Meet Marianne Rice Caltrider, an Education Success Specialist at Zyter|TruCare. Marianne champions educational excellence in her role, leveraging her extensive background in nursing education and deep knowledge of payer and provider technology. Her expertise is the cornerstone of Zyter| TruCare’s Educational team. Marianne understands “change is hard!” She is master in change management, and skillfully navigates teams through the intricacies of new system integrations and software deployments. Her educational philosophy is grounded in creating training programs that engage and resonate deeply with learners. At Zyter|TruCare, Marianne is instrumental in shaping educational strategies, ensuring they align with the company’s vision of fostering continuous learning and development in the modern healthcare landscape.
Marianne’s Path to Zyter|TruCare
Marianne’s journey to Zyter|TruCare is a testament to her deep commitment and proficiency in her field. A review of her extensive certificates and educational background shows a lifelong dedication to learning and excellence. Influenced by her family of nurses, her inspiration came early and blossomed with a desire to serve the community.
After earning a BA in Sociology from Otterbein College, Marianne began her career in Children’s Services. When funding constraints led to a career pivot, she pursued an associate degree in nursing in 2003. Her early nursing career was marked by roles at St. Clair Hospital in the Intermediate Medical Unit (IMU), ICU, and Pulmonary Telemetry. These experiences spurred her to further her education, leading her to Wheeling Jesuit University in Milling, West Virginia, where she earned a BSN in 2005 and a Master of Science in Nursing in 2007.
Demonstrating her ability to multitask, Marianne excelled as a Case Manager at Associated Home Health while simultaneously completing her master’s degree. Her time in patients’ homes, ensuring adherence to recovery steps, sparked an interest in education, as she trained non-nurses in care methods.
Marianne’s career trajectory changed again in 2006 when she joined Alternative Home Health, quickly rising to Clinical Operations Manager. Here, she honed her skills in patient monitoring using telehealth technologies and deepened her understanding of the payer and provider sectors. Throughout these six years, a growing desire to return to teaching became a focal point of Marianne’s professional journey.
Embracing this calling, Marianne transitioned to academia, teaching senior-level nursing students at Belmont College. Over seven years, she progressed from Associate Professor of Nursing to Interim Director, shaping senior students’ didactic and clinical instruction. Her passion for teaching was evident; she reveled in her students’ successes and supported them through their challenges, earning respect for advocating a standard of excellence.
Seeking new horizons, Marianne joined Cigna Healthcare in 2019 as a Lead Analyst for Complex and Catastrophic Case Management. In this role, she tackled challenging cases, collaborating with various stakeholders. Her talent for teaching was quickly recognized at Cigna, leading her to train new employees. “I got the opportunity to invest to be a preceptor,” Marianne recalls enthusiastically. “I was precepting and onboarding new employees, then teaching them how to use the system, which happened to be the TruCare Platform.”
During the pandemic, Marianne played a pivotal role, adapting to the evolving needs in healthcare and facing new challenges in post-acute home health reviews for Cigna’s utilization management department.
Amidst these changes in healthcare, including shifts in regulations, compliance, security, privacy protocols, and standards of care, Marianne found her niche as the Education Success Specialist at Zyter|TruCare, where her accumulated expertise and passion for teaching continue to shine.
Willing to Learn, Willing to Teach
Marianne embraces a life philosophy centered around continuous learning and improvement. Her father’s words reflect this outlook: “If you don’t make mistakes, you can’t learn from them.” This principle has been a guiding light in her life, influencing her personal and professional decisions. “You doubt yourself sometimes, take chances, and they do not work out. I often tell my students, ‘You did then what you knew how to do. But when you know better, you do better.” In her teaching, she advocates for her students to experience and learn from small failures, believing these experiences are stepping stones to greater success. “When you know better,” she asserts, “you’re going to soar.”
Marianne’s teaching philosophy has been instrumental in her career, particularly in her ability to nurture and witness the growth of her students. Always eager to adopt new teaching methods, Marianne has been at the forefront of educational innovation, greatly benefiting her students. The Ray of Light Award in 2013, 2014, and 2016 recognized her commitment and effectiveness as an educator. This prestigious accolade, awarded for exemplary leadership, teaching, and dedication at Belmont College, reflects her indelible impact on the lives she touches. It is awarded to educators who receive overwhelming recommendations from their students, highlighting the profound influence teachers like Marianne have in various settings, be it in classrooms, at patients’ bedsides, or in hands-on practical environments.
Meeting the Needs of Clinicians to Meet the Needs of Patients
At the forefront of Marianne’s professional priorities lies a strong emphasis on regulation and compliance. Her work, whether it involves integrating new technologies into healthcare workflows, training nurses in advanced care techniques, or refining processes, is grounded in ensuring that all involved parties adhere to the highest standards of patient care. “We need to ask ourselves, ‘Are we doing this because it’s the way it’s always been done, or are there better ways to do this?'” Marianne reflects. Her approach is rooted in critically evaluating existing practices and an openness to innovation. “Are we truly at the forefront of our industry if we are not including all voices in developing healthcare technologies? Is this product or service meeting the client’s needs?” These questions guide her strategy in navigating the evolving landscape of healthcare. Marianne’s focus is not just on meeting current needs but on proactively shaping practices to meet future challenges and opportunities.
Clinical Voices in Critical Spaces
Marianne’s experience at Zyter|TruCare highlights an exciting trend in healthcare technology: the effective integration of clinician insights with product development and management. “At Zyter|TruCare, they put clinicians at the forefront. They value the opinion of clinicians because we bring such a vast, broad array of experience,” Marianne states. Her role in the clinical team underscores this approach. “I am now on a clinical team, and we use our time to collaborate, share ideas, and develop a path towards our goals.” In this role, Marianne is actively involved in shaping the future of healthcare technology, leveraging her clinical expertise to contribute to a team dedicated to innovation and excellence.
Marianne’s Advice to other Clinicians: You Must Be a Patient Advocate
Reflecting on the challenging and often underappreciated nature of nursing, Marianne offers encouragement to her fellow clinicians to persevere. “It’s not a very glamorous position,” she acknowledges. “You take a lot of heat for your efforts.” She remembers guiding her students to be mindful of their relationships with doctors and to prioritize being their patients’ allies. “You must be that patient advocate; you are sometimes your patient’s last line of defense. You may receive an order, and you must stand up for your patient and use your critical thinking abilities to deduce what is right for them sometimes.”
Marianne advises her students to trust their instincts and to embrace autonomy, mainly when it involves challenging authority. “I had good and bad mentors, and I learned from both. I took the parts I wanted to emulate and left the others behind.” She hopes the wealth of lessons she has learned will benefit new clinicians and those in the medical field. Particularly in teaching peers or students, she emphasizes the importance of offering correction without condescension, asserting oneself without aggression, and maintaining humility while acknowledging one’s shortcomings.
As Marianne imparts her wealth of lessons and experiences, she encourages aspiring clinicians and those in the medical field to trust their instincts, value autonomy, and embody a balanced approach to mentorship that fosters growth with humility, ensuring a brighter future for the next generation of healthcare professionals.
