 

Dana Kelly

Manager of Patient Access, Hackensack Meridian Health

Nominated by Suzanne Ronner, Vice President, Patient Access 

I am honored to nominate Dana C Kelly, Manager of Patient Access at Hackensack Meridian Health, for the Access Champion Award.  Dana’s steadfast passion for patients – and their families – combined with her ability to establish strong and meaningful relationships with both clinical and administrative colleagues have driven true transformation in our access model.

While Dana has held other roles in the organization throughout her tenure with our health system, she has only been a member of the Patient Access Center team for one short year and her accomplishments have been vast!  In our journey to migrate scheduling from the practice/clinic level to our centralized scheduling model, we made early progress with primary care; however, specialties and sub-specialties were quite reluctant to take the plunge.  I am pleased to say that thanks to Dana’s tenacity, accountability, commitment and partnership, we onboarded over 100 practices representing 20 adult and pediatric specialties and subspecialties last year.  

This was a mammoth change management initiative that required the development of complex decision trees, collaboration with clinical leaders and department chairs and interaction with our digital/technology subject matter experts.  Dana’s exemplary work ethic, calm and approachable demeanor and her contagious “we can do anything together attitude” won over every stakeholder.  As with all major projects, there were bumps, bruises and barriers along the way, yet Dana’s ability to be accountable, consistent and reliable in her problem-solving, while maintaining the vision of improved access made the project a great success. 

The results have been truly remarkable: some specialties have seen 20-40% increases in new patient volume; others have vastly improved service levels (call abandonment rate and speed of answer) and appointment volume is up across the board. 

Thanks to Dana’s efforts, our Patient Access Center established trust within our physician enterprise - from department chairs to front desk team members – and this trust and solid performance is paving the way to continuing our migration to centralized scheduling and open access to all.  I can’t think of a more deserving access champion than Dana.

 

Dean Brown

Principal Access Analytics Analyst, Mayo Clinic

Nominated by Emily Hamilton, Senior Director

Dean has worked in the Patient Access field for the over 4 years, focusing on developing analytical tools to help Access leaders make better informed decisions. Throughout this time he has moved from a Senior Analyst to a Principal Analyst in recognition of his expertise and efforts in Access Data and Visualization.   In his role, he must understand scheduling workflows, capacity strategies and the underlying data to be able to correctly analyze data and display information.   In addition to his normal Access responsibilities, he has expanded his efforts in connection to the Patient Access Collaborative.   For the last 3 years, he has led the data reporting for the full Mayo Clinic Enterprise in support of the PAC annual Benchmark reporting.  He co-presented on Access Analytics at the 2024 PAC Annual Symposium and co-presented on Access Analytics Best Practices to the PAC Access Analytics cohort in June of 2024.  Since August of 2024 he has supported the PAC Access Analytics Cohort as the co-leader of the group, allowing him to further showcase his skills and dedication to improving patient access.  

 

Dustin Meuth

Director, Access Analytics, Houston Methodist

Nominated by Pooja Sheth, Sr. Project Manager

It is with great pleasure that I nominate Dustin Meuth, Director of Access Analytics, for the Access Champion award, recognizing his outstanding leadership and contributions in improving patient access across our organization. Dustin’s work has had a transformative impact on our patient access operations by streamlining workflows, reducing barriers, and ensuring that patients receive timely care. Below are key accomplishments that highlight Dustin’s exceptional dedication to improving access:

Workflow Improvements
Dustin has been instrumental in driving workflow improvements through his development of comprehensive access dashboards. These dashboards provide real-time insights into patient access and call center performance, enabling the team to monitor and optimize access processes continuously. By offering clear, data-driven visuals of key metrics, Dustin has empowered teams to streamline their workflows, improve decision-making, and take immediate corrective action when necessary—ultimately enhancing the efficiency of patient access operations.

Barrier Reduction
Dustin has played a critical role in identifying and reducing barriers to patient access. His team uses data analytics to uncover potential bottlenecks and inefficiencies in access processes. For example, Dustin’s insights into scheduling patterns have led to adjustments that reduce wait times and eliminate scheduling conflicts, allowing patients to access care more promptly. Furthermore, Dustin’s commitment to data transparency has ensured that all departments understand the barriers patients face and work collaboratively to address them.

Exceptional Commitment
Dustin’s commitment to ensuring that patients receive timely access to care is evident in his proactive leadership. His data-driven approach has enabled the organization to stay on track with access targets, ensuring no patient is left waiting unnecessarily. Dustin has gone above and beyond to provide the necessary data and insights that allow our teams to make informed, strategic decisions that improve patient care. His ongoing dedication to tracking performance metrics has been a key factor in meeting and exceeding our access-related goals.

Collaboration and Teamwork
Dustin’s leadership extends beyond analytics. He actively collaborates with multiple departments—clinical, administrative, IT, and more—to align efforts and improve access. By sharing data and promoting transparency across teams, Dustin has created a culture of collaboration, ensuring that everyone from front-line staff to leadership is working toward common goals. This teamwork has led to stronger, more coordinated efforts in addressing access challenges and improving patient experiences.

Positive Impact on Patients
Dustin’s efforts have had a measurable impact on patient access. Through his work, our organization has seen significant improvements in key performance metrics such as reduced wait times, higher patient satisfaction scores, and better alignment with access targets. By leveraging data and analytics, Dustin has ensured that patient access to care is not only efficient but also timely and seamless, resulting in a more positive patient experience overall.

Conclusion
Dustin Meuth’s leadership in access analytics has had a profound and lasting impact on our organization’s patient access operations. His innovative approach to data analysis, commitment to breaking down access barriers, and collaborative spirit have been instrumental in improving patient access and driving organizational success. For these reasons, I am proud to nominate Dustin Meuth for the Access Champion award.

