June 2023 CEP Partner Spotlight – Latisha Mayeda

Latisha Mayeda is one of Practicing Excellence’s Clinician Experience Program Partner of the Month for June! Latisha is a Lead Medical Assistant for Superior Family and Internal Medicine at Intermountain Health. 

For Latisha, patient care is everything. To see how the Clinician Experience Program helped her expand her skillset in helping and supporting patients, read our interview with Latisha below!

How long have you been in medicine, and what are your favorite parts about it?

I have been in patient care for almost twenty-one years. I love everything about patient care: from the relationships I have developed with my patients and their families to the relationships I have have developed with my work family. All of the hands-on experience and knowledge that I have received from my providers, coworkers, and patients have and will continue to be priceless. Comradery and the mutual dedication for compassionate and excellent care amongst my team is what continues to fuel my love for my job. As a team, we continue to strive to improve overall patient care and outcome to the utmost excellence.

Can you tell us one of your favorite patient stories from working in medicine? 

One of my favorite patient stories from my work is when I first started as a Medical Assistant. I started right out of high school, with no formal training — just amazing direction from my old-school physician that I had known since I was a child. I would assist in the room with the provider, dictating notes, and helping with whatever the provider needed to examine and treat the patient. We had this older patient, Elaine, who would come in every month for her INR (or more often depending on her levels) and I would be the one to draw her labs, check her in for the doctor, and chat with her about life. Over time, we got to know each other very well. She had severe congestive heart failure, amongst other ailments, and all progressed quickly. She passed away one year after I met her. At her funeral, her husband and children came up to me and told me how much she loved coming to the doctor’s office to see her favorite MA, Latisha. That she trusted me and appreciated all the amazing care I gave her. The overwhelming feeling of fulfillment and purpose that I felt that day continues to resonate with me twenty years later.

How has Practicing Excellence helped you as a caregiver? 

Practicing Excellence has helped me as a caregiver by broadening my views on self-care, teamwork, and how to provide continued support to my coworkers/team and the patients we serve.

Could you tell us about a time that a tip came in handy?

One of the tips that I learned was about providing patients with realistic expectations during a visit. The MAs (even the PSRs) would provide an explanation to the patient that, given our allotted time with each other, we want to provide the best, most thorough care possible. We laminated a card to help the patient list the top three items/concerns they wanted to address so that our communication was mutual. This has helped provide mutual satisfaction during the visit amongst the clinical team and our patients.

What new skills are you looking forward to developing?

I am looking forward to developing any new skills that will continue to enhance communication all around, quality patient care, and mental/physical health for our clinical providers and the patients they treat/care for. 

What do you look forward to most after each week’s new tip?

What I look forward to most after each week’s new tip is the ability to bring it up during our daily huddles and weekly team meetings. This allows us to brainstorm, collaborate, and develop a strategy moving forward on how we can apply what we are learning to our daily efforts.

Thank you Latisha for sharing your story with us! We are so grateful to have you all as our partners and we look forward to what you accomplish next with the Clinician Experience Project!