Meet Jessica: Patient Care Coordinator

Monique Ramsey (00:02):
Welcome everyone to The La Jolla Cosmetic Podcast. I'm your hostess, Monique Ramsey, and today I have a guest in the studio. Her name is Jessica and she's a patient care coordinator in our surgical department. So welcome Jessica.

Jessica (00:16):
Hi. Thanks for having me.

Monique Ramsey (00:18):
Thanks for coming. So you've been in and around our practice for years, and so I would love if you could just tell the audience kind of when you first started with us and what you were doing and why you're back.

Jessica (00:31):
Great. Yeah. I've been with La Jolla Cosmetics since 2014 and I actually joined the practice when Dr. Smoot joined. I had been up with him since 2000 in his practice and was here for a few years and balance of family life and family business left for a little while and then just came back a couple of months ago doing the coordinating position again.

Monique Ramsey (00:56):
When a patient calls for information or they come in for an appointment, when would they encounter you in that process?

Jessica (01:05):
So the initial phone call that we take, we're meeting with the patient, connecting with them, getting their information, talking with them about what brings them to be calling us for the day, and then kind of guide 'em through the process. So we'll talk with them at first, we'll see them when they come in for their consultation, walking them back to the room, meeting the doctor and the nurse, and then we see them again after the consult going over their surgical quote and scheduling.

Monique Ramsey (01:32):
So what I would think it's really fun to be a patient care coordinator because you get to interact with people and help them kind of reach their goals. And so what do you find as the most fun or exciting or fulfilling parts of your job?

Jessica (01:52):
Well, it's nice, Patients are coming in because they want to be here. It's not a medical office where there's a health issue, things like that. So it's really nice to kind of guide them through their journey of their surgery. And it's nice to see them kind of transform when you see 'em come in for post-ops. Just a positive change or the confidence, you can definitely see just the positive effects that it has on their life.

Monique Ramsey (02:18):
And tell us a little bit about your background and what led you to the aesthetics side of medicine.

Jessica (02:23):
I've always been interested in it. I started in my teenage years at a internal medicine office, which was a little bit, after a while, just a little depressing hearing people's health issues or seeing the older couples coming in and they're not well and things like that. So once I had seen that side of it, I wanted to see a funner side of medical. And once I got into plastic surgery, I loved it. Patients are in there, they're happy to be in there. For the most part, all of their experiences are great experiences. So I just enjoy seeing the patients and the changes that it makes in them.

Monique Ramsey (03:01):
And what have you learned over the years from listening to patients?

Jessica (03:05):
I mean, I guess I would always say to patients when they'd come in, for example, if they came in for rhinoplasty, you could tell that that was something they very much fixated on everyone. They would come in and they'd go, oh, I want my nose to look like yours. And just things that probably was on their mind, snd every place that they went, they would hone in on people's nose or because it was a change on themselves that they wanted to see. So I guess when patients would come in and always be like, oh, this has always bothered me, or that's always bothered me, I would say to them, if it's something that you can change, why not do it? And I think in some people, once it was kind of put to them like that, they're like, yeah, this is a step now that I'm ready to take and do now that I've had this consultation, I'm at that point now to do something about it.

Monique Ramsey (03:54):
Yeah, I think people misunderstand the plastic surgery patient that they're so vain or that so self-obsessed that they like, oh, you should just love yourself the way you are. But if it's something, I agree with you, if it's something that bothers you and it's something you can fix, let's fix it. Move on, use that emotional energy for other things. So I think that's a really good point. So Jessica, tell us about yourself. Did you grow up here in San Diego or where did you grow up?

Jessica (04:26):
Yes. So I've grown up and been a San Diego native all my life. A couple sisters that are still in the area too. I've been married since 96, have two boys, a little goldendoodle and just love the things about San Diego, the beach, the desert, and the mountains. We kind of have a little bit of everything here, so I love it.

Monique Ramsey (04:47):
Yeah, we do. If you were going to tell somebody like they had one weekend in San Diego, what would you tell them to do and where would you tell them to go eat?

Jessica (04:56):
I would probably say to go down to Coronado, just because it's so pretty down there and the quaint buildings and things like that. The Brigantine down there is always a favorite place or the Brigantine port side on the water.

Monique Ramsey (05:10):
Are you a zoo fan? Do you like the zoo or?