 

Eman Darby

Access Advisor, Mayo Clinic

Nominated by Kendra Ask-Carlson, Operations Management

As an access advisor within primary care, Eman identified template opportunity which optimized 13% of primary care templates to be better utilized for patients and reduce the need for a manual scheduling. The results of her efforts ensured patients had greater access to provider schedules, resulted in an increase in patient self-scheduling, and ensured that patients with moderately acute needs could be seen by providers within three weeks.

 

Erica Simon

Director, Specialty Access & Scheduling, Houston Methodist

Nominated by Pooja Sheth, Sr. Project Manager

It is with great enthusiasm that I nominate Erica Simon, Director of Specialty Access & Scheduling, for the Access Champion Award, recognizing her outstanding contributions to the Patient Access team. Erica has consistently demonstrated exemplary leadership, innovation, and collaboration in her role, driving significant improvements to patient access and operational efficiency. Below are key accomplishments that make Erica a deserving candidate for this award:

Workflow Improvements:

•    Streamlining Patient Access Processes: Erica took proactive steps to streamline patient access by implementing clear communication protocols and establishing standardized operating procedures for contacting clinic partners. By integrating messaging within the EPIC system, these changes significantly reduced average handle time and increased calls managed per hour, enhancing the overall patient experience. Patients were able to reach agents more quickly and efficiently, contributing to improved satisfaction and a more seamless experience.
•    Modernizing the CCO Ticketing System: Recognizing the need for technological advancement, Erica led the transition of the Call Center Operations (CCO) team ticketing system into ServiceNow. This critical upgrade improved workflow efficiency, data tracking, and issue resolution, replacing an outdated system and enhancing the team's ability to respond to patient needs swiftly and effectively.

Barrier Reduction:
•    Identifying and Addressing Scheduling Barriers: Erica has consistently worked to identify and remove barriers that limit patient access to care. One example of her initiative was addressing scheduling challenges within the provider match scheduling tool. By advocating for the reduction of one-off exceptions, Erica successfully engaged with Regional Medical Directors to reduce unnecessary barriers to accessing Primary Care Providers (PCPs). These efforts have directly improved access for patients, particularly for established patients seeking care, while also easing the burden on the scheduling staff.

Collaboration and Teamwork
•    Fostering Strong Cross-Department Partnerships: Erica has built and maintained strong partnerships across various departments, improving collaboration on initiatives aimed at improving patient access. She played a key role in leading the Regional Community Access Center Initiative, a strategic effort to lay the foundation for the organization's 2030 vision. This initiative demonstrated tangible improvements in operational efficiency and patient satisfaction, helping to meet the growing community's needs by offering both in-person and online options for patients. 

•    Successful Centralization of Primary Care Group Operations: Erica's leadership and cross-departmental collaboration were instrumental in completing the centralization of the Primary Care Group, which involved integrating the last of the originally grandfathered clinics. This was a major accomplishment that streamlined access operations and significantly improved service delivery, reinforcing the organization's commitment to operational excellence and the continued improvement of patient access.

Operational Excellence and Standardization:
•    Development of Comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Document: Erica developed a comprehensive SOP document that has become a foundational resource for System Access agents. This document sets clear "house rules" and ensures consistency across the organization, facilitating seamless communication and alignment within each department across Patient Access. It has been critical in maintaining high standards and promoting a unified approach to patient access operations.

Conclusion:
Erica Simon's leadership, innovation, and dedication to improving patient access have had a profound and lasting impact on the organization. She is a true Access Champion who has not only enhanced operational efficiency and patient satisfaction but also fostered collaboration and teamwork to achieve strategic goals. Her contributions have positioned us to better serve our growing community and continue our mission of providing exceptional patient care. 
For these reasons, I wholeheartedly recommend Erica Simon for the Access Champion Award.

 

Heather Verdick

OAM Access Operations Assistant Supervisor, Mayo Clinic Rochester

Nominated by Corey Knauss, OAM Operations Manager

I am pleased to nominate Heather Verdick for the Access Champion Award. Heather has demonstrated exceptional leadership and dedication in her role as an Assistant Supervisor in Access Operations.
Heather pursued the opportunity to join the OAM Gold Quality Project, where she shares ideas and creates materials for others to learn and understand the technical applications as well as use cases for Teams Premium. Heather has collaborated with internal partners and stakeholders to promote accessibility standards and awareness of issues within the department. Throughout all the changes and challenges, Heather has maintained a positive and curious attitude, which has been crucial in her change management. She has received many kudos in meetings for her approach, concerns, and genuine desire to find the best workflows for the entire department.
Heather's strength lies in her active participation; she never hesitates to ask questions and seek clarification when needed. She is a change agent, always looking for process improvement opportunities and driving toward implementation. Heather has made a positive impact on goal setting for the department through the Operational Thresholds and challenges the team to stretch to meet them.
Heather's commitment to excellence, proactive approach, contributions and leadership qualities makes her a deserving candidate for the Access Champion Award.

 

Jazmin Forbes

Specialist - Training Practice Operations, Mayo Clinic

Nominated by Kali Eastway, Supervisor - Coordinator Operations

When we think of an Access Champion, we often imagine someone directly involved in scheduling patients or creating templates to optimize provider availability. However, the scope of access extends beyond day-to-day scheduling—it also encompasses the vital work of ensuring our staff are well-prepared to deliver the best patient experience possible.

Jazmin Forbes exemplifies this commitment. She has consistently gone above and beyond to support our large agent group of nearly 1,000 agents. Our organization is currently undergoing the implementation of a new telephony system, a transition requiring extensive builds, preparation, and, most importantly, training.

Despite her already full workload, Jazmin stepped up to ensure that our agents had all the tools and knowledge they needed for a seamless switchover. She created a fun, hands-on, and interactive training experience through a "Flight Simulator" program, guiding staff step by step on how to handle patient calls, connect them to the appropriate appointment offices, and prioritize the needs of each patient.

Thanks to Jazmin’s dedication, innovation, and leadership, our team is better equipped to provide outstanding service during this pivotal transition. Her efforts exemplify what it means to be an Access Champion.

