Nurse Client Advocates
Our Nurse Client Advocates (NCAs) lead a team of specialists to support you and your family in making smart decisions, focusing on wellness and managing complex health issues. We develop custom plans based on a broad range of experience and specialties, including geriatrics, pediatrics, mental health, care coordination, disability and chronic disease management.
Leadership
Mindy Legler Jones
Founding Principal
mljones@pyxiscare.com Mindy Legler Jones
Founding Principal
mljones@pyxiscare.com“We can’t change aging or cure catastrophic illnesses, but we can make the journey easier and provide peace of mind to our clients. When I see how our families are impacted by our care, this is the reward and reason for PyxisCare.”
–Mindy Jones, PyxisCare Management Founding Principal, MS, MBA, CSA
Mindy Jones, Founding Principal of PyxisCare Management, created the company after seeing a gap in how families and individuals navigate our complex healthcare system. Learn more about what inspired her to create the PyxisCare concept.
Tell us about yourself. I grew up in a military family, was born in Germany and attended eight different schools across the US and abroad. Despite the challenges of growing up in the military and being the new kid on the block, I experienced a global, diverse world that taught me to think outside the box. From a young age I excelled in science, and earned a biology degree from Indiana University, and then a Masters in Horticulture Studies from Purdue University. Later I earned an MBA from UT Dallas.
After college I worked as a florist, a chemist, and in a greenhouse. I loved using my horticulture degree, but my entrepreneurial spirit drove me to a career in pharmaceutical sales and marketing management. Through this experience of learning more about the wide range of complex medical needs, I knew I would someday own and operate a company that helped people manage their healthcare experience.
Being involved in my community is important to me and to the culture of our team. I serve on the board of Texas Wall Street Women and the Timberview High School Band Booster Club. I am the fundraising chair for two Scout troops and I teach Bible study at our church.
How did PyxisCare get started? I was fortunate to live close to my grandparents while pursuing my master’s degree at Purdue, and I spent time helping them navigate a health care system none of us understood. They were part of the Greatest Generation; my grandfather served in World War II. I researched how they could
best utilize our complex Medicare system. What does it cover? How does it work? This experience planted the seeds for PyxisCare.
After this and my pharmaceutical experience, I felt called to create a business that could help people like my grandparents. I noticed a gap in our complicated health care system. Frustrated patients and families struggle to figure out where and how to get the care they need. Our current system does not take a holistic approach to care, meaning it doesn’t consider financials, family, spirituality, and emotional health. This inspired me create a business model that would bridge these gaps.
It was important that PyxisCare would hire only the most qualified team. Nurses make the best consultants and are the most trusted professionals. The understand the emotional challenges and they also understand the complexity of healthcare coverage. The first nurse I hired came from a strong psychiatric hospital background, with a long career caring for patients with mental health challenges and brain injuries. At PyxisCare, she impacted so many patients and their families, meeting them where they were with compassion and grace. It was inspiring and I continued to be awed by this work.
The purpose of PyxisCare from the beginning was to investigate, assess, and determine the needs of our clients’ and then craft a plan of action to help them. What do I need to do to assist? Where are the best resources on behalf of this client? Our care is patient-centric, patient-driven and unique to each client.
What are your responsibilities at PyxisCare? As the chief brand ambassador, I oversee all facets of our company from clinical expertise and integrated care coordination to recruiting and business development. I communicate daily with existing stakeholders, collaborators and potential resources on behalf of our clients. We provide the highest level of service and expertise to help our clients so they can find best healthcare solutions for themselves and their loved ones. This is why PyxisCare exists. I am passionate about this and have published papers on the topic of lack of preventative care and how it negatively affects care costs and overall health outcome.
What is the most important change you’ve seen in the industry? The healthcare industry has changed and costs have soared beyond imagination. This has affected not just individuals but companies large and small. A few years ago, PyxisCare expanded to support companies and their leaders with strategic health plan management and with onsite care coordination through our Personal Health Nurses. Developing these programs with CEOs, CFOs or COOs has been transformative for the companies and also for my team. We have been fortunate to be on the leading edge of innovation, problem-solving and compassion that helps recruit, retain and preserve profits.