Jessica (05:14):
I do. Yeah. Yeah. I used to go with my kids all the time to get my exercise in and keep them occupied. So I still love the zoo.

Monique Ramsey (05:20):
It's nice. Those hills are no joke.

Jessica (05:22):
Seriously. It's a good workout.

Monique Ramsey (05:25):
So what would you say to somebody who's thinking about coming to La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Center for the first time? What advice would you give them?

Jessica (05:33):
I would tell them that they've really found a great place. All the nurses, the staff, the employees from front to back, genuinely are happy to be here. We all love our jobs. And you even hear patients will comment on that a lot. They're like, gosh, everyone that I saw is saying hi and happy. And it's genuine. It's not a rehearsed thing. It's like we're all happy to work together and you can see the camaraderie that we have.

Monique Ramsey (05:59):
Yeah. Now in terms of if somebody was thinking, okay, yeah, I think I want to have a consultation, how do you suggest that they get started?

Jessica (06:08):
Well, first when they'll call in and kind of go, oh, I'm just thinking about this or that, we'll kind of go through the process of what we do here and where we take care of them, give them a range, give them an idea of the cost that they're looking at so that they can see if this is another step that they want to take as far as having the consultation. And most patients, when you go through everything with them that they've made the phone call, they are ready for that step of a consult. So yeah, typically once they're calling in, once we go through everything, they have a good idea of what to expect when they come in the door and they're ready to come in and schedule a consult.

Monique Ramsey (06:44):
Do patients need to know which doctor they want to see or is that something that you can help them with?

Jessica (06:50):
Sometimes patients will call in and know for sure who they want to see, either from a referral or word of mouth. If they don't know, typically we will kind of say, oh, well have you checked out our galleries? You can filter down which doctor you want to see that way. Or sometimes if they're calling in just personality wise, they might lean better with one of the other doctors. We'll kind of make some recommendations. And sometimes we have patients that might see a couple of the doctors just depending on what feels right for them.

Monique Ramsey (07:23):
Yeah, it's really all about connecting. And so we want you to feel comfortable and part of the family when you come, but it's also that connection with the surgeon and they always say, the surgeon's doing their most important part while you're asleep, but before the surgery, after the surgery, you still want to feel that emotional connection as well as that confidence and knowing that you're being really well taken care of. And I love the fact that you can help walk patients through that process if it's kind of a new thing for a lot of people to, maybe it's they've never had surgery before, or they kind of don't know what's the path. And so it's nice to sort of have that handholding that you do as a patient care coordinator to help them navigate that whole surgical journey. So the last thing would be, let's say you had, for our viewers out there and our listeners, if you sign up for a newsletter and you subscribe to our podcast, you can get $25 towards any product of $50 or more in our Suite 130 in our ALASTIN store. So for ALASTIN, I dunno if you've been using any of it, but if you were going to get $25 free towards which product would you pick?

Jessica (08:38):
Well, I definitely use and love is the tinted moisturizer, sunscreen. That's what I wear as my sunscreen, so I love the product. And then also, or the eye cream. I love the eye cream too.

Monique Ramsey (08:51):
Okay. Alright. So that's kind of fun. Alright, well thanks Jessica. It was nice to talk with you. I'm so glad you're back in our office. It's been wonderful having you kind of popping in and out over the years, but hopefully this time I'll be for good.

Jessica (09:06):
Yes. No, I love to be back. I really enjoy working here.

Monique Ramsey (09:09):
I think that sort of is a good testament too.

Jessica (09:12):
Yes.

Monique Ramsey (09:13):
For La Jolla Cosmetic that you're willing to come back after time away and join the team again. So thanks everybody for listening. And we'll have links in the show notes. We'll have Jessica's bio up on our website or a link to her bio on our website, and we could also put in a link about how to sign up for our E Beauty Newsletter so you can get that $25 off $50 or more. Alright, thanks everybody.

Jessica (09:39):
Thank you.

Announcer (09:39):
Take a screenshot of this podcast episode with your phone and show it at your consultation or appointment or mention the promo code PODCAST to receive $25 off any service or product of $50 or more at La Jolla Cosmetic. La Jolla Cosmetic is located just off the I-5 San Diego Freeway in the Ximed Building on the Scripps Memorial Hospital campus. To learn more, go to ljcsc.com or follow the team on Instagram @ljcsc. The La Jolla Cosmetic podcast is a production of The Axis, theaxis.io.