 

Jessica Nordstrom, MD

Physician and Access Medical Director, Baylor Scott and White Health

Nominated by Deborah Sather, Director, Contact Center Operations

I am pleased to nominate Dr. Jessica Nordstrom for the Access Champion Award in recognition of her steadfast commitment to improving patient access to care at Baylor Scott and White Health (BSWH).

In addition to practicing Internal Medicine, Dr. Nordstrom is our physician champion for access. I have worked with Dr. Nordstrom for about six years as we expanded our enterprise contact center in the Dallas – Fort Worth region where she practices. We partnered to provide centralized support where none existed and eventually onboarded over 50 primary care clinics into our existing operation. Dr. Nordstrom was key to facilitating physician buy-in and socializing standard workflows with practices independently managed and operated. For those who have taken on such initiatives, you know how valuable a sincere physician champion is to access initiatives. Dr. Nordstrom is a true champion who ensures our patients have timely access to the medical services they need, demonstrating outstanding leadership in the areas of patient scheduling, communication, and coordination of care.
Examples of Dr. Nordstrom’s commitment include:

-    Education: BSWH is an Epic shop and Dr. Nordstrom became Epic Cadence certified to improve her knowledge of available functionality and understand template builds. This has afforded her the ability to listen to provider scheduling concerns, identify template build and optimization gaps, and communicate recommendations to her peers. Dr. Nordstrom is such a proponent of the contact center and can easily explain why what may appear to be a scheduling mistake is driven by a template build. She also created a slide deck providing high-level education for providers explaining visit types along with how providers can control their day and how best to fill their schedules.

-    Template Optimization: By collaborating with our Centralized Access team and Digital Health Office, Dr. Nordstrom continues to be instrumental in driving continuity among our contact center and online scheduling channels. For example, she has worked to identify which providers do not have online scheduling, either open or direct, prohibiting BSWH from achieving our online scheduling goals. Recently in partnership with our VP of Access, Dr. Nordstrom helped to create an access governance model to guide practices and providers to adhere to fundamental guardrails when designing templates and other workflows.

-    Collaboration with Others: Dr. Nordstrom is an active participant in BSWH access workgroups, committees, and customer journeys providing advice from a physician’s point of view in addition to ensuring communication and coordination among the various groups and initiatives. In addition to the example above partnering with our Digital Health Office on channel alignment, she collaborates very closely with our Centralized Nurse Triage and Rx Refill teams, our Quality Alliance team addressing care gaps, and customer journey teams driving improvements in finding care, delivery care, follow-up care, and more. She also helps to explain barriers to access that we see on the frontline and facilitates discussions with peers for resolution. For example, a physician did not understand why newborns were not being scheduled with her. Turns out, the template was not built for newborn access and had the issue resolved immediately.

-    Communication: Above all else, Dr. Nordstrom is an exceptional communicator keeping colleagues, including me, informed of initiatives we may not be aware of, however could impact the contact center including pilots to improve patient access or fill care gaps. We meet formally once a week to stay coordinated, however, throughout the day there is ad hoc and less formal communication to share a tidbit, ask a question, or review a potential concern. Having dependable, relatable, and transparent communication makes Dr. Nordstrom a trusted leader and driver of change in our organization.

For these reasons, I strongly recommend Dr. Nordstrom for the Access Champion Award. Her dedication and diligence have made a profound impact on our healthcare system and the lives we serve. This is further exemplified by her BSWH commitment statement, in her own words, “I commit to leading our BSW Access/ECC Team from a foundation of Gratitude and Grace, so our patients and team members are empowered to live well.”

 

Jessica Wannarka

Supervisor-Desk Operations, Mayo Clinic Rochester

Nominated by Lloyd Speer, Operations Manager

Jessica Wannarka is the Supervisor - Desk Operations with Executive Health Program. Jessica was instrumental with implementing text to Room with patients in Exec Health. Text to Room has helped streamline the rooming process for the patients and the care team by removing pagers and minimizing overhead paging by sending patients a text message when the care team is ready to room them.  This task is done through the Events tab in Epic.  Jessica work collaboratively with others to develop an Event Texting “Department specific” SOP for the care team to utilize to train others. 

Event Text to Room benefits Access:
•    Reduces delays in rooming and moving the patient through their visit.
•    Ease of contacting the patient about potential delays.
•    Enhanced our digital check-in experience
•    Provide a confidential and efficient method to rooming our patients (no longer 
        overhead paging patient names)
•    Lead the path to automation

 

Jon Harmel

Supervisor, Clinical Prior Authorization, Mayo Clinic

Nominated by Dani Phelps, Manager, Clinical Prior Authorization

Jon Harmel has consistently demonstrated exceptional dedication to improving prior authorization within our patient access division here at Mayo. His innovative approaches, tireless advocacy, and commitment to removing barriers to care have significantly enhanced our ability to serve our patients efficiently and compassionately. 

Key Contributions:
The Needs of the Patient Come First - Jon consistently goes above and beyond to help his patients navigate their insurance company and prior authorization requirements.  He fights back on policy, where payers may otherwise deny care.

Leadership and Collaboration - Jon is a fearless leader who works to remove barriers and be a resource to his direct reports. Jon also works closely with his clinic partners to help reduce administrative burden on our providers.

Impact on KPIs - Jon strives to exceed all goals laid out to him. He also motivates his staff to exceed goals. This is evidenced by the significant improvement we have seen in the reduction in Days to First Touch for our Pre-Determination metrics. 

Joshua Skinner

Access Operations Supervisor, Mayo Clinic

Nominated by Joan Broers, Operations Manager

Josh Skinner has been the supervisor of the Dermatology Appointment Office/Call Center at Mayo Clinic for about a year.  Josh has 20 direct reports (scheduling agents) who have supported and coordinated more than 59,000 appointments in the Dermatology department in 2024. Josh orchestrated numerous workflow changes with his team including cross coverage changes, streamlined decision tree scheduling, and implemented scheduling and coordination workflows for a new community dermatology clinic.

