Saint FrancisHospital - Memphis

lfs Your Life. Live ltWell!

2010 Tenet Hero Nomination Form (Non-Clinical)

Providing support, assistance and the highest levels of service to our hospitals is at thecore of all that is done in Tenet's corporate, regional and market offices.

We know that there are many dedicated individuals who go above and beyond theirduties to provide extra support and assistance for our hospital operations. The TenetHeroes Awards serve to recognize these exceptional employees for allthat they do.

A) Please provide the following information about your nominee:

. Name: Tony Lockhart

. Hospital/ office: Saint Francis Hospital-Memphis/Rehab Services

. Current position / title: Outpatient Rehab Services Secretary

. Credentials / degrees: Pursuing Business Degree at the University of Memphis

. Area of practice: NIA Years of practice: At SFH-Memphis 6.5 Years

B) Tell us how your nominee demonstrates outstanding contributions to your hospital,office or department. Please identify specific examples of why your nominee shouldbe a Tenet Hero (examples should include how your nominee exhibits expertise intheir field; contributes to the success of the hospital, office or department's businessgoals; and serves as a role modelthrough leadership, mentoring or other activities).Examples should provide background and describe what the nominee did and howthat action fits in with the nominee's broader characteristics.

Tony Lockhart has worked in the Outpatient Rehab Services department for over sixyears. He once told his supervisor: "It is not what you drive, but what drives you." Tonyhas showed time and again his inner drive to improve our department, this hospital andthe lives of those he touches each day by unselfishly giving his best effort in every taskhe performs. It is not just the high level of performance Tony consistently gives thatmakes him stand apart, but also his unselfish commitment to helping others at all timesregardless of the inconvenience. Tony embodies the Target 100 standards and is a rolemodel in the areas of self-initiative, ownership, commitment to others and positiveattitude.

The OP Rehab office is often a place of organized chaos with phones ringing, patientsand visitors signing in at the desk while others wander in to ask for directions to anotherdepartment. Tony is responsible not only for these challenges, but also for registering,charging, scheduling, obtaining authorization, stocking and inventorying supplies; the list

goes on. In addition to all of this, he provides computer support to the professional staffas needed.

His is definitely a high stress and multitask-oriented department. It is not uncommonto find Tony scheduling a patient at the front desk, getting insurance authorization byphone, charging visits through the computer and answering a question for a supervisor,all at the same time and with a smile! When visitors are lost, he stops what he's doingand escorts them to their destination. If it's raining outside, he escorts patients to theircar with an umbrella. When patients require assistance, Tony gets a wheelchair andmeets them at their car. One patient had been waiting for hours to be picked up to gohome and had not eaten all day. Tony went down to the cafeteria and bought himsomething to eat. Tony takes pride in being able to help others regardless of how busy hemay be with other tasks. One would think that with Tony's willingness to help others, hisvolume of completed work would suffer. Yet, Tony always completes his work on timeor early and with a high level of accuracy.

Tony once overheard a patient talking on the phone with her mother about notknowing where to take her to a doctor or how to get help. Apparently, the mother wasnew to the area. Tony contacted local agencies to find financial help for the patient andher mother. He printed out a list of community services for them to keep on hand.Another patient commented to Tony that he was going to go to the ER for help for a non-emergency problem due to not knowing where else to go. Tony called around and founda walk-in clinic near the patient's home that accepted uninsured patients. Tony evenhelped change a patient's flat tire late one Friday afternoon after work.

In Tony's first few months working here, he took the initiative to update our oldand outdated forms, reorganize the front office to improve efficiency, and re-type patientforms to make them easier to read and understand; all without being asked. Heresearched and found a more cost-effective chart that allowed for better organization ofpatient files and saved money as well. Tony has volunteered to come in on Saturday orSunday in order to get charges in on time. Tony keeps a close watch on our volume andwhen it looks to be dropping, he takes the initiative to contact our usual referral sourcesand remind them to keep us in mind. When patients cancel in the middle of the day, hetries to fill in the gaps with a new patient, or he calls patients on following days to see ifthey can come sooner. Tony has accepted ownership of his department's financialperformance and takes an active role in helping it meet budget on a daily basis. Despitehis best efforts, volume sometimes requires work reduction of staff. Tony anticipates thisand often volunteers to go home in order to help his department succeed in hitting targets.

