Patient

experience

Kristin Mensonides brings more than a decade of experience in health care administration from Cleveland Clinic and Sutter Health to her role as director of oncology services. The Oklahoma native lives in Napa with her husband, an administrator at Crestwood Behavioral Health in San Francisco. We met with her to discuss this newly created position and why it’s critical to supporting patient care and excellent customer service.

Why did you choose to join the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer team?

A: In all the service lines I’ve worked, cancer has been my favorite. I’ve had the opportunity to work for academic and community hospitals, and I enjoy the academic environment the most. What inspires me are the leading-edge medicine, education and research components, clinical trials, and advocacy for patient care. It was a really exciting opportunity to join the UC Davis family and to shine a light on the incredible work being done — not just in Sacramento — but in our surrounding communities to give patients access to the services they deserve.

What are some of the challenges you face?

A: One of the challenges is access, which shows up in several ways. We are working to expedite our current processes through our new Patient Referral Center to ensure new patients can see a physician as quickly as possible. We are also working to help gain access for patients who would like to receive care at UC Davis but whose insurance providers are not contracted with the health system. We never want to delay care.

Can you share your short- and long-term goals for improving patient satisfaction?

A: Fortunately, we addressed a short-term goal shortly after I joined the team. We added employees to the call center to reduce call wait times. We are also reevaluating our processes and workflows, setting expectations and defining metrics to improve customer service. The call center is one of the gateways to the cancer center, and it’s often a patient’s first impression of us.

As far as long-term goals — we’re analyzing our staffing models to see how we stack up against other University of California hospitals and other comprehensive cancer centers. We need to ensure we have aligned our staffing resources, such as nursing, medical assistants, physicians, nurse navigators, social workers, dietitians and genetic counselors, to truly wrap around our patients throughout their cancer journey. It is a team approach to care, and we need to ensure we are staffed to adequately meet the needs of our patients every step of the way.

We have such a wonderful team and foundation. I’m excited by the opportunity to elevate the cancer center and showcase the hard work the existing team demonstrates.