 

He has built many collaborations and relationship with other department leaders in his role to ensure the highest quality and service was provided to patients and their scheduling needs.  This included partnering with the Pathology department to optimize slide and report retrieval for providers; partnering with the allied health team on registration and previsit coordination processes. 
One great current example of collaboration and teamwork includes partnering with the Dermatology research team to ensure smooth operations and communication between the two support teams to ensure timely visit coordination for research patients.

Since Josh has lead the Dermatology Contact Center, their service metrics have met or exceeded standards including workqueue management volumes in the “green” or acceptable range; ASA meeting or exceeding 30 seconds; abandonment rate around 2% of calls. 

Josh’s commitment to his team to ensure their success is demonstrated through multiple responses from his staff during his latest review cycle:
•    Josh has not only maintained stability but he has enhanced operations in his leadership role
•    Highly value Josh’s ability to help solve scheduling issues but also offer the best support to patient interactions.
•    Josh is approachable  and listens to his team.  He values their input and willingness to negotiate changes with upper leadership.

Kandace Rathbun

Coordinator - Access Operations, Mayo Clinic Rochester

Nominated by Kali Eastway, Supervisor - Access Operations

Kandace exemplifies the qualities of an Access Champion through her dedication, innovation, and commitment to excellence in patient access. She consistently goes above and beyond to support both patients and schedulers, ensuring workflows and scheduling processes are efficient and effective. Leveraging her extensive knowledge of EPIC and her creative problem-solving skills, Kandace identifies challenges, uncovers opportunities, and implements solutions that add measurable value.

She demonstrates a proactive approach to professional growth, continually pursuing scheduling best practices and seeking to improve her expertise. She is fearless in tackling unfamiliar practices, analyzing current processes, identifying gaps, and reengineering workflows to streamline efforts and enhance the patient experience. Her ability to think critically and deliver innovative solutions has made a meaningful impact on access operations, embodying the spirit of leadership and potential this award recognizes.

 

Kim Morel-Betances

Executive Director of Patient Access Services, ColumbiaDoctors

Self nominated 

I am honored to submit my self-nomination for the Patient Access Award, recognizing the transformative progress achieved in the centralized Access Center at ColumbiaDoctors over the past year. As the Executive Director of the ColumbiaDoctors Access Center, I have embraced my role as a transformational leader, driving meaningful change while maintaining a steadfast commitment to employee engagement and patient-centered care.

Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership requires vision, adaptability, and a deep commitment to fostering growth within individuals and teams. I have sought to inspire a shared purpose among my team, encouraging innovation, collaboration, and a relentless focus on improving access for our patients. Through transparent communication and a culture of empowerment, my leadership has contributed to a dynamic workplace that prioritizes both operational excellence and employee well-being.

Achievements in Expanding Access

Over the past year, the Access Center has undergone extensive expansion, integrating multiple specialties to improve patient access and streamline operations. Notable accomplishments include:

• New Implementations: Successfully incorporating specialties such as Cardiology, Heart Failure, Och Spine, OBGYN/MFM, and Ophthalmology into the Access Center. This integration significantly improved scheduling efficiency and reduced wait times for patients.

• Workforce Optimization: Implementing cross-skilling initiatives, enabling staff to seamlessly manage diverse specialties without increasing headcount, resulting in high performance while remaining below budget for recruitment.

• Technological Advancements: Partnered in leading the integration of provider Profile Mapping and Epic Cheers scheduling scripts to enhance accuracy, streamline workflows, and support the scalability of operations.

Focus on People Engagement

Despite the rapid growth, I have prioritized maintaining a culture of engagement and support:

• Hosted a summer Silent Disco party for 145 employees. We danced the night away!

• Hosted a pumpkin decorating contest.

• Hosted an employee funded holiday gala at a catering venue.

• Our business unit won the holiday decorating contest where we decorated our suite in "The Nutcracker" theme with employee made decorations.• Achieved the highest employee engagement scores across our departments, reflecting my commitment to creating a workplace where individuals feel valued and inspired.

• Achieved the lowest turnover rate.

• Established regular communication structures, such as daily huddles, biweekly Quality Assurance meetings, and an annual leadership summit, to ensure alignment, foster collaboration, and celebrate successes.

• Promoted leadership development within the team, empowering managers to lead with confidence and adapt to the evolving needs of our operations.

Impact on Patient Access

The expansion and optimization of the Access Center have delivered tangible benefits to patients and providers, including:

• Improved access to care through reduced appointment wait times and enhanced scheduling accuracy.

• Increased patient satisfaction by providing a seamless and efficient experience.

• Strengthened collaboration across specialties to ensure patients receive timely and appropriate care.

Additional Activities:

• Served as Patient Access Collaborative faculty member for the Access Academy by creating supplemental video for Ambulatory Access Center Management Certification program.

This nomination represents not only my contributions, but the collective efforts of an exceptional team committed to reimagining patient access. Together, we have demonstrated that transformational leadership, coupled with a focus on people, can drive meaningful and sustainable changes.

Kim Colapietro

CARE Center Operations Director, Yale Medicine

Nominated by Tina Tolomeo, Senior Director, Patient Access

Kim Colapietro serves as one of the CARE Center Operations Directors. Her oversight includes Digestive Health (GI, hepatology, bariatrics, and colorectal), ENT, General Surgery/Trauma, Pediatrics (medical and surgical services), Neurosurgery, Plastics, and Surgical Oncology. Kim joined the CARE Center 5 years ago as one of our first group of Managers and was quickly promoted to Operations Director. To say Kim is dedicated would be an understatement. Kim is highly regarded by her director peers, managers, and physician partners. Kim’s ability to optimize workflows to improve patient access and the representative experience is second to none. In this area, Kim focuses on: working with her departments to implement template functionality such as thaw, release, and session limits to increase access; optimizing decision support rules to increase ease of scheduling and decrease errors, optimizing FastPass and self-scheduling so that all aspects work seamlessly together.  Kim’s attention to detail and knowledge of her departments have earned her the respect of our staff and the departments we serve. Beyond Kim’s technical skills, is her personality.  Kim is outgoing and always ready to help. In summary, Kim’s commitment makes her an Access Champion to those of us who work with her in the CARE Center and to our patients who have benefited from her constant devotion patient access.

