Patient Accounts Supervisor Jessica Deleon moved quickly. She wanted to help a Mount Sinai Health System patient get all of her paperwork in order so she could proceed with a cardiovascular procedure the next day. There were a couple of challenges, however. The patient had just switched insurance carriers and now needed a physician referral all over again. Then there was another hitch: the patient had forgotten the name of her Mount Sinai primary care physician.
“I did not want her to have to postpone her procedure,” says Jessica, who works at Mount Sinai’s Water Street building in downtown Manhattan, where the Health System’s patient financial services office is based.
So Jessica and her team performed their own rapid response by obtaining all of the required approvals within 24 hours.
The next morning, Jessica came into the office early so she could confirm that the insurance carrier had registered the referral and the patient was cleared. Once she had the green light to proceed, Jessica called the patient and told her the good news—she could leave for the procedure. The patient was so grateful she told Jessica that she was in her prayers.
Erwin Ramirez and Jessica Deleon
“I always get a warm feeling knowing that patients can come in for their appointments, and of course, that the hospital is getting proper reimbursement,” Jessica says.
Her supervisor, Erwin Ramirez, Senior Director, Financial Services, The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Queens, has worked with Jessica for nine years and considers her an outstanding employee who oversees a “talented and proactive” team at Water Street.
“Billing is a difficult conversation to have most of the time. Our job is to make it as easy as possible,” he says. Jessica’s team, he adds, has “outstanding communications skills and shows exceptional compassion” to patients.
We recently had a unique patient in the MSBI emergency room. As always, our team provided the best and most compassionate care.
Last month, a woman came to our Emergency Department with her very sick Shitz Shu. We don’t care for dogs typically, but Laura Hogrefe, RN, could see that the dog needed care immediately—it wasn’t breathing well and almost lifeless. She called 911 and 411 to see if someone could transport the dog to a vet, but the wait was going to be over a day, and this dog didn’t have that kind of time.
Laura and Gloria Gonzales, PCA, located a nearby veterinarian and got the woman and her pup in a cab to the vet’s office. By this time, Laura had hooked the dog up to an oxygen tank to help him breathe. Gloria accompanied the woman and the dog in the cab, carrying the oxygen tank next to the dog. When they reached Fifth Avenue, the Pride Parade blocked the cab’s progress, and the woman continued on foot the last few blocks to arrive at the veterinarian. The entire ED and MSBI team is hoping the woman and her dog made it safely to the vet.
Laura Hogrefe, RN, third from the left, with many members of the ED team who work nights and evenings.
Gloria Gonzales, PCA, who helped transport the dog to a veterinarian.
The compassion our ED shows daily for people and pups alike has me prouder than ever to work at MSBI.
On Tuesday, July 17, The Blavatnik Family-Chelsea Medical Center of Mount Sinai and Mount Sinai Union Square held pinning ceremonies for oncology-certified nurses and nurse practitioners. We are proud that 45% of all eligible certified RN’s and 60% of all eligible NP’s are oncology-certified. The certification demonstrates their dedication to excellent patient care, the pursuit of scholarship and the commitment to our oncology patients and their families. As a special surprise, we had our oncology patients “pin” the staff.
Some of the words our patients shared were:
“Thank you for making this experience so much better than I thought it would be.”
“You take care of me with great care and love.”
“I am so grateful that you didn’t just take care of my grandma, you took care of me.”
The demolition of the residents building at the new hospital site was down to the final floors in mid-July. See the photos below of the second floor walls and slab being demolished. Demolition will be complete in early fall 2018.
A photo of the the bottom floors still being demolished on July 19, 2018.
A photo of the resident’s building at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai when the scaffolding first went up in October 2017.
This week, I’d like to recognize our Weight Loss Surgery and Endocrine Surgery Programs. The teams who care for these patients are changing lives and helping their patients to stick with their goals, even when it seems like a long road.
William Inabnet, MD, FACS, began the Weight Loss Surgery Program just over three years ago at Union Square and Petrie and recruited Paul Thodiyil, MD, shortly after to serve as Section Chief of Bariatric Surgery. I am so thankful for their guidance and dedication in building such a strong team. Our other excellent physicians in this specialty include Yulia Zak, MD, Jerome Taylor, MD, and Hunysuk Suh, MD. Richard Friedman, MD, and Michael Leitman, MD, also practice with this team. Dr. Friedman has been with MSBI for more than 20 years and Dr. Leitman is the Chief of General Surgery for MSBI Dean for Graduate Medical Education.
It’s clear to see this team of nurses, physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, medical and administrative assistants, and others, care deeply about each other and their patients.
Many bariatric team members: Tram B. Trau, PA; Virginia Pena; Dejanira Torrez; Coraly Perez; Carmen Suarez; Maurice Carper; Dajon Greene; Audrey Arcuri, MSN, APN, FNP-BC.
William Inabnet, MD, and Emily Then, medical assistant and Wilmarie Romero, administrative assistant.
Our patients in this program visit with us numerous times. Insurance authorization requires an abundance of documentation and often requires six months of preparation and pre-operative medical optimization. The team works hard to coordinate these appointments and make it easy for patients to stay on track. Communication is vital, and the entire group meets weekly to discuss cases and ensure that everyone is on the same page.
Furthermore, the transformation patients go through takes courage and persistence, and our team helps inspire them.
Dr. Inabnet says, “I’m thankful our team takes a deep dive into the psychosocial wellness of our patients while they are on a life-long journey.”
Because of this, our program has experienced exponential growth and has an exceptional record of safety and quality, based on national standards.
Photos of the rest of the team can be seen by clicking below.
Dr. Hyunsuk Suh and administrative assistant, Nicole Fuentes.
Physician assistant Tram B. Trau, PA-C and nurse practitioner Audrey Arcuri, MSN, APN, FNP-BC.
Paul Thodiyil, MD
Michael Leitman, MD
Yulia Zak, MD, and Coraly Perez, administrative assistant.
Clinical nutrition coordinator Rebecca Rudel.
Richard Friedman, MD
Dr. Jerome Taylor and Assistant Dejanira Torres at the Department Of Surgery BBQ 2018 in Central Park.
This team is also an integral part of our larger Endocrine Surgery Program, and Dr. Suh and Dr. Inabnet use some of the most sophisticated surgery techniques in the country. In fact, our program has had many “firsts” in the area of robotic and remote access “scarless” thyroid surgery. They have been instrumental in introducing these techniques to the United States and have received surgeons from around the world who travel to Mount Sinai Beth Israel to learn.
These programs are wonderful assets to our MSBI and Downtown network, and I’m so grateful for their care and encouragement for our patients.
On July 11, 2018 the Mount Sinai Heart team performed their first venous procedure at the newly remodeled ambulatory location at Mount Sinai Union Square. Mount Sinai Heart at Union Square now provides services by The Center for Vein and Vascular Care that were previously provided at their other locations in the Murray Hill district and Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
The venous procedure treats dilated varicose veins in a minimally-invasive way. The procedure leaves the patient with minimal or no scar and a shorter recovery time than alternative vascular procedures. Having this procedure available at Union Square ensures patients with venous and cardiac conditions can receive their care in one place. Thanks to our incredible team for their dedication.
Mikko Tessalona (Administrative Program Coordinator), Patricia Martinez (Clinical Support Assistant), Gulzar Balich (Clinical Coordinator), Ossama Samuel, MD (Director of Ambulatory Cardiology MSUS Heart), Jan Sloves (Director, Vascular Imaging), Ramesh Gowda, MD (Director, Endovascular Services and Interventional Cardiology).
