University of Iowa Health Management & Policy

By Andrew Patzke It is hard to believe that my time in Japan is already almost half over. To give you some quick background, I am interning at the Kameda Medical Center in Kamogawa, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Kameda’s medical campus sits at the foot of the Mineoka mountain range and overlooks the Pacific Ocean. The campus includes an outpatient clinic that serves over 3,000 patients daily, a general hospital with nearly 1,000 beds, a 60-bed rehabilitation hospital, and nursing college. Kameda’s reputation as a cutting-edge hospital is epitomized by its commitment to the patient experience, evidenced by the welcoming nature of its staff, providers, and facilities. For the past several years John Wocher, the Executive Vice President of Administration and Director of International Patient Relations at Kameda, has offered an Iowa student the opportunity to come to Kameda and observe how the hospital operates and partake in a project of choosing. My primary project during my time at K...

Behind me is the Prairie Center- home of  Avera Cancer Institute and Avera Surgery Center. Avera McKennan is one of 69 hospitals nationally to receive the  CEO Cancer Gold Standard organization from the American Cancer Society. By Brittany Fett I am currently a Graduate Intern at Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Avera McKennan is a mission driven, 545-bed tertiary care hospital under the Avera Health umbrella. McKennan has 13 rural affiliates and numerous clinics, primarily in eastern South Dakota, southwest Minnesota, and northwest Iowa. I spend most of my time with Network Operations and interact extensively with McKennan’s rural network- which I absolutely love! I have also had exposure to long-term care and home medical equipment, giving my experience another dimension. I am already working on a number of projects, and the list keeps growing! My main project is to develop a staffing efficiency model to serve as a m...

By Megan Browning Hiya everyone! As week three of my Mercy internship come to a close, I am officially 25% done my Mercy experience. That's all I am going to say about that because, in all honesty, I am terrified at the thought of it ending! Anyways, I had quite the week this week! Here are some big events! Monday began with an email from one of my VP's requesting my presence in his office. That sounds much more dramatic than it really was, as I really enjoy spending time with my both of my bosses. Both are incredibly intelligent and never cease to teach me something new. Moving on, I wandered up to the administration department to present a draft of the volume, market share, and service availability analysis I have been working on for a future presentation my preceptor will be giving. I have discovered I enjoy data mining much more than my Biostats experience led me to believe.  The many versions of my dashboard Much to my surprise, I found myself...

At a Giants game By Lucas Johnson This summer I am interning in the Project Management Office at UC San Francisco under UIowa MHA Alumnus Susan Sall. UCSF is currently undergoing one of the largest organizational restructurings in its history, which has provided a truly unique exposure to change management. UCSF is in the process of not only restructuring its entire HR organization, but also preparing for a UC wide operational standardization/ consolidation initiative. The majority of my work has involved facilitating this change through various assignments including process mapping and planning the organization’s IT footprint. As for extracurricular activities, I have enjoyed the SF culture (e.g. Giant’s games, biking, jazz clubs, street festivals etc.).  As I dive deeper into my project work and continue to assimilate with the Bay, the summer shows strong potential to become only more interesting and rewarding. View from my office  

Hello all!  My name is Liz Schnadt, and I am currently the intern at MediRevv in Coralville, IA. MediRevv is a revenue cycle management company that specializes in health care. It offers many different service lines, such as self pay extended business office, insurance extended business office, full business office outsourcing, A/R conversion assistance, and revenue integrity. MediRevv is a young business (it was started in 2007) and is continuing to grow each year. My preceptor, Chris Klitgaard, is the president of MediRevv and a ’99 graduate from the University of Iowa MHA program. He has done a great job at giving me the opportunity to sit in on any meetings to gain exposure to upper management. Chris has also provided me with a number of projects that will be challenging and interesting to work on throughout the summer. As of now my project list includes the following, but I am sure it will grow, as it already has in the four weeks I have been here: - Coordinating the log...

This summer, I have the honor of serving Abbott Northwestern Hospital as an Administrative Intern. This opportunity is sure to prove both challenging and rewarding as I navigate through an extensive project, gain experiences both at work and in the community, and build further knowledge and skills through my assignments. Abbott Northwestern Hospital houses a variety of medical services on a sprawling campus in downtown Minneapolis. The hospital has over 900 beds and is home to the Virginia Piper Cancer Institute, Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute and the Minneapolis Heart Institute, just to name a few. Recently, Abbott Northwestern also purchased the West Health outpatient clinic facility and is in the process of adding a free-standing emergency department to the existing structure. Right now is a busy time for this organization, and I am happy to be here at a time of change and growth. Although I get to be involved in a variety of projects and have the opportunity to shadow ...

By Anna Grinter This summer, I have the privilege of working with the Office of Statewide Clinical Education Programs (OSCEP) at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, as a Senior Project Assistant. Even though I have only been working for a few weeks, I have already been involved in numerous projects involving physicians, healthcare administrators, system recruiters, and family medicine residents. OSCEP was founded in 1974 and has since served the state of Iowa by developing and managing various collegiate programs for the medical education system in Iowa. OSCEP is divided into three departments, Information Systems and Research Services, Community-Based Medical Education, and the Community Services division. Even though I interact with all three divisions, my primary responsibilities lie within the Community Services department, led by my preceptor, Lynette Lancial, an alumnus of our program. The Community Services division provides physician consultation services (...