 

Kris Gilgenbach

Supervisor-Access Operations, Mayo Clinic

Nominated by Cassie Crary, Operations Manager

Kris has been a driving force in advancing patient access initiatives through her exceptional leadership in change management. Her unwavering positivity, meticulous follow-through, and dedication to adapting to change have significantly improved access workflows and broken-down barriers to care. Kris's collaborative approach fosters strong partnerships across departments, ensuring seamless execution of access-related initiatives. Her ability to inspire and guide her team through transitions has resulted in measurable improvements in patient access, exemplifying her commitment to providing timely and exceptional care.

 

Lacey Watson, B.A.S.

Desk Operations Supervisor, Mayo Clinic

Nominated by Jodell Nelsen, Operations Manager 

I am pleased to nominate Lacey Watson for the prestigious Access Champion Award. As a  Supervisor of Desk Operations at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, Lacey has demonstrated exceptional innovation, leadership, and commitment to improving patient access and care coordination. Her dedication to breaking down barriers and streamlining workflows has profoundly impacted the patient experience within her department.

Lacey led the implementation of a two-way texting system for GIH PMR patients, allowing them to coordinate their appointment times and schedule two-week follow-up visits at their convenience. This initiative significantly enhanced communication, reduced patient scheduling challenges, and empowered patients to take greater control of their healthcare journey.

Furthermore, Lacey introduced a new care team model that has transformed communication and efficiency within the multidisciplinary team. She has fostered real-time collaboration and immediate problem-solving by relocating Desk Operations Specialists (DOS) to work alongside care teams in the same workroom. Scheduling questions are addressed proactively, and patients benefit from coordinated itineraries often completed during their visits. This innovative approach has reduced wait times, increased patient and staff satisfaction, and ensured that care is delivered seamlessly.

Lacey’s ability to integrate patient-focused solutions with operational improvements is exemplary. Her efforts have enhanced the alignment between desk operations, care teams, and patient needs, setting a new standard for patient access at Mayo Clinic.

It is for these reasons that I wholeheartedly nominate Lacey Watson as an Access Champion. Her forward-thinking leadership and tireless commitment to improving patient access make her deserving of this recognition.

Lois Bernhardt

Associate Director of Capacity Management, OSU Physicians

Nominated by Jen Wilcox, Associate Director of Patient Access

We are honored to nominate Lois Bernhardt, Associate Director for Capacity Management at OSU Physicians, for the Access Champion Award. Lois has demonstrated unparalleled leadership in advancing patient access, blending innovative problem-solving with a collaborative spirit to address complex challenges. Her dedication to optimizing workflows, improving capacity management, and fostering accountability has delivered remarkable results that directly benefit patients and elevate organizational excellence. Lois embodies the values and vision of this award, consistently going above and beyond to make a lasting impact on both the people she serves and the teams she leads.

Workflow Improvements

Lois has shown exceptional leadership in enhancing workflow efficiency and fostering accountability within the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center organization. Her innovative contributions include:

• Implementing a Ticketing System for Capacity Management Requests: Lois led the development of a ticketing system using ServiceNow to manage all template requests, changes, and bumps. This system replaced the previous manual and email-based process, significantly improving tracking and accountability across teams.
• Optimizing Order Processes in Outpatient Rehabilitation: Lois identified opportunities to optimize templates, transform the order process, and centralize the Outpatient Rehab group. Her leadership in redesigning order workflows resulted in a more efficient and centralized process, reducing delays and improving clarity for all stakeholders. This was a significant win for both patients and employees.
• Driving Capacity Management Improvements: By embracing organizational initiatives such as “Behaviors that Impact Access,” Lois led the capacity management team to achieve a 6% improvement in fill rates for Advanced Practice Practitioners in FY24 and a continued 3% increase in FY25TD. These improvements have led to higher patient satisfaction, greater operational efficiency, and some of the strongest success metrics the organization has ever seen.
• Promoting Access Awareness: Lois led an organizational “presentation roadshow” with her counterparts, educating staff at all levels on behaviors affecting access at OSUWMC. This included reporting, managing, and defining held and unavailable time, appropriate use of templates, and minimizing appointment bumps, with a specific focus on cancellations less than six weeks before appointments. Her efforts embodied a shared commitment to organizational access excellence.

Barrier Reduction

Lois is a consummate professional and access champion at our organization.  She consistently identifies and helps to mitigate barriers to access (no matter what the challenge), ensuring smoother operations and best possible patient outcomes. Notable accomplishments in this space include:

• Enhancing Data Accessibility: Each month, Lois leads her team in distributing access data to division and operational leaders, increasing awareness, and offering actionable solutions to improve access behaviors.  During the first half of this year, Lois and her team worked diligently to reimagine our executive-level access reporting and successfully finalized a redesign to reflect the new core metrics introduced by our new CEO. In parallel, Lois and team created and published our organization’s first digital access dashboard.  This has quickly become one of the most viewed and utilized reports/dashboard views in the organization.
• Addressing & Giving Visibility to Key Barriers & Friction Points (Behaviors that Impact Access):
  • Incorrect Use of Held/Unavailable Time: Improved provider utilization and fill rates while ensuring the accuracy of auto-search functions and access views.
  • Template Adherence; Non-new Patients in New Blocks: Advocated for reserving new patient slots, preserving access for first-time patients, and improving lead times and fill rates.
  • Minimizing Appointment Bumps: Worked to reduce appointment bumps, directly improving patient satisfaction, and avoiding extended delays in care.

