Crystal Stevens, Regional Manager at Local Infusion shares with us what it’s like to work on the care team at Local Infusion and how everyone is empowered to do their best work for patients.
As Regional Manager at Local Infusion, Crystal Stevens comes with over 10 years of healthcare experience. Her passion lies in providing the best patient experience possible or, in her words “treating patients how I would want my family treated — with empathy and compassion.”
She began her career as a unit coordinator on the medical-surgical floor of a hospital processing admissions and discharge orders while providing support for CNAs and RNs. From there, she transferred to a urology practice as an admin and authorization specialist, then a birthing unit coordinator, referral specialist, procedure scheduler in a gastroenterology practice, surgical scheduler in dermatology, intake specialist for an infusion company, and financial assistance coordinator. Over the course of a decade, Stevens has developed her niche in specialty practice. “I enjoy the challenge of learning new fields and improving processes to foster growth and efficiency.”
Stevens joined Local Infusion as an Infusion Guide in April 2023 and quickly worked her way up to Regional Manager. Below, she reflects on what it’s like to work on the care team at Local Infusion and how everyone is empowered to do their best work for patients.
Optimized for operational efficiency
At Local Infusion, we actively find ways to save our team time and, by extension, save time for our patients and referring providers. Great ideas regularly come from different members of our team, whether it be as simple as a small change on one of our forms that removes confusion, or a tweak to what we message to our patients and providers to streamline the process. Our goal is to get our patients treated as quickly as possible and maximize the time that our teams have to devote to patient care.
“We’re constantly evaluating our processes, asking ourselves what’s working and what could work better. We tweak as we go and are always looking for new ways to improve so we’re operating in the most efficient, logical way possible. Everyone on the team gets a chance to provide input on our process, so it’s truly a collaborative effort to ensure how we’re operating works for everyone.”
Investing in state-of-the-art technology
We have invested in technology to support our care teams in their work all along the patient journey — from the minute a provider refers a patient to us, to preparing the patient for their first infusion with us, to their experience in the center and the care coordination thereafter. It is our strong belief that technology, in conjunction with our team, can truly make a difference in our patients’ lives.
“We leverage technology throughout the patient intake process and it dramatically cuts down on prior authorization return time. This helps our intake team, allowing us to make the most of our time and process more referrals during the day. But there are also advantages for patients — we’re able to keep them and their referring provider updated along the way, answer any questions or concerns that may pop up, which helps reduce anxiety and the need for them or their physician to call in on status checks. It’s truly a win-win.”
Prioritizing people and training
With each team member that we bring on, we want to make sure that they share our key values (Ownership, Excellence, Curious & Inquisitive, Find A Way, It’s a Marathon Not a Sprint) and will be a strong cultural fit in our team. Our team holds each other to a high bar of excellence and challenges themselves to do the best by our patients.
“To maintain morale and a strong culture of empathetic teamwork, Local Infusion takes a lot of care in hiring the right people who are a good fit for the company. Once a new team member arrives, they’re thoroughly trained in stages over a 90-day period. We don’t rush this. Instead, we train progressively on individual sections or tasks, all of which revolve around delivering the best patient experience. As a result of our thoughtful hiring and training, we have care teams who genuinely like coming to work every day and want to be here.”
Want to join the team that’s setting a new standard for infusion therapy? Visit our careers page for a full list of job openings.
Local Infusion Editorial : Aug 20, 2024 9:00:07 AM
