For Cami Mitelman, Customer Success Manager at NRC Health, a personal passion has had a profound impact on her approach to enhancing the patient experience. Yoga’s emphasis on mindfulness aligns perfectly with the principles of patient-centric care, she explains. 

“My favorite part of yoga is centering,” she says. “If you think about it, it translates perfectly to healthcare. Creating that moment of quiet in a very hectic and chaotic environment can lead to extraordinary care and better patient relationships. In that moment of a clinical encounter, pause, be present, slow down, listen to the people who are talking. When you do that, when you quiet all the noise that’s going on in your head and take that deep breath in and exhale and everything’s quiet, all of a sudden you realize that you can hear and really see what’s going on around you.” 

The patient experience is personal for Mitelman. “I had a chronic illness growing up,” she recalls. “I had significant asthma and allergies my whole life. I remember very vividly getting all those allergy tests and being in the ER multiple times. I just remember thinking, This experience could be better. This could be different.”  

She says her illness impacted the entire family. “It impacted where we vacationed, where we lived, and the kind of things that we did,” she says. “It didn’t just impact us when we were at the doctor’s office, or when I went to the ER. It was a full family impact.” 

After graduating from the University of Nebraska, Cami knew she wanted to work with children. She found a career as a Child Life Specialist at Texas Children’s Hospital, which proved to be an ideal fit for everything she was hoping to do. She was dedicated to supporting children and their families during challenging and often stressful experiences, such as hospitalization or medical procedures. 

 “I didn’t know what my career would look like, but I wanted to tap my own experiences to focus on improving hospital experiences for others,” she says. “I thought, maybe it doesn’t have to be or feel this way for children.” 

When Mitelman discovered NRC Health, she found an organization rooted in a mission and vision that resonated deeply with her. The opportunity to help shape how organizations see, hear, and improve the patient experience was a sweet spot for her. What made it even better was NRC Health’s focus on pediatric healthcare. The annual Pediatric Collaborative, which brings pediatric healthcare leaders together, is a personal favorite.  

“It brings our pediatric partners together from across the country for learning, sharing, problem solving, and mostly for the opportunity to hear how similar organizations are handling tough topics,” she says. “It is rooted in collaboration and compassion.”  

The pediatric community is different, she explains. “They are truly there to support and help each other through whatever it is that they’re going through. It is unselfish support and guidance.” 

From her early years at Texas Children’s to her role as a Customer Success Manager at NRC Health, Mitelman says she has always relied on the principles she has learned in yoga: quiet your mind, go with the flow, stay positive. “It’s a nice correlation,” she explains. “When we ask the right questions at the right moments, get information and present it in the right way at the right time, it is like a moment of silence, reflection, and focus. We’ve seen its powerful impact.” 

Mitelman lives with her husband in Atlanta. Along with her three daughters, she has a two-year old puppy named Ruby and two cats, Joey and Presley, who remind her daily to relax and enjoy life. 

The Igniting Human Understanding series shares the personal experiences and passions that influence and shape our approach to humanizing care.

Want to follow the Human Understanding movement? Check out NRC Health on social media.