Exceptional Commitment

Lois exemplifies an unwavering dedication to balancing organizational goals with patient-centered care. With her extensive experience as a Physical Therapist, Clinic Manager, and now Associate Director of Capacity Management, she brings a holistic perspective and deep passion for ensuring patients receive timely care. Lois's exceptional commitment is evident in her proactive approach to problem-solving and her ability to inspire her team to achieve excellence. She consistently goes above and beyond to advocate for patients, ensuring that their needs are met with the highest standards of care. Her leadership is characterized by a relentless pursuit of improvement, fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation. Lois's dedication to her work is not just a professional obligation but a personal mission to make a meaningful impact on the lives of those she serves.

Collaboration and Teamwork

Lois's success is deeply rooted in her exceptional ability to foster collaboration across departments. Her key contributions include:

• Expanding Access in Radiology: By advising Radiology leadership on template optimizations, Lois played a pivotal role in opening 2,444 additional MRI appointments, significantly enhancing patient access.
• Facilitating Template Improvements: Lois regularly engages with providers and leaders through one-on-one sessions, Access meetings, Faculty Group discussions, and Board meetings. Her collaborative efforts drive continuous template adjustment & enhancement.
• Cross-Department Collaboration: Lois works closely with access groups, scheduling teams, and operational leaders, ensuring a unified approach to improving patient access.
• Mentorship and Training: Lois actively serves as one of the mentors for our Clinic Manager in Training Program cohorts, sharing her expertise in capacity management and highlighting its critical role in enhancing patient access.

Positive Impact on Patients

Lois’s work has led to transformative changes in access to care, directly benefiting patients. Highlights include:

• Reducing Held Time: Collaborated with the senior clinical leadership team to significantly decrease inappropriate held time, resulting in:
• A reduction of over 4,000 hours of held time on templates from FY24 Q1/Q2 to FY25 Q1/Q2.
• An increase of nearly 13,000 hours of available provider time during the same period.

These achievements underscore her commitment to optimizing resources and ensuring patients receive timely, high-quality care.

Lois’s tireless efforts, innovative thinking, and collaborative spirit make her an exemplary candidate for the PAC Access Champion Award. Her work has not only enhanced organizational efficiency, garnered support and momentum for an organizational culture shift to patient centricity but has also profoundly impacted the lives of patients and colleagues alike.

Lynn McLuhan

Unit Desk Clerk, Geisinger

Nominated by Leslie Holtzapple, Senior Director Capacity Management and Scheduling

Lynn McLuhan is a Unit Desk Clerk at Geisinger Medical Center Muncy, who is recognized for pioneering the ability and intent to ensure patients are scheduled for their follow-up appointments before being discharged from their hospital stay. Her enthusiasm to ensure patients will be set for their continued care when they go home is exciting and contagious. She was ready to support these efforts before system technical changes and showed her determination to care for our patients past their stay, which is why she works in healthcare. 

Margarita Hebert

Operations Director, Yale Medicine

Nominated by Kimberly Colapietro, Operations Director

I would like to nominate Margarita Hebert (Margie) as Access Champion. Margie works with me and one other Operations Director.  She is instrumental in providing options and solutions to barriers we face daily.  Margie's previous role created valuable connections within the health system and shares her knowledge and resources with our team to expedite resolutions that hinder patient access.  She consistently goes above and beyond by always being available, no matter what time of day and is an instrumental part of our team.  

Michael Gillespie

SVP CLinical Services, Boston Children's Hospital

Nominated by Kevin Pawl, Senior Director of Patient Access

Recognizing Excellence: Why Michael Gillespie Deserves the Patient Access Champion Award. In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, patient access remains a pivotal aspect of delivering quality care. It ensures timely medical attention, cost efficiency, and overall patient satisfaction. This domain requires individuals who are not only dedicated but also innovative, compassionate, and forward-thinking. Michael Gillespie epitomizes these qualities and more, setting new standards in patient access across the healthcare continuum.

A Transformative Leader
Michael Gillespie’s leadership in the field of patient access is nothing short of transformational. At the helm of clinical services at Boston Children’s, Michael has consistently demonstrated a visionary approach to resolving operational challenges. Under his stewardship, clinical volume has increased, provider utilization has improved, missed care opportunities have decreased. This is testament to his relentless pursuit of efficiency and accountability while improving patient-centric operations.

Mentorship
Michael’s commitment to education extends to his colleagues. He established mentorship programs aimed at enhancing the skills of front-line leaders, emphasizing the importance of empathy, communication, and efficiency in improving patient access. The positive results of these programs are evident across the facility, with improved morale, higher job satisfaction, and, most importantly, enhanced patient experience.

Equity and Inclusivity
Michael is deeply committed to ensuring equitable access to healthcare for all, recognizing that disparities can significantly hinder patient outcomes. To this end, he has supported initiatives targeting underserved populations within the community, implementing outreach programs that provide vital health information and services to these groups. By prioritizing inclusivity, Michael has not only improved access for marginalized communities but has also increased awareness and sensitivity among healthcare professionals regarding the importance of culturally competent care.

Collaborative Spirit
A true testament to Michael’s excellence is his innate ability to foster collaboration. He understands the essential relationships between service line directors, faculty and chiefs of service.  A deep understanding of these relationships requires cooperation between various departments and stakeholders. Through adept relationship-building skills, Michael has formed partnerships with these key stakeholders and this collaboration has led to groundbreaking initiatives that promote seamless integration of services, enhanced communication, and ultimately, superior patient outcomes.

In addition, Michael’s efforts to streamline inter-departmental processes within Boston Children’s he has been instrumental in bridging gaps in service delivery. By fostering a spirit of collaboration and mutual respect, he has united teams with a common vision of providing the best possible care to patients.

Conclusion
Michael Gillespie stands as a beacon of excellence in patient access, a professional who goes above and beyond to ensure that healthcare is not just a service, but a right accessible to all. His innovative strategies, dedication to advocacy and equity, and an unwavering commitment to improving patient experiences reinforce his candidacy for the Patient Access Champion Award. By recognizing Michael’s achievements, we not only celebrate his contributions but also set a benchmark for what is possible in healthcare access management. Michael Gillespie is indeed deserving of this honor, as his work continues to transform lives, one patient at a time.

