Jeff Patton, MD, Tennessee Oncology, CEO,
OneOncology, President of Physician Services
Greetings all, I’d like to start with some hemispheric good news. Like clockwork, we all know it’s spring again. Winter may attempt another grab for attention, but there’s no looking back from here. Isn’t it comforting, with all the division and upheaval across the globe, one thing we can all uniformly depend on is the start of spring. It’s a universal trust all living things expect from planet earth. Our internal clock confidently expects its arrival, year after year. Imagine if one year, winter never ended and spring never came. The trust in our relationship with earth would be shattered.
Hello spring, it’s always comforting to see you.
I have a little Patton family good news to share. Our daughter Ashley is recently engaged and we’re excited to embrace her fiancé as one of the family. We already love him and the anticipation of family gatherings and events only a wedding brings. Stay tuned.
And to those of you who may be new to Nashville, I’m compelled to pass this on. The weather has been unique this year. It’s only rained twice– once for 21 days and the other for 23.
Trust is the foundation of our interactions with patients, their families and our colleagues.
I want to circle back to that universal trust and expectation all living things have with seasons. An equally important trust is upon us, to deliver on our patients’ expectations to treat their confidential information with the utmost sensitivity and respect. It’s worth repeating, Trust is the foundation of our interactions with patients, their families and our colleagues. As a growing healthcare organization, how do we teach and instill the importance and value of trust throughout our halls and to future staff as well?
“It takes less time to do a thing right than it does to explain why you did it wrong.”
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Historically, Tennessee Oncology has had great leadership building trust. Ed Augustine, our recently retired Director of Compliance was an exemplary individual, establishing and modeling trust in each relationship and interaction. His successor, Becky Robertson, who we welcome to the practice, shared that same culture of trust throughout her interview and onboarding activities. When it comes to our patients’ trust we must all be on the same page.
Caring for cancer patients is a privilege. It requires commitment from every single one of us to abide by best practices in our duties and responsibilities to deliver safe, efficient and effective healthcare to our patients. We must prove that trust to everyone we serve, everyday. How?
We can all commit to demonstrating these simple Standards of Trust.
- We will be conscientious of confidential, sensitive information and follow all policies to protect patient and employee privacy.
- We will ensure our communications help rather than harm.
- We will consistently practice safety as a demonstration of our integrity and respect for teammates, customers and ourselves.
- We will ensure our comments and actions contribute to our culture of safety and trust.
Tennessee Oncology always strives to do the right thing. When we’re honest and trustworthy, we have no problem speaking truth to the way things are done. We honor and value trust.
Thank you for the culture of trust promoted every day. It’s a pleasure to work by your side.
Jeff
