Health Center Administrator: Cheryl Miller
This month, VANA spoke with Cheryl Miller, Administrator for Virginia Endoscopy Group to learn more about her role in leadership, upcoming plans, and why CRNA’s are critical to Virginia’s success.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your role?
I’m Cheryl Miller, the Administrator for Virginia Endoscopy Group, a freestanding endoscopy center. We have two locations – each with six procedure rooms – performing about 70 cases a day.
Thirty-four years ago, I started working for a cardiac anesthesia group that had recently gone through a merger. I followed that with nearly 15 years with a GI practice, and then spent another 15 years working with another GI practice. Last year, I was excited to make the move to Virginia Endoscopy Group, and I’m thrilled with my new role so far.
As someone in leadership, what challenges do you face in your role and how do you push yourself to be better each day?
The challenges are fairly straightforward: they’re around the carriers and reimbursements. We have to work to make it fair for providers to get a reasonable reimbursement for their work. Other than that, it comes down to patient care and ensuring that everyone we hire provides the highest quality of care and that everyone who walks through our doors receives the best care possible. We always want high patient satisfaction and that relies on provider care.
I’m always observing my team and getting involved. I want my team to feel valued and I need to understand their needs to we can work together to meet the needs of our patients. If I don’t push myself in those ways, I can’t expect my team to do it either and patient care will suffer.
Let’s talk about the role that CRNAs play at your facility and in Virginia:
When I first started in GI, procedures weren’t even done in office – they were done at outpatient facilities at the hospital with conscious sedation. For that reason, when we began opening office-based facilities we used conscious sedation as well. Patients were uncomfortable, groggy and we knew we could do a better job. Very quickly, we pivoted to anesthesia-based care and the difference was immediate. This makes it much nicer on the unit to have an anesthesia provider on the care team to give the patient extra peace of mind and comfort.
CRNAs should be allowed to work independently. Under Virginia’s current system, providers may be supervised by the physicians doing the procedure, who are experts in their field but are not experts in anesthesia. There’s no reason why CRNAs shouldn’t be able to provide their full scope of practice.
Why is advocating for change with legislators and decision makers important?
Advocating can be difficult! We’re all busy and it’s hard to set aside time to push for change, but it’s so critical. Especially for those of us who haven’t spent time engaging on these issues in the past, it can be confusing to navigate the legislature. VANA is critical for those reasons – as an organization, it helps each of us learn how to be more involved in the issues that matter most.
How does your practice work with younger practitioners and those who are considering a career in this industry?
We love having students shadow our practitioners. It’s important for students to be able to see what we do and gain a deeper understanding of our work so they can know if this is something they want to pursue. We will always hire new graduates, as well, so this is a great place for young people just beginning their careers.
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
Easy! Having a center that provides excellent care where patient satisfaction is 99% or above, with little to no bad outcomes throughout the year. We work hard to have a safe facility and we’re proud of what we do.
Do you have any goals or aims for this facility?
We’re working on a state-of-the-art remodel! We want to ensure we’re using the best equipment and are continuing to stay at the cutting edge of technology for patients, and this will ensure that we continue. Stay tuned for more updates!
Do you have any mentors? Why do you think it’s important to work alongside others and mentor when you can?
Covid did something to the world – there’s so much negativity around us all the time. Anything each of us can do to produce a bit of positivity to share with the world is worth doing. I’m grateful to the healthcare providers I’ve worked alongside over my 34 years in industry for guiding my path, and I hope I can help others the same way.
