Learning and implementing best practices in operations can prevent mistakes, maintain a consistent flow of business to better meet patient demands and keep our clinical practice effective and productive. Below are a few updates of interest to our employees.

Tip of the month: Remind patients to pay for parking before they leave

Save your patients some time and trouble with a friendly reminder to pay for their parking before they leave the building.

The parking kiosks are new technology for our location and for many of our patients, so please remind them to stop by the kiosk to pay for parking before they head to their vehicles.

Closed for Independence Day

All UT Health practice locations will be closed in observance of Independence Day on Thursday, July 4. The phone operators at 210-450-9000 will be available to answer calls.

Employee Benefits and Health Fair + Annual Enrollment
Annual enrollment is July 15 – July 31. Prior to our annual enrollment period, Human Resources will hold two Benefits and Health Fairs:

Tuesday, July 9 – Holly Auditorium, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Friday, July 12 – UT Health Medical Arts & Research Center, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

New hire orientation

The next UT Health Way Training and Certification class for new employees will be on Friday, July 19. Contact Theresa Lomperski for more information.

Plastic surgery now at UT Health Hill Country

This summer, UT Health San Antonio’s plastic surgery practice will open at UT Health Hill Country. Dr. Scott Farber, an experienced plastic surgeon, will be available to help patients make the right cosmetic decisions. Call 210-450-9220 for an appointment.

Your practice operations team is here to support all of you in your effort to provide exceptional care to UT Health San Antonio patients. If you have any questions or need assistance, please reach out to your practice operations leaders: Casey Peterson, senior director of practice operations; Jeanette Hernandez, director of practice operations; Johnna Nerios, director of practice operations; and Dina Wright, director of practice operations. 

A growing number of people from around the world are choosing to make San Antonio their home, and UT Health San Antonio is committed to being the health care provider of choice for these new San Antonians, as well as all residents of Central and South Texas. This summer, our patient-centered primary care practice will add more primary care clinicians to its locations in San Antonio and the Hill Country.

Beginning in June, and over the next few months, new clinicians will be joining UT Health’s primary care team at six of our locations: UT Health Medical Arts & Research Center, UT Health Shavano, UT Health Westover Hills, UT Health Hill Country, UT Health Verde Hills, and UT Health Medical Drive.

As we increase access to our primary care services, we are providing children and adults a link to the full extent of UT Health San Antonio’s resources, including our state-of-the-art facilities, world-renowned researchers and educators, and the experts in delivering high-value care.

Our care is delivered with a goal of providing all patients, families and caregivers an excellent experience with a commitment to compassionate and culturally-proficient health care. 

If you need a doctor, use your UT Select Network benefits. All UT System employees, retirees and their dependents receive savings and prioritized scheduling when they use UT providers and their UT SELECT medical plan. Call 210-450-9090 for appointments. Click here to learn more about UT Select Network benefits.

Leaders of UT Health Physicians presented the quarterly Wow! Awards, High-Five and Patient Experience Practice Champion of the Quarter Awards on Monday, June 24, at the Medical Arts & Research Center. Please congratulate this quarter’s winners.

The quarterly Wow! Awards were created to recognize practices, providers and employees who go above and beyond to ensure every patient has the best experience at UT Health Physicians. Every day, more than 1,000 patients come to UT Health Physicians to feel better. When our patients have a great experience with us, they feel better, they trust us more and they are more compliant.

They also tell their family and friends to come to UT Health Physicians for excellent care. Every positive patient experience we provide propels our mission to make lives better and sets us apart as the leaders in health care.

Wow! Award Winners

A committee formally recognizes Wow! Award winners using the comments and kudos collected from patients and UT Health colleagues. Congratulate this quarter's WOW! Award winners when you see them, and thank them for living out our promise to provide exceptional care to our patients.

Wow! winners in alphabetical order: Diana Chicas, Orthopaedics; Annette Garza, Pulmonology; Dr. Sheila Habib, Pulmonology; Russell Jennings, UT Health San Antonio IT;  Angie Rios, Orthopaedics; Christina Stephen, Orthopaedics 

Patient Experience Practice Champion and High-Five Practice Winners  

During the Wow! Award ceremony, the committee also names the quarter's Patient Experience Practice Champion. This champion is the practice that receives the highest scores on the National Research Corporation (NRC) survey question, "Would you recommend this office to a family or friend?" The goal is for every UT Health Physician practice to have their patients answer, "YES" to this question 95.2 percent of the time.

Congratulations to the third quarter Patient Experience Practice Champion:

Cardiology

at UT Health Hill Country

100% of their patients said they would recommend their practice to a family or friend.

High-Five Practice Winners  

Congratulations to this quarter’s High-Five Practice Winners – the five practices with the next highest percentage of patients who would recommend the practice to family and friends. The goal is for every UT Health Physician practice to have their patients answer, "YES" to this question 95.2 percent of the time. These are the third quarter High-Five practice winners:

Cardiothoracic Oncology at UT Health Medical Arts & Research Center – 98.3% 

ENT – Audiology at UT Health Medical Arts & Research Center – 97.8%

Gynecologic oncology at UT Health Medical Arts & Research Center – 97.6%

Radiation Oncology at UT Health Medical Arts & Research Center – 96.9%

Pulmonology at UT Health Medical Arts & Research Center – 95.7%

Nominate your coworkers for Wow! Awards

If you see a colleague living out our promise to provide exceptional care to our patients, nominate them for a Wow! Award by emailing a short nomination letter to: medinam11@uthscsa.edu. Or, you may deliver it in person to the first floor administration offices at the Medical Arts & Research Center. A committee formally recognizes Wow! Award winners using the comments and kudos submitted by patients, employees, managers, supervisors and providers during each quarter.

Posting a self-pay payment in Epic is almost as important as collecting the payment itself.  The code and posting method you use to post a payment directly affects whether or not that payment will be allocated to the correct services for that patient’s account.

Taking care to be sure a payment is posted correctly directly affects patient satisfaction and downstream work for your colleagues in customer service and revenue cycle. 

Please keep the following information in mind every time you receive a patient payment at your clinic to help make patients’ financial lives better.

Download a PDF of the Tip Sheet

We are recruiting people who are passionate about making lives better through exceptional health care. Meet the newest providers and staff joining UT Health San Antonio.

Josette Bampi, dermatology; Joanna Cano, pediatric allergy; Steven Chessher, Epic; Elizabeth Conrad, registration; Mehgan Frazier, Epic; Veronica  Gartley, Epic; Katherine Gregory, Coding; Eliza Guerra, UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center, Anita Hamman, medical records; Venton Horrice, radiology; Ali Hutcherson, coding support; Jennifer Lopez, UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center; Angela Mancera, orthotics/prosthetics; Vanessa Martinez, physical and occupational therapy; Monica Nunez, clinical quality and safety; Maria Osteguin, diabetes management; Nicole Perez, insurance follow-up; Adriana Rios, orthopaedics; Megan Rodriguez, coding support; Jonathan Seaux, orthopaedics; Yvette Solis, clinical quality and safety; Oscar Romero, UT Health Medical Arts & Research Center, Cindy Goldman, volunteer; Jasmine Matthews, volunteer; Erin Thomas, volunteer

Know someone who is passionate about making lives better? Let them know we are hiring at UTHealthSA.org.