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CAROLINE BLOOM: BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, SOUTH FLORIDA –
Our employees are all patient care champions, but some go the extra mile and we want to give them the recognition they deserve. They embody the PPOA values known as S.I.T.E. – Safety, Integrity, Teamwork, Empathy – which informs our service to patients and the community through high quality health care.
Business development representative Caroline Bloom is in the business of making connections. She spends her days educating doctors and their staffs about the pain management alternatives offered by Physician Partners of America. This includes laser spine procedures, spinal cord stimulators and, soon, regnerative medicine.
She primarily markets the services of Dr. Alejandro Tapia in Boynton Beach and Wellington, Fla.
“There’s a lot of education involved in what I do,” she says. “I teach them the difference between interventional pain management – the procedures we do – versus medication management. Many doctors have had their chronic pain patients on opioids for years. We teach them that there are other options. It turns the lightbulb on.”
A native of Maplewood, New Jersey, she graduated from St. Thomas University in Miami with a B.A. in Business Management. She started out in the nascent telecommunications industry, selling the first “big brick” cell phones for Cellular One, now AT&T.
After taking time off for motherhood, she was drawn back into the workforce – and the healthcare world – when her husband became ill.
“When he got sick, I learned how to be an advocate for him, and in turn, patients in general,” she says.
She worked for pharmaceutical company Astra Zeneca as a marketing representative and for a large hospice provider before joining PPOA in November 2017. While most of her time is spent calling on providers and practice managers, those connections help her assist patients. She recalls a particular case of a special needs man.
“His mom was talking to the staff of her son’s primary care doctor. The referral coordinator called me and I connected the patient with Dr. Tapia, who he had seen in the past,” Bloom recalls. “The son had Medicaid, which we don’t accept, but I helped him to get him special clearance for Dr. Tapia to treat him. Those are the most rewarding moments for me.”
Caroline Bloom’s supervisor, regional business development manager Susan Hoskins, admires Bloom’s willingness to go the extra mile.
“Caroline is an example of compassion and true caring concern for all patients. She will always take the time to listen and make sure patients have a great experience with PPOA,” says Hoskins. “Her tenacity and constant professional attitude and drive for success inspire me every day. Caroline looks at every opportunity as a bold challenge and adventure.”
Bloom is also known for assisting her fellow PPOA reps. She helps new hires learn the company sales database and the finer points of paperwork, sends group texts, and acts as a resource.
“Caroline always goes above and beyond to support her teammates,” Hoskins says. “She is always willing to help not only her Business Development teammates but has spent Saturdays coming into the clinic to help her operations team.”
While she enjoys caring for others, Caroline Bloom is about to take more time out for herself. Her son will graduate from Florida State University in 2020, and her daughter will enter the University of Florida as a freshman in a few weeks. “It will be a house divided,” she says, joking about the schools’ infamous football rivalry. Still, she has no plans to slow down.
“When you love what you do,” she says, “It doesn’t feel like work.”