In Tony's length of time at Saint Francis Hospital-Memphis, he has been awardedover 50 Torch Awards from co-workers and patients. He has been named a CustomerService Star twice this past year, and he was named Employee of the Month in April200s.

C) What separates your nominee from other employees who may hold the sameposition?

. It is Tony's unwavering consistency in being helpful, compassionate and enthusiastic inmaking a difference on a daily basis that sets him apart. Tony is a role model forconsistency arid manages to exemplifiz Target 100 at all times. He is in a high stress

position that also puts him in direct contact at times with unhappy customers. In thosesituations, he has never lost his patience, composure or positive attitude. Tony is able togo above and beyond in helping others while still producing a higher than averagevolume of work with remarkable accuracy. Tony routinely re-registers over 120 patientsa day, from 4 different cost centers. He also manages accounts, insurances, schedulingand billing that, on average, would require 2 to 3 people with less knowledge and skills.He has an exceptional ability to multitask while completing his tasks sooner thanexpected.

In addition to his own job responsibilities, he has the amassed the knowledgerequired to assist others in performing their jobs more effectively and effrciently. He actsas support for seven other cost centers and at more than five separate outpatient rehablocations. He is the "go to" person for registration, billing, insurance and record keeping,as well as routine computer navigation questions. Despite this high level ofresponsibility, which he willingly accepts, he continues to make time to go the extra milefor all who enter our department.

Tony willingly accepts ownership of problems and patient needs. A patient wasdropped off for therapy and was scheduled to go to dialysis immediately after treatment.There was a misunderstanding and the patient's dialysis appointment was actually atanother location. The patient had no transportation, so Tony volunteered to drive thepatient to the dialysis appointment.

Tony also demonstrates a self-driven desire for improvement regardless of thehardship, challenge, or extra work involved. To improve the speed of the registrationprocess, Tony rewrote the sign-in form to eliminate outdated questions. He also pursuedgetting the passport system updated and obtained a labeling system to improve officeefficiency. Tony volunteered to be the Kronos trainer for his department. Hepersonalized department fax cover sheets and made copies for each staff member so thateach professional has a cover sheet to send to providers with patient updates. Tony tooktime to teach all staff how to enter charges and use the Easy ID system in his absence.During a time when our department was receiving a high number of miss-directed calls,Tony found that our number was improperly listed as the main hospital number on theinternet quickly corrected the problem. Tony even schedules his days off to minimizedisruption in his department by asking what days would be best before scheduling otherappointments

Tony willingly accepts ownership of problems and demonstrates a self-drivendesire for improvement regardless of the hardship, challenge, or extra work involved. Toimprove the speed of the registration process, Tony re-wrote the sign-in form to eliminateoutdated questions. He also pursued getting the passport system updated and obtained alabeling system to improve office efficiency. Tony volunteered to be the Kronos trainerfor his department. He personalized department fax cover sheets and made copies foreach staff member so that each professional has a cover sheet to send to providers withpatient updates. Tony took time to teach all staff how to enter charges and use the EasyID system in his absence. During a time when our department was receiving a highnumber of miss-directed calls, Tony found that our number was improperly listed as themain hospital number on the internet and quickly corrected the problem. Tony evenschedules his days off to minimize disruption in his department by asking what dayswould be best before scheduling other appointments.

Of all of Tony's strengths, it is his compassion for patients, family and co-workers that sets him apart. Although his job title is secretary, he is truly the ombudsmanfor his department. Tony routinely refers patients and visitors to community servicesoffered in the area to help them get bills paid, get utilities turned on, find physicians thataccept the patients' insurance, or just find transportation. Just recently, a patient was inneed of prescription hose but the Physical Therapist was having difficulty obtaining thephysician order. When Tony found out, he re-faxed the order and called the doctor'soffice to get the required signature, only to find out the doctor was in the hospital onrounds. Tony tracked him down in the hospital and took the order to him to sign. Tonythen escorted her to our pharmacy to pick up her hose. The patient was very grateful.This was just another typical day for Tony who takes it all in stride.

Saint Francis Hospital-Memphis (and Tenet) is truly blessed to have such acommitted, generous, intelligent and enthusiastic employee! He is very deserving ofTenet Heroes recognition.