What brings you joy about leading PyxisCare? We often meet our clients at an important inflection point: individual clients when they are at their most vulnerable, and our corporate clients when they are making strategic decisions that affect people and profits. This is a huge responsibility that I take seriously.
A business must make money, but what motivates me every day is working for a company that creates jobs, impacts change, and compassionately serves people where they are. Seniors and people struggling with mental health and debilitating illnesses can’t advocate for themselves. Our team listens to their struggles, and we involve family members to advocate and support them. Our employees comfort, build trust and serve families and individuals struggling to cope with serious medical challenges. Our magic is in the customer service we bring to families.
We can’t change aging or cure catastrophic illnesses, but we can make the journey easier and provide peace of mind to our clients. Our corporate clients see financial and organizational benefits; it’s hugely satisfying to help a small or mid-sized company support their workforce and become more profitable.
But what sparks our joy is still the personal impact we have on people. This is what makes PyxisCare special.
Elissa Bell
Systems Administrator
elissa.bell@pyxiscare.com Elissa Bell
Systems Administrator
elissa.bell@pyxiscare.com“As a military patient care technician and systems administrator in hospitals and nursing facilities, I’ve listened to countless stories about the delivery of care and communication. That knowledge has helped me understand how people and systems can function better to serve patient care needs. PyxisCare gives me the opportunity to demonstrate my ‘service before self’ mentality as I guide and improve the technical experience for our nurses and clients.” –Elissa B., PyxisCare Systems Administrator
Not everyone can claim to be a Navy Hospital Corps veteran with more than eight years of direct patient care experience, ten years of information technology (IT) experience and active mother of three. PyxisCare Management’s new Systems Administrator, Elissa Bell, has mastered all of these, in addition to her daily management of systems operations on behalf of PyxisCare clients.
Elissa’s combined experience in patient care and on-the-job experience in IT operations working on EMR systems and system conversion as a Corpsman (E3) in the United States Navy, positions her to not only understand the technical aspects of the job, but to understand her connection to improving lives.
“I was familiar with the term Pyxis, which is a nautical term that was used during my time in the Navy,” said Elissa. “That was just one more connection I had to the brand; it was meant to be.” Working for PyxisCare also allows her to help navigate the “waters” associated with understanding complex applications and operational flow of systems that document care progression and reaching client milestones.
Elissa is a critical thinker, problem solver and inventor, always ready to solve problems and innovate. She was raised to believe in integrity first, service before self, and excellence in and out of the office. Her persistence and drive to support her colleagues make her a perfect fit for the PyxisCare Management team.
Cassie Hopkins
Director of Business Development
cassie.hopkins@pyxiscare.com Cassie Hopkins
Director of Business Development
cassie.hopkins@pyxiscare.com“When I was an oncology nurse, I always worried about my patients after they left the hospital and wondered how they would deal with all the complex questions and decisions coming their way. Who would help them and their families? How would they manage? Above all, PyxisCare is in the business of helping people and I’m excited to be a part of it.”
–Cassie H., PyxisCare Director of Business Development
In nursing school, I learned how to take care of people with complex medical challenges in a clinical setting. As an oncology nurse, every day I learned more about what was needed to help patients and families, well beyond their medical needs. I worried about how these families would take care of their loved ones once they came home – not just medically – but financially and emotionally. Because for most, the medical part of the journey is the first step, but the need for care, expertise and knowledge continues forever.
In addition to my nursing degree, I put my business degree to use, and have been able to expand my expertise in the medical field, working in management, sales and marketing.
Today, as the Director of Business Development for PyxisCare Management, I can contribute to a small company with a big mission. My clinical background, my understanding of the range of needs that our clients have, plus a desire to build relationships allows me to bring everything to my work.
When I heard about PyxisCare, I thought about my grandfather who passed away a few years ago and what this sort of support would have meant for my family. I was hundreds of miles away from my family and couldn’t help them on a day to day basis; they had so much information coming at them that they needed help making good decisions regarding benefits and next steps. I was working and wasn’t available as much as I wanted to be.
So, I’ve seen and felt the stress of dealing with difficulty and pain, while also trying to plan ahead in an unknown situation. The families we work with are often tired; our team comes in and it’s like a weight has been lifted off their shoulders. When I see their visible relief, that’s the most gratifying moment of all.
