Welcome to another addition of Eon Spotlight – where we recognize the most important part of our organization, our people. We are incredibly proud of our team, and want you all to know who the people are that make the wheels turn. In this spirit, the second employee to be featured in our Eon Spotlight piece is Heather Rasmussen, who oversees the Clinical Transformation and Advanced User Education team, a crucial function of the organization.
Most of us have been at a point in our lives where we aren’t sure if we’re going in the right direction. We find ourselves questioning all of the decisions that led us to where we are. It’s not a nice feeling, but after all the turmoil, we realize this was where we were always meant to be. In our conversation with Heather, we gained some insight into how her career path changed directions when she came in contact with Eon, and how it changed for the better. Her personal mantra packs a big punch: “It is never too late to become what you might have been.”
Let’s get into it.
What is your role/title? What do you do at Eon?
Clinical Transformation and Advanced User Education Manager. I manage our Care Management team and ensure our CM solution is operating at its highest potential to achieve increased patient adherence at the facilities we serve. I also help manage many internal and external education initiatives to ensure our employees and customers are trained and knowledgeable in the clinical workflows needed to achieve optimal patient outcomes.
Why did you choose to join Eon? How long have you worked here?
This is always my favorite and lengthy question to answer! My history with Eon started back in 2017, when it was Lung Direct and I was a Lung Cancer Patient Navigator at my local healthcare system. I reached out for a demo while researching solutions to the problem that was quickly taking over our lung cancer screening and incidental pulmonary nodule program; it was becoming unmanageable using Excel and painstakingly tedious manual entry to the ACR LCSR.
From that first demo all the way through what became the implementation of Eon at my facility, I was blown away by the people at Eon and their passion for patient care. Here was this team that saw the same problem I was identifying at my own facility, and they created this brilliant solution to that problem. Everyone seemed to just get it. There was so much drive and passion, all in the name of patient care. In the early days of being an end-user I idolized Aki and his infectious passion for patient care, and I had never met a physician who was so proactive and genuinely cared as much as Aki does. I just knew that these were my people and I needed to join the team at some point, and I’ve been with Eon now for over a year.
What made you choose your career path?
Making the transition from clinical to industry was scary, but choosing to be on the Care Management team allowed me to continue to have that clinical fulfillment of interacting with patients and providers to assist in the management of their care and helping patients to achieve an early diagnosis.
What’s something most people don’t know about you?
“I am a drone pilot and love expressing my views of the world with photography and videography. I also have my own YouTube channel. I’ve taken my love of documenting on YouTube and am pursuing a cinematography goal of producing a short film to be shown at our local annual Freshcoast film festival.“
What is your team like?
My team is hands down THE BEST! We’re basically all just a bunch of goofballs who poke fun at life and each other, and are not scared to be ourselves. We encourage and support one another and are all each other’s best cheerleaders. Everyone on the team has that same Eon passion for patient care and everything we do always puts the patient first. Our team culture is amazing and I am so grateful for my team!
What motivates you to wake up and go to work each morning?
Everyday has its own set of unique challenges, and I love a good challenge! I look forward to being able to critically think and problem solve. I am constantly challenged and always learning, and it makes it easy to wake up and start engaging in the day’s tasks when no two days are the same.
What have been your biggest accomplishments at Eon?
Beating Aki at every internal competition we have ever had. (Disclaimer: His team did win a Q4 competition, but I still beat him in the individual category). We are all so competitive and I just love that!
What’s the most unique part about working here?
Definitely the culture! Our Core Beliefs of commitment to patients, honesty, focus, responsibility, passion, innovation, and efficiency shines in everyone who works at Eon. We all strive to be culture carriers.
How have you grown professionally while on our team?
My background is in Radiation Oncology, but 4 years prior to joining Eon, I transitioned into the lung cancer patient navigator role and became hyper focused on all things lung. Joining the team has allowed my clinical knowledge to continue to grow in other disease states like AAA, Pancreas, Thyroid, and Breast.
What do you like to do when you aren’t working?
Anything outdoors! I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on Lake Superior and enjoy all 4 seasons. Paddleboarding, Kayaking, Canoeing, Fishing, Snorkeling, Sailing, Hiking, Camping, Mountain Biking, Snow Biking, Ice Fishing, Snowshoeing, Nordic Skiing… The list goes on. We have it all up here!
What is your motto or personal mantra?
It is never too late to become what you might have been.
Three words to best describe you?
Creative, Adventurous, Smart
If you could have any superpower what would it be?
I’d have the power of healing.
After our conversation with Heather, we also reached out to her manager, Dr. Scott Skibo, to tell us more about Heather and her work ethic.
What do you like the most about working with Heather?
Heather defines “servant leadership” to the Clinical Transformation team. She will go the extra mile for anyone in the organization and to better EON in its quest to make patients healthier and healthcare more affordable.
Three words that describe Heather best?
Hardworking, forward-thinking, culture-carrier.
What has been Heather’s biggest contribution to your team?
Honestly, her biggest contribution to the team is to nearly single handedly get Care Management from a conceptual promise to a delivered result that is fulfilling the Eon mission.
Outside of specific projects, what kind of impact has Heather had on your team in a positive way?
She impacts the team in a positive way with her leadership style. It is a culture of safety with her. In this atmosphere all members of the team contribute without fear. Her team would run through a brick wall for her.
Why did you nominate her for this program?
I nominated her for this program because I felt if you look up Eon in the thesaurus it is very likely to have Heather as a synonym. Highly effective leader, results getter, exceeds expectations, culture-carrier.
The Spotlight Series is on its way to become a regular feature for Eon, to highlight individuals, their achievements, and to recognize the spirit of helping others as a result of doing what we do. Stay tuned for the next one!
