Doctor Brings Telehealth Solutions to Women’s Practice Dermatology Practice Welcomes a Phototherapy Machine
LINCOLN WINTER 2024
Star of the Month Elen Thomas Social Worker Lvl II 2 years of service Retirees Iliana Zuniga-Soler Clerical Associate L II 33 years of service Marie Brown Client Navigator L I 32 years of service Marianella Pacheco Patient Care Associate 21 years of service Elizabeth Davis Patient Care Associate 17 years of service Richard Pratts Radiologic Technologist 26 years of service
LINCOLN WINTER 2024
LINCOLN C.A.B. On Wednesday, February 7, 2024 our Community Advisory Board participated in advocacy day virtually meeting with elected officials and advocating for the needs of our patients and the community we serve.
Elen Thomas joined our team in August 2021 and is a full time employee in the Trauma/ Surgery units and has had several colleagues expressing their wishes to nominate her. • Elen has demonstrated a unique ability to navigate challenging terrains, complex situations and de- escalating situations. She is the “calm in the storm” and approaches conflict in a diplomatic manner with a keen understanding of the cultural needs of our diverse population. • Elen Thomas has gone above and beyond to train Social Workers new to the team and make them feel welcome! As well as continuously provide support and guidance to her colleagues. Elen is always there to support her colleagues and assist with coverage as needed. • Elen Thomas’s professionalism, tactful approach, and diplomacy sets a new standard here at Lincoln. Elen Truly cares about her patients and her cases and demonstrates a true commitment and dedication to the organization she serves. Elen has created a very welcome environment for all team members who seek out her support and has a very pleasant demeanor.
DESIGNED BY DEVON SMILLIE
LINCOLN WINTER 2024
“You Can Be a Changemaker” Doctor Brings Telehealth Solutions to Women’s Practice
By Anna Quinn (United Hospital Fund)
I n the 14 years Manisha Jain, MD, has been an obstetrician and gynecologist at the NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln Women’s Health Center, one frustrating but unavoidable fact was the significant amount of time patients’ first pregnancy evaluation visits would take out of their day. Seen by a social worker, nutritionist, nurse, and doctor in that first visit, the patient often spent two hours getting through the appointment’s long checklist. That was until Dr. Jain, a fellow in United Hospital Fund and Greater New York Hospital Association’s Clinical Quality Fellowship Program, was inspired to find a solution. “I could witness it, I could complain about it, but CQFP taught me that, ‘Yes, you can be the changemaker,’” Dr. Jain said. “CQFP gave me a platform to do something about it.” Her first time Dr. Manisha Jain Photos with patient Mariatu Kanu and her newborn
leading a quality improvement initiative, Dr. Jain decided to tackle the long appointment times as her capstone project for the fellowship program. It didn’t take long to discover a timely remedy: telehealth. Despite other departments at Lincoln Hospital implementing telehealth options since the pandemic, the Women’s Health Center had found it difficult to adapt the video options to their specialty, much of which requires an in-person exam. But Dr. Jain saw an opportunity with the first-time patient visits. She decided to help shorten in-person visits by transferring the nurse, social worker, and nutritionist screenings—each of which were purely educational—to a virtual visit. The virtual appointment would be completed in the days before the in-person clinician examination, meaning patients had the flexibility to complete them at home, school, or work,
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drop in appointment time. The patients, around 30 to 40 each month, have also been appreciative. “They have only good things to say,” said Dr. Jain, who used a survey to evaluate the success of the virtual appointments. “Patients said, ‘If I don’t have to sit here in the clinic and I can do this from wherever I am, I’m happy.” The change has also set up the Women’s Health Center to find even more efficiencies. Now armed with the infrastructure to accommodate telehealth, Dr. Jain said staff are considering expanding the telehealth approach to educational components of contraception counseling and third trimester appointments. Plus, the project and the Clinical Quality Fellowship Program have influenced Dr. Jain’s personal quality improvement perspective. “It changes the way you think about health care,” she said. “Every patient that I see, I think about improvement—not just solving that particular problem for that particular patient that particular day, but how can we change things for everybody?” Started in 2009, the Clinical Quality Fellowship Program has trained more than 300 mid-career physicians, nurses, and physician assistants from over 50 health care facilities in the New York metropolitan area to become quality improvement and patient safety leaders in their organizations. The 15-month program graduates a new class of these change-makers on the front lines of health care each year.
