July 17, 2023

Float pool nurse Kelly Chapin has supported 15 different outpatient clinics at Texas Children’s and says each one is special and professionally rewarding in its own way. Read More

June 1, 2022

One year ago, under the Ambulatory Redesign Initiative, the Pediatric Ambulatory Operations team launched a new service that is revolutionizing how we deliver care and support to the patients we serve – the first Virtual Visit Support Center (VVSC). On May 10, 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic was in its second year, the team introduced a video orientation and virtual rooming service where patients are offered the convenience of virtual pre-appointment device testing along with real time appointment support.

Within virtual “rooms,” Medical Assistants (MAs) collect all of the necessary patient information they would normally ask in-person, prior to a provider visit (e.g., medication review, pharmacy preference, etc.). In addition, the VVSC assists patients with device and MyChart support (i.e., basic computer and phone best practices) prior to their telemedicine appointment date to ensure a seamless and stress-free virtual appointment.

Since the VVSC launch, the team of nine staff consisting of Ambulatory Services Representatives and MAs is now supporting 10 Ambulatory Pediatric sub-specialties across The Medical Center, West Campus, The Woodlands Campus and Austin. The team is currently expanding to other pediatric sub-specialties with the intent to expand to surgical and women’s sub-specialties in the future.

Some highlights from the VVSC’s efforts in FY22 include:

  • The MA team has roomed over 30,000 virtual appointments
  • Over 1,800 patients have received telemedicine video orientation prior to their appointments
  • Patient satisfaction scores for telemedicine appointments are 2 percent higher within supported specialties compared to non-supported specialties
  • MyChart Visit completion rate is 4 percent higher across supported medical specialties against their baseline

Every member of the VVSC team plays an important role in delivering quality, convenient and timely service and care to our patients and their families.

Monica Garcia, a MA within the VVSC, helps virtually room patients during their pre-appointment assessments. “I enjoy the convenience of virtual visits for families,” she said. “We are providing a service for families that relieves some of the stressors of a doctor visit. Driving in traffic, finding parking, missing a lot of school or work, and if one parent is out of town, they still have the opportunity to join in virtual and not miss any information pertaining to their child’s care.”

The first provider to experience the VVSC, Pediatric Pulmonologist and Sleep Medicine physician, Dr. Amee Revana, also shared her experience working with the team. “The handoff was great, I was able to spend more time with patients than reviewing the chart,” she said. “Patients did not mind having the Medical Assistant on…they actually liked it as it is similar to the in-person visit.”

The launch of the VVSC is one of the many reasons why Texas Children’s remains one of the leading women’s and children’s hospitals. Look out for more updates from this amazing team as they grow and expand to more specialty areas within Texas Children’s.

To learn more about this initiative and/or if you have questions, please reach out to the VVSC team at virtualvisitsupportctr@texaschildrens.org.

July 27, 2021

More than 350 team members from the Department of Pediatrics, Ambulatory Services, came together to celebrate Texas Children’s latest investment in our people – experiencing a step toward normalcy while enjoying snacks, activities, raffles, photos and each other at a special “Beach Getaway”-themed gathering.

The bold action, as announced by President and CEO Mark A. Wallace, includes increasing each employee salary by 2 percent and providing an additional week of highly-deserved paid time off.

“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself,” said Monica Banes, director of Nursing for Ambulatory Services, referencing a quote from American business magnate Henry Ford. “It was great to see everyone enjoying the ability to celebrate together safely. It was a no-brainer to have a theme of a Beach Getaway! Where else would you go to get away?”

Throughout the event held to recognize both providers and staff, team members filled out commitment cards pledging their first steps to building a better Tomorrow, Together at Texas Children’s. Many shared ways they intend to finish the year strong by making a pledge to themselves, our teams and our patients. Here are a few of the responses received: I commit to “giving my best to patients,” “spreading kindness and laughter,” “exercise” and “always being a great leader.”

The Ambulatory Services director team played a key role in making the department’s event such a success. Special thanks go to Banes, Brian Cordasco, Kim Frawner, Patty Luke, Tina Ninan, Greisi Ramirez and Carrie Rys.

Together, the team is staying positive and poised to persevere through the second half of 2021.

“This past year has been incredibly tough for everyone, including our team and our patients. I cannot think of a better way to acknowledge our team for their continued dedication,” said Rys, Assistant Vice President for the Department of Pediatrics. “It was heart-warming to see everyone’s excitement and gratitude following the news from Mr. Wallace.”

To see a gallery of photos featuring the Tomorrow, Together celebrations taking place across the system, click here.

December 11, 2018

On December 3, a multidisciplinary surgical team at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands became the first to perform a spine surgery at one of our community hospital locations. The 17-year-old patient was able to go home just two days later, a testament to the expertise and precision of the surgical team.

