Jim Burkard

“I had the distinctly positive experience of working with Jim Burkard in 2012. He helped us to raise the patient satisfaction scores in one of the children's clinics at Vanderbilt. He was responsible for assessing the front line non-clinical staff's interactions with patients. Once he completed his assessment, he coached and mentored those staff members to improve their interactions and work habits. He was also responsible for improving communication between two areas within the clinic. I found Jim to be the consummate professional. He has an approachable and friendly demeanor and was able to provide difficult feedback in such a way that the recipient was grateful and able to grow from the feedback. I highly recommend Jim for whatever endeavor he chooses to pursue next and would be happy to provide additional information to support his employment in any venue.”

“October 17, 2013 It is my pleasure to offer this letter of recommendation for Mr. Jim Burkard. For the past year, Jim and I were members of the Service Excellence Coaching and Consulting team at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Our product was to offer observation and coaching to those patient care units and ambulatory clinics desiring to enhance the patient experience and improve patients’ perceptions of care as measured by patient satisfaction surveys. Jim’s previous management experience certainly prepared him for rapid contributions to our coaching team. He is especially good at helping unit managers transform their patient experience concerns into tangible next steps for improvement. Once an improvement plan is in place, his development of trusting relationships with managers allows him to effectively support and monitor progress and appropriately guide the leader through the implementation process. Jim also has become an excellent “observer” of the patient experience and, through is knowledge of best practice, can identify variations in practice performance, which become the targets for improvements. As a team member, Jim greatly contributed to the transparent communication of our very effective team. He supports other team members with humility and respect, while also being comfortable offering feedback and constructive ideas. Most importantly, Jim is highly accountable and delivers on promised contributions to team reports, follow up with clients, and other responsibilities within agreed upon timeframes. On a personal note, Jim and I had adjacent offices and he seemed to always stay abreast of local and national issues, current sports highlights, and other topics that make work interactions personally enjoyable as well as professionally fulfilling. It is without reservation that I would recommend Jim for a position in your organization that is consistent with his experience and expertise. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can provide additional details. Sincerely, Lynn E. Webb, PhD Assistant Dean for Faculty Development Vanderbilt University School of Medicine [email protected] 615 343-4500”