MEET BETTE LOU DAVIS FROM THE PITTSBURGH TEAM BY SUE FISH

Bette Lou’s career in nursing started out as a Staff Nurse on a surgical open heart unit in a major Pittsburgh hospital. From there she moved onto a variety of traveling nurse positions, to a management position with home health agency, to a CCM with American Healthways. Bette Lou joined American Healthways in 2001.

While working as a CCM at the Pittsburgh CEC, she became a member of the Intranet project team. She developed the project plan, and coordinated both the development of the Intranet site and management of the site, and was responsible for training and documentation. Four years later, Bette Lou accepted a position as a High Risk Care Manager with the StatusOne division of Healthways. As a HRCM with StatusOne, Bette Lou takes pride in the fact that she can offer her high risk patients continuity in their care.

Because of Bette Lou’s technical expertise, she became comfortable quickly with working in a home based care management virtual world. As a “Power User” for her Pittsburgh telework team, Bette Lou is able to offer her team mates help with technical questions, and with new software roll outs when needed.

In 2004, Bette Lou obtained her Master of Science Degree in Management and Technology. One of her classes at Carlow University required her to come up with a business plan for a product to sell on the Internet. Her professor at the time was very impressed with Bette Lou’s product and he encouraged her to have the product patented. Bette Lou’s product, the Pet’s Pocket Locket, was inspired in some ways by her nursing career. She states “As a nurse, I talk to many patients who are very ill; and many are homebound, and their pet is all they have. What upsets many of these patients is when they take their pet to the vet to have them put to sleep; they come home from the vets with nothing more than an empty collar”. The Pet Pocket Locket is not just a memorial but can be used a tribute as well. Some may choose to save a lock of their pet’s fur; some may choose to save their pet’s baby teeth, or any other small object. With Bette Lou’s hinged locket, these items can be saved in a clear view compartment on the bottom and on the top there is a pocket magnet to hold a photo of the pet lover’s pet.

Aside from working on her invention, Bette Lou’s personal life consists of home remodeling and boating. When she moved into her current home, she completely gutted the home herself and then rebuilt it from scratch. She had no experience with this kind of work prior to becoming a home owner, but she states she went out and bought books on the subject and learned. As a single woman, she states “you either learn to do it or it does not get done”. She recalls one day when it took her six hours to replace a toilet ……but when the project was finally completed she could not help but to stand there and flush the toilet several times. With each flush of water, she could not help but to smile……after all, she could not believe she had successfully completed the project!!

In 1989 Bette Lou purchased her first boat and spent most of her weekends on the local Western Pennsylvania Rivers and lakes water skiing. She has since sold that boat and now enjoys the water by kayaking on the weekends.