instead of spending two hours in the office. “Our patients are mothers, sisters, and most of their families are run by women—we all agree patients have other things to do in their life, and we cannot assume when they come into the clinic we can take as much time as possible,” Dr. Jain said. “We view our patients’ time as being very valuable.” To make the shift, Dr. Jain worked on setting up the office to accommodate virtual appointments, including adding cameras to each of the clinic computers and creating a designated area where nurses could take the calls with privacy. The social workers and nutritionists each already had their own room to use for the telehealth calls. The virtual visits quickly helped bring the in-person exam times down. Soon, the average length for an in-person appointment for Dr. Jain’s new patients dropped from an average of 146 minutes to 90 minutes a visit. That number ticked up slightly when expanding the telehealth approach to the dozen or so other providers at the Women’s Health Center, whose collective average is 105 minutes per visit. But overall, Dr. Jain is happy to have saved patients around 40 minutes, a 28 percent
LINCOLN WINTER 2024
Dermatology Practice Welcomes New Phototherapy Machine
T he Dermatology Department at NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln is thrilled to announce the recent acquisition of a new, state of the art phototherapy machine and the renovation of the phototherapy area within the department. This significant milestone underscores the department’s commitment to providing the best possible dermatologic care to the South Bronx community. Phototherapy, also known as light therapy, is a highly effective treatment for a wide range of skin conditions, including psoriasis, eczema, vitiligo, and various other dermatological disorders. This innovative technology utilizes specific wavelengths of narrow band ultraviolet B (UVB) light to target affected areas of the skin, promoting healing and symptom relief. As a non-invasive, safe, and effective treatment option, phototherapy plays a crucial role in managing chronic skin conditions. One of the key features of the new phototherapy machine is its precision and customization capabilities. It allows physicians to tailor treatment parameters Dermatology (8A) Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
according to each patient’s specific needs, ensuring optimal results while reducing the risk of adverse effects. Dr. Maira Fonseca, Chair of the Department of Dermatology, shared her thoughts on these recent developments: “We are committed to providing the highest quality of care to our patients, and the introduction of our new phototherapy machine is a testament to that commitment. With this technology at our disposal, we can offer precise and tailored treatments to patients while minimizing potential risks.” In addition to the new machine, the phototherapy area within the department has been renovated, placing nurses, who administer the treatment under the guidance of physicians, closer to patients to optimize patient safety. As Dr. Fonseca stated, “One of the key elements of our phototherapy program is the collaboration between our dermatologists and nursing staff. By working together closely, we ensure that each patient receives personalized care tailored to their unique needs. Nurses play a vital role in
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administering phototherapy, monitoring patients’ safety, and addressing any concerns that may arise.” With these exciting enhancements in place, the Dermatology Department at NYC Health & Hospitals/ Lincoln looks forward to continuing to serve its community with the highest level of dermatological care.
LINCOLN WINTER 2024
NEW ICU BEDS
W e’re pleased to announce Phase II of the new Baxter ICU bed delivery is complete. Forty Progressa+ beds were delivered to 9B Stepdown. This brings Lincoln’s inventory of new ICU level beds to 75 and standardizes SICU, MICU 1, MICU 2 and 9B Stepdown. Lincoln’s team was amazing, the coordination and teamwork was a site to see. Thanks to Nursing, Respiratory, EVS, Facilities, Transport, Finance, Materials Management/Receiving, Operations, Hospital Police, Biomed and the Hillrom/Baxter team. Special Thanks to U. S. Senator Charles (Chuck) E. Shummer, U. S. Senator Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand and Congressman Ritchie Torres for their financial support and helping to make this possible!
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