 

Michelle Lynn

Chief Operation Office, SIU Medicine

Nominated by Andrea Mumaw, Deputy Director of Access

Michelle Lynn became SIU COO 2 years ago during covid. During that time, SIU was in a complex situation as our community had shifted with other healthcare organizations in the area not taking the top 2-3 insurance companies. This left an already maxed healthcare institution in a difficult position when it came to access. Michelle along with her team worked tirelessly to build relationships with our internal SIU specialty teams, our healthcare partners that were also struggling to find care for all patients but also timely care for their patients especially OBGYN and Oncology patients. At a time where care to those patients were so critical, Michelle took to the ground running and created working relationships inside and outside of SIU, helped patients 1:1 get the appointments and care they needed and so deserved. All the while, Michelle worked tirelessly with department chairs, individual providers, front desk, and referral staff to limit the need for referrals to see specialists, allow NPPA Providers to see external referrals, and decreased lag days from FY 23 63 days, to FY 24 48 days, and now Fy 25 at an organizational record breaking 38 days. SIU is still on the road to creating the best access we can possibly provide to our patients but with Michelle at the wheel, we have been able to break barriers in the way of access and be a CHAMPION for our patients!

 

Neha Sarkar

Director of Training & Quality, Rush University Medical Center

Nominated by Yelina Mejia, Interim VP, Access Operations

I am pleased to nominate Neha Sarkar, Director of Training & Quality, for the Access Champion award. Neha consistently demonstrates outstanding leadership and dedication to improving Access functions within our organization from both the contact center and the clinic perspectives. She diligently works to make a transformative impact on both our workflows and the patient experience. Her efforts to remove barriers and streamline processes have contributed to a more efficient, patient-centered environment for our staff and the individuals we serve.

Neha exemplifies excellence in leadership, fostering collaboration across multidisciplinary teams and inspires those around her to continuously strive for improvement. Over the last year alone, she has led multiple initiatives to standardize or overhaul the patient access experience, including, but truly not limited to:

• Developed an extensive and thorough training program to support the implementation of Salesforce and Genesys.
• Led a comprehensive overhaul of all contact center knowledge resources, consolidating over 900 knowledge articles into a single, unified platform. Standardized information and formatting to enhance accessibility and ensure consistency across more than 30 specialty areas supported by the contact center.
• Implemented a standardized onboarding, training, and QA program that improved employee engagement, reduced onboarding time, and supported continuous improvement for over 700 access and clinic employees.
• Created annual competency training modules that helped align the administrative workflows in our ambulatory clinics and our contact center.
• Established standardized rubrics to assist with quality audits for clinic coordinators, Access Specialists and Access Nurses.
• Has been instrumental in leading change management and communication plans for our Core Requirements initiative, primarily aimed at streamlining the scheduling process for patients and schedulers across the system.
• Implemented a financial clearance policy that provides guidelines to financially secure appropriate reimbursement for scheduled patient services and manage patient expectations for financial responsibility prior to the provision of care.
• Created an error reporting ticketing system to allow clinic staff and contact center staff to report perceived errors for review by her team. She further developed this process by providing monthly breakdown summaries to all leaders with stats and trends around quality audits and errors by team, specialty and employee.
• Established a standardized new hire onboarding training program spanning over 6 weeks that includes classroom training, clinic rotations, testing and ad-elbow training. During this training, Neha’s team also conducts multiple audits to ensure the employee is on track for success and understands all the material.
• Implemented an internal float team by repurposing existing resources to help with much needed support during staffing shortages helping us to improve our service level and abandonment rate significantly.

Neha has been instrumental in addressing access barriers by striving to understand the entire patient access experience from beginning to end. She is a forward-thinking leader that has driven multiple process improvements across the system. Since Neha joined us in the Access Center, patient access workflows have been completely transformed, resulting in improved patient throughput and increased overall quality and efficiency. These improvements have benefited our patients, staff and leaders, as teams are more focused on delivering excellent service rather than struggling with cumbersome administrative tasks.

Neha’s commitment to quality, innovation and patient experience makes her a truly deserving candidate for the Patient Access Champion Award. She has made a lasting contribution to our department and the organization, optimizing workflows and creating a more accessible and efficient healthcare experience for all. I wholeheartedly recommend Neha for this important award.

 

Nicole Guard, MSN, RN, NI-BC

Nurse Informatician IT, Geisinger

Nominated by Leslie Holtzapple, Senior Director Capacity Management and Scheduling

Nicole Guard, Nurse Informatician IT is a Geisinger’s IT Health Informatics Team member. In this role, Nicole faces many patient access challenges with her clinical and operational partners in the areas she supports. Key areas include Geisinger’s Hematology Oncology Institute, where Nicole breaks down barriers in patient care as she ensures patients are referred for all the services needed for their cancer treatment. Along with her clinical and operational partners, Nicole has worked to successfully align referral workflows with Geisinger’s Value-Based Care Guidelines to ensure proper steps are followed in preparing patients for their treatment. 

 

Patsy Regan

Director - Access Center Operations, Keck Medicine of USC

Nominated by Trenton Mendenhall, Director - Ambulatory Operations Improvement & Consumer Experience

It is my privilege to be nominating Patsy Regan, Director - Access Center Operations, for the Access Champion Award. As a leader in USC Care & Ambulatory Services Operations, I work closely with Patsy on a day-to-day basis to develop, implement, and operationalize consumer experience initiatives and workflows that contribute directly to delivering patient centered care. Please allow me to provide several examples of Access Center patient-centered initiatives and performance that I believe make Patsy deserving of this award. 

First, Patsy has developed a team that embodies the mission and values of Keck Medicine of USC. I can count on her team to uphold the mission in that her department's work, behavior, and interactions with colleagues all display “empowerment, integrity, respect, collegiality, and vitality.” Not only does the Access Center team under Patsy's leadership actively commit to the mission, but they engage and teach the Keck Medicine of USC Values, especially empowerment and collegiality by spearheading practice partnership programs (P3s) aimed at driving performance improvements in each service line with the goal of streamlining and enhancing patient care. In each of these meeting series (over 18 monthly!) Patsy provides updates and strategies all aimed at getting our patients the care they need in the safest and quickest way possible while also developing long lasting relationships with our clinic partners. 