“This is a milestone for Texas Children’s and our patients,” said Surgeon-in-Chief Dr. Larry Hollier. “We have one of the largest teams of pediatric spine surgeons in the United States. We have the capacity in terms of expertise. Now we’re excited to expand that capacity to accommodate the growing demand in the areas surrounding Houston.”

Greater Houston is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the country. As the communities around Houston continue to grow, so do the needs of our patients – including the need for spine surgery, specifically for idiopathic scoliosis (the most common form of the spine abnormality). A review of comparative patient data and geographic analysis by teams at Texas Children’s revealed that a large number of patients with idiopathic scoliosis were coming to us from The Woodlands and other communities outside Houston.

“For the past couple of years, our patients and families from The Woodlands were traveling down to our medical center campus for all pre-operative visits and surgeries – and our teams were traveling there as well,” said Dr. Jeffrey Shilt, chief surgical officer at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands. “We decided the best thing for our patients was to offer the same spine surgery expertise they would get at the medical center campus at our community hospital locations.”

Hospital leaders began laying the groundwork to grow Texas Children’s spine surgery capacity, first in The Woodlands and then at West Campus (March 2019). A team in The Woodlands led by Ketrese White, director of Patient Care Services in The Woodlands, Ramon Enad and Roxanne Vara, Assistant Clinical Directors, and Valencia Gant, Assistant Director of Ambulatory Services, began developing an expansion plan to ensure seamless work flow processes and to improve the patient experience.

“Previously, access to this kind of care was limited outside of the Texas Medical Center,” Enad said. “With increased surgical capacity, we will be able to schedule patients in a timely fashion and offer world-class surgery that’s closer to where they live.”

The expansion process has required multidisciplinary collaboration at every step and has included personnel from: Surgery, Anesthesia, Blood Bank, Nursing (perioperative and acute care), Admissions, Physical Therapy, Pediatric Radiology, Business Operations, and leadership from all hospital campuses.

Once the necessary infrastructure was in place in The Woodlands, including new surgical personnel and equipment, it was time to start testing the new system via Texas Children’s Simulation Center, which uses various scenarios to assess surgical space, processes, equipment and resources, and personnel roles.

The simulations followed the patient throughout the surgical journey, from check-in to the operating room to recovery, which is crucial for gauging needs and building capacity. Simulations provide a full picture of capabilities and allow teams to review lessons learned, and to see if any adjustments or enhancements need to be made to the process flow.

“This simulation and the first surgery were the culmination of months of meticulous planning, preparation and testing, with all stakeholders engaged across the organization,” said White. “This really was a multidisciplinary effort borne out of a commitment from everyone involved.”

The spine surgery expansion is just the latest effort in Texas Children’s ongoing mission to improve access for patients and families, to boost the patient experience, and to provide the best possible care for all who need us.

“It is our mission to provide our care and services in the safest, most convenient way possible,” Hollier said. “Bringing more complex procedures out of the Texas Medical Center and closer to home for thousands of our patients and families is, and will continue to be, a central focus for us.”

June 12, 2018

This past week, the spring 2018 Ambulatory Services internship class completed their 16-week program. Every semester Ambulatory Services hosts graduate level interns who help contribute to major system wide initiatives and spend time shadowing clinical staff and administrative employees across the organization.

The interns have a mix of different academic backgrounds including Public Health, Health care Administration, and others. The internship program began with selecting students from local schools, but over the past two years has started accepting applications from all over the country.

“The interns work on a wide range of projects pertaining to major system initiatives such as access, care coordination, transition medicine and other strategic projects for various specialties in Ambulatory Services,” said Grace Karon, senior project manager with Ambulatory Services. “They also enjoyed volunteering for special activities such as Patient Experience week.”

The interns developed and presented business justifications for a variety of programs including a Community Asthma Alliance, the Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus Sleep Medicine Program Expansion, staff expansion for the Department of Developmental Pediatrics, and the West Campus Strategic Expansion Plan. They also had the opportunity to accompany leadership with Quality and Outcomes management to daily operational briefing meetings where they observed daily quality reports system wide.

Aside from corporate strategies and health business focused training, the interns were given the opportunity to directly make an impact on patients.

“We enjoyed spending Valentine’s Day assembling and delivering Valentines directly to patients,” said Will Duhe, Ambulatory Services intern. “We would like to thank all of the Texas Children’s staff members, whose guidance and leadership allowed us to develop our professional skills and contribute to meaningful projects this semester.”

The 2018 Spring Interns:

Sana Sarfaraz
Janie Ochoa
Lindsay Phend
Will Duhe
Grace Karon
Ravina Patel
Ashlee Speaks
Priya Bedi
Jinu Stephen