Volume 27
Number 20
September 30, 2016
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
A Century of Helping Others
In today’s fast-changing world, remaining with one organization for an entire career is not common. Staying for 50 years is a rarity! But two HUP employees have done just that, each helping to improve patient care in her own way.
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Sheila Grossman
YEARS
There were no phlebotomists collecting blood on units. The lab techs went to the floors and drew it themselves. Grossman, now a senior medical technician in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, “loved going out on the floors to meet the patients.” Pricking the patient’s finger with a lancet, she used a pipette to draw up the blood, which she brought back to the lab and examined under a microscope. She also performed coagulation tests manually, tilting the specimen in a test tube back and forth and looking for a clot.
The Many Changes in Lab Medicine When Sheila Grossman started working part time in HUP’s hematology lab in 1966, while a student in the hospital’s William Pepper School of Medical Technology, it was a different world. There was no automation in the hematology lab; everything was performed manually.
INSIDE Giving Back at All Ages............2 Celebrate Penn Medicine Experience Week.......................3 Protect Yourself from Ransomeware............................3 Join Us for the 2016 Philadelphia Heart Walk...........4 Calling All HUP Nurses.............4
“I miss going to the floors,” she said. Specimens are now all delivered to the lab. “I think you lose sight of the fact that all the samples represent people, not just tubes of blood.”
which worked well for raising kids with her husband, Mel. She stayed at HUP all these years because “Penn has such a wonderful reputation. Every time you turn around, there’s something to learn. Nothing stays the same.” Although she recently “formally retired,” she’ll continue to work two nights a week in the lab. “It will keep my mind going and add something special to my life.”
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Mary Mobley
YEARS
Back then, Grossman manually worked on 30 patient specimens a day. With today’s advanced technology in the lab, she can work on up to hundreds of different types of specimens. But technology can’t do everything. “We double check all abnormal and questionable test results,” she said. “Automation is wonderful, but you still need techs to examine the specimen.” For most of her HUP career, Grossman has stayed in the hematology lab, although she had a brief stint working in a newly-formed stat lab that did all testing in the early 1980s for the ED and surgical and medical ICUs. By 1984, she was back in the hematology lab, doing the 4 pm to 12:30 am shift,
A Passion and Desire to Help Mary Mobley may have started at HUP as a cashier, collecting patient payments, but her passion and desire to help people eventually led her to a career as a patient services associate. And she took a rather circuitous route to get there. (continued on page 2)
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Giving Back at All Ages Thanks to a back-to-school drive held by HUP’s Nursing Network Center, children at the Lutheran Settlement House in West Philadelphia started the school year off with brand new backpacks and school supplies. “We collected over 50 book bags as well as supplies,” said Brenda Bradford, lead payroll analyst of the Nursing Network Center. “We also received a small cash donation and a gift card. Our staff is very generous!” One donation, though, was especially heartfelt. Rebecca Trotta, PhD, director of Nursing Research and Science, showed the email that Bradford had sent asking for donations to Vittorio, her nine-year-old son. “We talked about how lucky we were that we could purchase whatever we needed but that many children right here in our community don’t have that luxury.” He wanted to do something to help. Earlier in the summer, Vittorio raised $42 at his lemonade stand. He’d already spent half on little things but decided to use the remaining $20 to purchase school supplies for the drive. “He picked them out at Target himself and I brought them in to the Nursing Network Center,” she said. “I was really proud of him.”
`` Above: Helping make the back-to-school drive a success were (from left) Brenda Bradford, Elizabeth Morgan, Jamie Benson and Anne Campion. `` Left: Rebecca Trotta with her son, Vittorio, who purchased school supplies for the drive.
A Century of
Helping Others
Mobley soon moved to Medicare billing but in 1970, she took some time off after the birth of her oldest son. When she returned, she did a brief stint in Medical Records, until her former position opened. At the time, records were kept in a chart room that was known as the “back back. It was dark and gloomy and called the dungeon!” she said. A far call from the electronic medical records of today.
of Ravdin,” she said. “Now it’s part of the lobby.” As part of her job, she reviewed patient bills but, back in the ‘80s, finding a patient’s billing information was not as easy as it is today. “We had microfilm back then,” she explained. “You had to track a patient through the billing number. If it wasn’t on one sheet, you had to look on the next one,” she said. “It was crazy!”
Back in Medicare billing, she said she often worked with patients “who had trouble sorting out things. Maybe the person was confused or didn’t know what to do or who to ask,” she said. “I talked to them and listened to find out the real issue.”
By the early 1990s, Mobley was helping answer patient billing questions on the phone, as a customer service rep up at 3930 Chestnut. She liked helping people but “I didn’t like the telephone.” She preferred one-on-one sessions.
Mobley’s supervisor saw something special in her approach to patients and soon Mobley was working as a patient representative. “I worked in an office on the ground floor
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(continued from page 1)
At that point, her job took her all the way down to 30th and Market and then back to HUP. Then, two years ago, Mobley settled into her current job in Admissions, where she handles a variety of billing issues. “I have
all the contacts that will help me resolve the issue. It’s a team effort,” she said. “I like people to walk away with a sense that they’ve accomplished what they came in to do and they’re satisfied.” But she does more than solve billing problems. Recently, a couple came into Admissions. The husband was being admitted but his bed was not yet ready. “I heard the wife say to her husband, ‘I know you’re hungry. Let’s get something to eat,’ but he didn’t want to.” Mobley brought them to a room in the back that has a TV and table. “I made sure the table was clean and that he was comfortable,” she said, while the wife went to the cafeteria. “For me, this is what I’m supposed to do,” she said. “I love my job. I love people.”