Beyond people and partnerships, Patsy has prioritized implementing technology that drives consumer satisfaction and prioritizes quality assurance. One example is Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) software which introduced a phone tree to our patients, enabling patients to get to the right place the first time around. Also, through the introduction of our Salesforce CRM (implemented and monitored by the Access Center), access center agents can provide patients with enhanced access services. Additionally, the Patsy's implementations of the Calabrio software have enabled KMUSC to live monitor calls where leadership is now able perform quality assurance which ensure our staff our using their well-developed behavior service service standards in every interaction every time. All these technologies have helped to improve the consumer experience – access center hold times have dropped from 10+ minutes to 2 minutes!

The last few years under Patsy's leadership patient satisfaction has skyrocketed due to these partnerships, technologies, and workflows implemented due to Patsy's dedication to the patient experience. Two Press Ganey metrics hospital leadership actively monitors; Ease of Contacting & Ease of Scheduling have seen the greatest impact. Specifically Ease of Contacting score has improved from averaging at the 29th percentile to now the 72nd percentile. We have achieved a similar improvement for Ease of Scheduling which previously averaged at the 34th percentile and now is surpassing the 80th percentile Overall, patient satisfaction has drastically improved because of Patsy's efforts and commitment to our patients.    
    
Patsy has proven her commitment to our patients repeatedly. She is capable, confident, and committed to our mission and values. Given the exponential increase in service excellence and commitment to our service standards, it is my honor to nominate Patsy for the Access Champion Award. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

 

Rebecca Schat

Supervisor - Access Operations, Mayo Clinic

Nominated by Missy Bowman, Operations Manager

Rebecca has exemplified excellence in patient access by redefining how our healthcare organization approaches operational workflows. Her innovative efforts in building decision trees to guide processes, rather than relying solely on updating traditional SOPs, have significantly enhanced efficiency and adaptability within our ambulatory enterprise. Rebecca's commitment to identifying and implementing best practices has not only streamlined patient access workflows but also broken down barriers that previously hindered seamless care delivery. Her collaborative approach and strong relationships with our practices have been instrumental in fostering a culture of continuous improvement, ensuring that patients receive the access they need promptly and effectively.

Renea Schouweiler

Scheduling Supervisor, Mayo Clinic

Kendra Ask-Carlson, Operations Manager

Over the past six months Renea has led a pilot program to centralize all scheduling roles within the appointment office.  The result of her work has produced a 60% improvement in order management, an improvement in inbasket turnaround time and maintained standards for call center statistics.  In addition to the qualitative improvements, the pilot group has reported an improvement in their satisfaction in their job, their camaraderie, and joy.   The efficiencies gained through this work have not even been fully realized; but without these initial first steps, we would certainly not be on the path to discovery.  This work is revolutionary, and has set the path for work years into the future.

Sarah Keck

Supervisor, Geisinger

Nominated by Janell Pegg, Director

Sarah takes pride in managing her team while improving workflows and reducing barriers.  She encourages feedback from her staff, and she provides proper research and follow-up.  She meets with staff one on one, as a team, during huddles, and ad hoc, ensuring that their barriers and concerns are heard. 

Sarah works hard to standardize workflows and make improvements wherever possible.  Not only within her own primary care area, but in specialty areas that affect her cross-trained employees.  She is quick to escalate issues and break down barriers to improve the patient experience, our agent's workflows, or our patient experience.  

She goes above and beyond every day for her team and for our patients.  She is a valuable team player, and she is willing to collaborate with anyone within the division or externally.  She develops positive working relationships with her staff, her peers, and others outside of the division.  Sarah always puts her best effort into all of her work, and her results show it.

Tamisha Shaw

Sr. Manager, Patient Access Operations, Emory Healthcare

Nominated by Janeel Lockhart, Priority Access Specialist

Tamisha is phenomenal.  She is a compassionate, caring individual who first and foremost cares about the patients we assist as well as the team who is the first point of contact.  She believes that if the Patient Access team is not heard, seen or at ease, we cannot provide what is needed for the patients.  She takes pride in being top tier and being successful within every call to have a happy, satisfied patient on the other end.  She always makes herself available to assist when the team runs into any obstacles and helps in all ways to resolve any concerns or issues.  She always make sure we have all resources and updates to be able to do a thorough job.  If ever presented with an issue or concern, she will ALWAYS get back to you if she doesn't have the answer right away.  She definitely goes above and beyond for not only the Patients, but all team members.  

Tamisha makes you feel comfortable and apart of.  She believes in the team, and always there for any type of support.  I am so proud to have met such a wonderful individual.  Even though I am no longer in her department, she is always a person I can count on, and go to for any help or advise.  I appreciate her, her dedication to the Patient Access team, and willingness to go above and beyond for me whenever I am in need for her help.  Tamisha is very encouraging, and I am thankful and grateful for her.  I've moved up in Emory and I say it's because of her encouragement, support and leadership.  Thank you, Tamisha.

Tricia Graumann

Lead PASS, Mayo Clinic

Nominated by Missy Bowman, Operations Manager

Tricia has been a cornerstone of excellence in patient access, ensuring the smooth operation of the complex Clinical Genomics system through her unwavering dedication and hard work. Her exceptional ability to manage access requests, promptly address changes from MDs and Genetics Counselors, and consistently deliver swift, effective solutions has significantly improved patient access within our organization. As a leader within the PASS team, Tricia provides daily guidance and support on access and scheduling matters, fostering a collaborative and efficient environment. Her pivotal role in implementing updates, maintaining scheduling accuracy, and increasing provider fill rates has positively impacted both patient care and operational success, making her a true champion of patient access excellence.