Leadership Message

Accept Our Appreciation By Adam Low, CEO

What I love about team sports is watching how the team coalesces. Even the most talented individual players get an assist or boost from teammates. Some players and even some entire teams play outside or above their anticipated skill levels. Things just click.

That does not mean it’s easy, however. Each player comes to the team with his or her own distractions and stresses. But when they’re on the field, remarkable actions happen.

I get that same kind of appreciation when I watch the teams at SENTA practices. All of us recognize that it’s not always easy. There are pressures of time and staffing, meeting patient demands and a concern for doing the work well. So let me stop right here and tell you that we see your efforts, and we appreciate them. The circumstances in which we’ve been operating for some time are not ideal, so thank you for your perseverance and commitment. A positive attitude does make the workday go more quickly; I encourage you to look for the things—and people—you appreciate, and let them know.

Our managers are now working through the feedback of the Employee Engagement Survey, and these findings can help us improve the workplace culture. (Read more below.) We see where we’re doing well, and we see where the opportunities are to improve, especially in the ways we communicate. We take this seriously—and appreciate the critiques. It’s a little bit like watching the game tapes after the final whistle has been blown. There’s a lot to learn from our past performance so that we can improve. You’re a vital part of that. Thank you for all that you do for our patients.

Practice Spotlight

Providing Excellent, Accessible Care in More Rural Communities

Since its start in 1964, ENT and Allergy Associates of South Georgia, in Valdosta, Georgia, has been the main provider for the south Georgia region, says Ronald Allen, MD, who joined the practice in 1995. As the practice is located about a three-hour drive from the major teaching hospitals, the partners made it their mission to deliver high-quality care for their patients, who come from southern and central Georgia and the Florida panhandle. The practice draws patients daily from about a 120-mile radius.

Dr. Allen

The practice established its own on-site surgery center to create even more advantages for patients and providers alike. “Not only is it easier for the physicians to perform the surgeries on site rather than coordinate with a hospital, but it’s so much less stressful for our patients. When they arrive, it’s quiet, and they’re with practice staff whom they know right from the start,” he says.

Another major advantage is that it’s also less expensive for many patients. “We’re in a working-class community, and because we don’t have to charge hospital deductibles, we can perform semi-elective surgeries that patients might not be able to have done otherwise. They’re getting excellent care at a reasonable cost.” The surgery center, staffed by experienced employees who have been with the practice for years, recently received another gold star accreditation.

Dr. Allen says that the practice made the decision to partner with SENTA Partners because the business of medicine is becoming more complex. “I don’t have time to become an expert on information technology, billing, collections or human resources. We also realized that there is more bargaining power for providers and employees, in terms of benefits and advancement, with a larger organization,” he says.

The move to becoming a SENTA practice allows him and the other providers more opportunities to focus on their patients and their families.

(l-r): Courtney Warren, NP-C; Theodore Kanne, MD; Thomas Phillips, MD;
Dr. Allen; and Jenny Carroll, AuD

Doctor Spotlight

New Doctor Appreciates Opportunities for Growth and Guidance

Khaled Kashlan, MD, joined Northwest ENT and Allergy Center (NW ENT) this summer after finishing his residency at the Henry Ford Health System. He made the choice for several reasons: mentorship, an excellent support staff and the opportunity to pursue his additional interests. First, he saw the opportunity to gain the mentorship he wanted with Shatul Parikh, MD, and Drew Locandro, MD, for example. That was particularly important to him because mentors have played a key role in every transition he has made. Having someone guide him through the transitions has helped him make smarter choices, he says.

Dr. Kashlan

What he saw at NW ENT also impressed him. “The workflow runs smoothly. I appreciated the system of seeing a patient in one room, and while the anesthesia is taking effect, the physicians could move to another room for a physical exam before returning to the first room. The practice has an abundance of support staff who take on the administrative tasks, allowing the provider to focus on the patients,” he says. When he shadowed Dr. Parikh, he noticed how efficient the support staff was. “All Dr. Parikh had to say was that he’d want to do a biopsy for the patient in room 2, for example, and the team would set it all up. He would come in to do the procedure and could move onto the next patient.”

