Accolades and Recognition - August 2019
A Special Thank You to All Who Worked on the CODA Self-Study Document
The Office of the Dental Dean would like to thank all the faculty and staff members who had a hand in completing our CODA Self-Study report. Thanks to your unwavering dedication, the document was sent to our site visitors on Wednesday, August 7th.
Sending a very special thanks to Dr. Adriana Segura, Dr. Dana English, Dr. John Littlefield, all the Standard Leaders, Robin Druckman, Lori Morgan, Jennifer Sandlin, DJ Smith, Kimberly Kirby, and the rest of the dean's office staff for all of their efforts. The Dean's Office has been witness to the early mornings, late evenings, and impromptu meetings needed to get the job done.
Department of Dental Billing - Xshima Phillips promoted to Billing Supervisor
On Friday, July 19th, it was announced that Ms. Xshima ‘Shima’ Phillips, BHA, was promoted to the position of Billing Supervisor in the Billing Office. Shima joined the billing department in 2014 as a Biller-Intermediate and was promoted to Senior Biller in 2016. As Billing Supervisor, she now manages the daily operations of Insurance Account Receivables and handles all aspects of UT Dentistry’s patient accounts. She leads a team of 8 staff members responsible for assisting patients with understanding and the payment of their account balances.
When speaking on her recent promotion, Shima commented “I am extremely excited and honored to be promoted to the position of Supervisor for the Billing department. I would like to thank Management and everyone who wrote a letter of recommendation; and to all who spoke kind words about my abilities and skills – thank you. I hope to make this a smooth transition and know that I will be able to bring great new ideas to the Billing department.”
Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery – Jodi Stone completes LEAP program
The Office of the Dental Dean would like to recognize Ms. Jodi Stone, Manager for Finance & Administration in the Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, for completing the Leadership Excellence for Administrative Professionals (LEAP) Program.
For their LEAP Project, Jodi and her teammates devoted their time to researching Employee Wellness resources and activities already in existence at the UTHSA. The group proposed a method of promotion and collaboration of offerings across all campuses and suggested a central source that could possibly endorse them.
LEAP is an 11-month program to expand leadership knowledge and practical application skills for evolving health care, higher education, and research. Participants interact and learn from UT Health San Antonio senior leaders and industry experts. They attend Friday and Saturday sessions every two months, complete 20 hours per month of homework and a capstone project. Well done, Jodi!
Office of Patient Care & The Dental Dean’s Office – A special thanks to Eric Day and Ben Simpson
Administrative leadership from the Department of Developmental Dentistry would like to send a special thank you to Mr. Eric Day, Senior Director of Practice Operations in the Office of Patient Care, and Mr. Ben Simpson, Assistant Director of Patient Financial Services in the Office of the Dental Dean. The department would like to recognize both gentlemen for the work they are conducting on the CROWN system. They said, and I quote, “These gentlemen rock!”
Department of Developmental Dentistry – Welcome and Farewell to Araceli Flores and Roger De la Cruz
The Department of Developmental Dentistry would like to welcome Araceli Flores to San Antonio. Ms. Flores is a dental assistant transferring from our Laredo clinic to San Antonio. Welcome, Araceli! The department also sends their best wishes to Roger De la Cruz, IT Specialist. He will be enjoying a month long tour of Europe with his new wife, Lauren, and they will reestablish themselves in Colorado. Roger has served the department since 2016 and will be greatly missed by his San Antonio teammates.
