University of Iowa Health Management & Policy

Hello from Iowa City! My name is Caden Rasmus, and this summer I had the opportunity to complete my internship as an AmeriCorps Service Member serving at the Iowa City Free Medical and Dental Clinic. This nonprofit has been helping serve the uninsured and underinsured population with medical needs since 1971. The Iowa City Free Medical Clinic (ICFMC) is the second oldest continuously operating free medical clinic in the United States. The primarily volunteer-based clinic provides care for chronic and acute conditions, women's health, gynecology appointments, dentistry, and an in-house pharmacy that handles many basic medication orders. This unique nine-month internship has continued to be filled with exciting experiences. My role at the Free Medical Clinic is Super User and Project Manager. I was tasked with leading the clinic in a successful transfer from all paper and pencil patient charting to a new AthenaOne Electronic Health Record (EHR). This has been a very rewarding experie...

Hello from Colorado Springs!  This summer, I had the opportunity to complete my administrative internship with UCHealth in their southern region, based in Colorado Springs. UCHealth is the largest health system in Colorado, made up of 14 hospitals across the state. The southern region includes six of those hospitals, and I spent most of my time at Memorial Hospital Central, which is the flagship hospital in the region. Memorial is Southern Colorado’s only Level I Trauma Center and Comprehensive Stroke Center and was recently ranked the #1 hospital in Colorado Springs and tied for #3 in the state by  U.S. News & World Report . It was inspiring to see UCHealth’s mission of "improving lives" come to life every day through the work of incredibly dedicated teams. Over the 12-week internship, I worked on a variety of projects across four service lines: Neuro & Spine, Trauma, Cardiovascular, and Oncology. My main focus was on process improvement, which gave me the chance to ...

Hello from Logan, Utah! This summer, I had the amazing opportunity to spend the summer with Intermountain Health at Logan Regional Hospital. My time was spent with the CEO of the hospital, Brandon McBride and the Hospital Executive Team. Intermountain Health is a not-for-profit health system made up of 33 hospitals and 400 + clinics over their 3 regions. Logan Regional Hospital is a 148-bed hospital located an hour away from Salt Lake City!   From the start, I felt Intermountain’s values through the people I worked with. Their mission—to help people live the healthiest lives possible—is evident in everything they do, whether through daily huddles, caregiver meetings, or regional board retreats. Teamwork, empathy, and clinical excellence weren’t just words; they were deeply embedded into the culture. I was especially inspired by how passionate and fulfilled the caregivers were in their work.   I had multiple projects that I was working on throughout the summer. First off, I wor...

  Hello from Iowa City! This summer I had the opportunity to complete my internship with the University of Iowa Community Clinics (UICC). UICC serves communities across the entire state of Iowa, providing high-quality care through walk-in, primary care, pediatrics, and specialty/outreach clinics. Some of our specialties include urology, virology, pediatrics, cardiology, neurology, OB/GYN, IVF, endocrinology, dermatology, and more. It continues to be an exciting time at UICC, with upcoming clinic relocations and new locations on the horizon. My preceptor is Rachel Kirchner, the Director of UICC. I also had the opportunity to work extremely closely with Assistant Director Bekka Cappussi and Erin Willits, along with several lead providers and nurse managers. Throughout the summer, I had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects. I completed a return-on-investment analysis for disposable versus reusable trays as we prepared to offer vasectomies in our urology clinic. I anal...

Hello from Atlantic, Iowa! This summer, I had the opportunity to complete my internship at Cass Health in Atlantic, Iowa. Atlantic has always been special to me since my dad grew up here and I still have family in the area. I have been visiting Atlantic since I was little, and this year I had the unique opportunity to work at the very hospital that serves the community I have known for so long. Over the past few months, I have learned so much about the day to day operations of a rural hospital, contributed to projects that support patient care, and seen just how much a close knit community can influence the way healthcare is delivered. Cass Health is a Critical Access Hospital located in the southwest region of the state. Atlantic is an hour away from both Omaha and Des Moines, creating a perfect location for physician recruitment, organizational partnerships, and care delivery. Cass Health has been a Top 20 Critical Access Hospital for the past five years, showcasing just how strong t...

 Hello everyone! This summer, I had the incredible opportunity to intern with the Finance and Accounting Services (FAS) team at UI Healthcare. Under the mentorship of Beth Jaggers, Senior Director of Financial Strategy, and in collaboration with experienced financial directors, I explored the dynamic and complex world of healthcare finance and accounting. Throughout the internship, I gained hands-on experience in several core areas, including financial reporting and analysis, cost accounting, budgeting, and the operational side of healthcare finance. This immersive experience gave me a well-rounded understanding of how financial strategy supports both patient care and organizational sustainability within a large academic medical center. One of the key projects I contributed to involved maintaining accurate and up-to-date reporting on quality metrics tied to Medicaid Directed Payments. These payments are a key portion of the organizations margin. Without directed payments, reimburse...