Although Dr. Kashlan is focused currently on settling in, he appreciates that SENTA leadership understands his passion for patients and medicine outside of the practice. He was part of a medical mission trip to Cambodia in 2015, spending one month and treating hundreds of patients there. “It was one of the most rewarding events of my life, and I’ve been planning on doing more,” he says. His hope is to participate in medical missions that can help refugees in the Middle East, his way of giving back to the region of the world where he grew up.

Dr. Kashlan also has an interest in creating medical devices. He holds three provisional patents at the moment. Before he went to Mercer University School of Medicine, he earned a degree in biomedical engineering from Georgia Tech. “I love that I can use both my medical training and engineering skills to help create medical devices,” he says. His most recent patent is on a device that helps clinicians more accurately identify the radial artery for more efficient arterial line placement. It uses Doppler ultrasound technology to create a precise guide on where to insert the needle into the artery, reducing the number of sticks needed. “I realized that the micro-Doppler technology could help reduce the number of sticks, which speeds up the process and minimizes the anxiety for everyone,” he says.

Operations SENTer

A Refresh Is Coming—And It’s Going to Be Great By Frank Hutchison, VP of Information Technology

Some exciting news in the world of IT! I know, I know—everything in IT is exciting, and all of us sit on the edge of our seats waiting for the latest cool tech gadget to come along and change our world. But hear me out on this one.

All the practices at SENTA are about to have a complete security and technology refresh that will, we believe, make a huge difference to what we do every day. Security for our practices keeps me up at night and is one of the most important—if not the most important—things we can do to protect ourselves and our patients. There are many moving parts to doing this right, and, at the end of the day, every practice at SENTA will have the most up-to-date security available. Our computer systems and equipment will be better, faster, stronger! I’m looking forward to the future, and I feel confident you’re going to love it as well.

Communications SENTer

Piedmont ENT Celebrates Football Season

The Piedmont ENT team celebrates the return of football season.

Trenyce Brewer, practice administrator for Piedmont ENT, hosted “Football Thursday” recently, where she encouraged staff to wear their favorite football accessories. “This was our first event; I’m looking forward to continuing to
build the team and have more engagement in the future,” she says.

Does your location do anything special to create a culture of support and camaraderie? Share your ideas with Tatiana Sycheva-Johnson at [email protected].

Month at a Glance

Sunday, October 3
• Annual ENT Academy (AAO-HNS) meeting

Monday, October 4
• Compliance training launches

Saturday, October 16—Thursday, October 21
• Virtual annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy

Thursday, November 4—Monday, November 8
• Annual Allergy & Asthma College (ACAAI) meeting

HR SENTer

Thanks for Your Feedback By Tatiana Sycheva-Johnson, SPHR SVP, Human Resources, SENTA Partners

Nearly 80 percent of SENTA employees completed the Employee Engagement Survey. That feedback provides the leadership team and managers with a comprehensive view of our strengths and opportunities. For example, our employees feel respected at work and are comfortable sharing their views, opinions and concerns with others during team collaboration. That’s good news for the kind of culture we want to create throughout SENTA practices.

Employees also view the collaboration efforts between physicians and clinical staff members positively, and three-quarters of our employees would recommend our services to family and friends. We’d like to see that higher, of course, but the point of the engagement survey is not to rest on our laurels but to develop a continuous improvement plan.

You’ve helped us identify those goals, as well. For example, a majority of employees (57 percent) feel that there is accessible, honest and transparent communication within the office team. But that can be higher, and it’s something concrete that the managers can work toward. We also have identified the opportunity to improve our performance and accountability standards within the organization. Most employees (84 percent) feel that they have a clear understanding of their own role; however, the percentages drop when understanding the expectations of others.

Rest assured that we are taking notice and working on plans to improve where we can. We recognize that better systems create less stress, greater accountability and an overall improved workplace setting. We want to support you—just as you support what we do.

Tell Us What You Think

We Would Love to Hear From You

Do you have comments on this newsletter or ideas for the next issue? Email Tatiana at [email protected].

Your SENTA Communiqué Archives

August 2021  •  July 2021  •  June 2021  •  May 2021

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