Celebrate Penn Medicine The second annual systemwide Penn Medicine experience week will take place from October 10-14. With the theme of “Recognizing Your Excellence/Celebrating Your Success,” Penn Medicine Experience Week helps raise awareness about the many ways providers, faculty, and staff are changing lives throughout Penn Medicine. It is one time when the 30,000-plus people who are Penn Medicine take a slight pause to celebrate each other for the important work that we do all year long to improve our patients’ experiences. Penn Medicine Experience week will include several celebrations and events at Penn Medicine facilities across the organization and an active social media initiative, including the Changing Lives coloring page that will help you share the week on your favorite social media outlet. You can find more details about Penn Medicine Experience Week — and ideas on how you can celebrate with your team (including the downloadable coloring card) — by visiting pme.uphs.upenn.edu.
Teens Less Likely to Select
Sugary Beverages with Warning Labels Teens are more than 15 percent less likely to say they would purchase soft drinks and other sugary drinks that include health warning labels, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn’s Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics. The study builds upon research published by the team earlier this year which showed that parents were less likely to select sugary beverages for their kids when labels warning about the dangers of added sugar were present. The new study is published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and has significant implications for policies being considered in several states and cities to require sugary drinks to display health warning labels. “The average teen in the United States consumes at least one sugarsweetened beverage every day, which could account for more than twice the recommended daily serving of sugar,” said lead author Christina Roberto, PhD, an assistant professor of Medical Ethics
& Health Policy. “The rate of sugar consumption in the U.S. is astounding and contributes significantly to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other dangerous and costly health conditions.” The authors note that the warning labels also contributed to teenagers’ understanding of the potentially negative effects on health of regularly consuming sugary beverages. Participants viewing the labels indicate they were more likely to understand that these drinks don’t contribute to a healthy lifestyle. Additionally, the majority of participants (62 percent) said they would support a warning label policy for sugary drinks. To read more, go to http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_ Releases/2016/09/roberto/.
PROTECT YOURSELF FROM RANSOMWARE! Ramsomware is a type of malicious software designed to prevent or limit access to your computer or files, by locking the screen or your files unless a ransom is paid.
If you suspect someone may be trying to attack your computer with ransomware (or any cyber security threats):
Signs that someone is trying to attack your computer with ransomware include:
• DO NOT open the suspicious email or
• Emails from strange or unknown senders with an attachment
• DO NOT grant access to your computer to anyone outside of the
included. Common attachments are Microsoft Office files ending in “m” such as .docm, .xlsm, .pptm, and others such as .hta files
• Phone calls from non-UPHS/PSOM employees requesting remote access to your computer
download the attachments. “Think before you click.” IS Service Desk and Client Services Group.
• Contact the UPHS Service Desk at 215.662.7474 to report the incident. To learn more about protecting your computer from any kind of malware, go to http://bit.ly/2d2iGfz.
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at WHAT’S
UP HUP?
Stan Molchanow
Shashea Muhammad
Kathy Davis
Kwan Yancey
QUESTION: What’s your favorite place to eat lunch and why? One of the outside carts. My favorite one — with Indian food — left! — Stan Molchanow, Physical Plant
Kitchen Gia — I love their chicken parmesan sandwich! — Kathy Davis, Patient Relations
I eat at the cafeteria. It’s close by and convenient. — Kwan Yancey, Emergency Department
Houston Hall. Their crepes are good! — Shashea Muhammad, EVS
Calling All
HUP NURSES
It’s once again time to share your voice! The National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI) 2016 RN Satisfaction Survey is your opportunity to evaluate the initiatives designed and implemented to improve your professional work environment. Your feedback helps to evaluate programs and influences future changes.
This year’s RN Satisfaction survey will be available October 3-23. You can access the survey through the Intranet via the RN Satisfaction link under “What’s Hot” or by typing https://members. nursingquality.org/rnsurvey into the browser. Please note the survey needs to be completed in one sitting.
The 2016 RN Satisfaction Survey yields important information relevant to nurses and nursing practice, including a nurse’s role in: decision making, adequacy of available resources and staffing, the quality of care provided, opportunities for professional development and more. Your responses are important to our efforts to provide exceptional and innovative care to our patients and families.
We have established a participation goal this year of 90%, so please log on now and help us to exceed this goal. We sincerely appreciate your participation in this effort!
HUPdate
join us for the
2016 Philadelphia heart walk!
EDITORIAL STAFF Sally Sapega Editor and Photographer Abby Ernst Graphic Designer
ADMINISTRATION
SAVE THE DATE! The American Heart Association’s Philadelphia Heart Walk will be held on Saturday, November 5, at Citizens Bank Park. The 2016 Penn Medicine challenge is to raise $250,000 and recruit more employees, patients, friends and families to walk with us than ever before. To become a team captain or register as a walker, visit Penn’s Heart Walk Team Page at http://bit.ly/2cdnEUt or contact Cara Feldman, Business Development director for the AHA, at 215.575.5241 or cara.feldman@heart.org.
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Susan E. Phillips Senior Vice President, Public Affairs Holly Auer Director of Communications CONTACT HUPDATE AT: 3535 Market Street, Mezzanine Philadelphia, PA 19104 phone: 215.662.4488 fax: 215.349.8312 email: sally.sapega@uphs.upenn.edu HUPdate is published biweekly for HUP employees. Access HUPdate online at http://news.pennmedicine.org/inside/hupdate.