Duyen Nguyen
Director of Personal Health Nursing
duyen.nguyen@pyxiscare.com Duyen Nguyen
Director of Personal Health Nursing
duyen.nguyen@pyxiscare.com“I enjoy teaching people how to optimize their health and best utilize the healthcare system. I want to help them achieve their health goals and manage their chronic conditions so they don’t end up in the hospital.”
— Duyen Nguyen, Director of Personal Health Nursing
Duyen N. moved more than 8,000 miles, worked 11 part-time jobs to pay her way through nursing school, and spent five years in one of the nation’s busiest hospitals to prepare for her best role yet.
Duyen is PyxisCare Management’s first Personal Health Nurse. The new position is embedded in an employer’s organization and allows Nguyen to proactively engage with a client’s employees, build relationships and collaborate to improve overall health.
“It’s more than coincidence,” Duyen says. “I feel like this role is really meant for me.”
Duyen grew up in Vietnam and was inspired to study nursing at age 16 when her older brother was partially paralyzed in an accident. She admired the way nurses supported his recovery and saw the profession as a way to build a better life.
During nursing school, Duyen met an exchange student who encouraged her to apply for a U.S. student visa. That move led her to enroll in the nursing program at Dallas County’s El Centro College, to take English classes, and then to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from The University of Texas at Arlington.
Since then, Duyen has worked in Parkland Hospital’s psychiatry-medicine and emergency departments and in the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas emergency room. She founded the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the Vietnamese American Nurses Association to unite providers and promote community health through outreach, research, education and disease prevention.
Her PyxisCare role draws upon her extensive professional experience while casting her as the team’s health coach rather than a one-time care provider for the employees.
“I enjoy teaching people how to optimize their health and best utilize the healthcare system,” Duyen says. “I want to help them achieve their health goals and manage their chronic conditions so they don’t end up in the hospital.”
Duyen works from an onsite office, scheduling general information sessions and one-on-one meetings to create a personal relationship with employees and understand their health histories, discuss goals and learn whether they have primary care providers. She wants them to “own” their personal medical information and to understand why legal documents like powers of attorney and living wills are needed.
“It’s a smart business decision, too,” she says.
Employees who see a regular primary care provider, eat healthy foods and maintain an active lifestyle generally are happier and more productive at work, Duyen says. Those who are willing to minimize consumption of high-salt, high-sugar foods often can reduce negative effects of chronic conditions like hypertension and diabetes. They generally miss less work and have lower insurance costs, she says.
“The employees have been very interested. I told them I want them to live their optimum life and that I will be here for them.”
Angela W
Practice Lead
Angela W
Practice Lead
“Our work touches not only the client, but the whole family. We have the ability to positively affect an individual’s health, but also the well-being of everyone in their lives.” –Angela W., Practice Lead
My life experiences help me help others every day. I firmly believe that experience and compassion make the difference at PyxisCare.
I’ve been a registered nurse for over 12 years and am licensed in three states. As a nurse client advocate, I have to quickly build relationships and trust so I can best support client wishes. Through experiences at hospitals, geriatric dementia units, mental health facilities and hospice, it’s been easy to personally relate to any situation with a client.
I was blessed with a hearing-impaired child and have a special place in my heart for parents who are doing the best they can for children with challenges. It’s difficult for someone with no experience in benefits management and medical diagnosis to find their way. And that’s where I step in.
A few years ago, I lost my husband and my mother within months of one another. It was devastating, but that experience helped me deeply understand the challenges of navigating illness and our healthcare system. One of my specialties has become crisis intervention for families who are coping with significant and escalating life changes. I spend time at hospitals and facilities advocating for clients. It’s one of the most rewarding aspects of my job, to support a family though their toughest times.
Of course, the biggest difference is that you’re not providing direct care, but you’re influencing the full spectrum of their care. Especially with clients who are not in crisis but are proactive in their holistic wellness.
It’s my job to help people think about their next steps whether those steps are toward wellness or toward quality of life planning decisions. I like to think of myself as a “Healthcare Quarterback,” and I couldn’t have chosen a better way to help people.