Summer Internship: University of Colorado Hospital

By: Luke Nelson

Obligatory selfie from the UCH Helipad

Greetings from Colorful Colorado! I am currently completing my summer internship at University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, CO which is just east of Denver. It’s hard to believe I only have three weeks left in my internship, but I guess time flies when you’re having fun. I am currently working in the Ambulatory Services Department at UCH, under the Director of Ambulatory Services. My preceptor has been a tremendous resource for me this summer, and has been kind enough to let me attend meetings with her and direct me towards resources as I look to complete my projects before my time is up. 

I’ve been assigned projects throughout the specialty clinics at UCH, and it has been very interesting seeing how concepts taught in the classroom translate into a real working environment. My main project consists of developing two business plans for the Department of Endocrinology Diabetes Clinic. One of the business plans focuses on creating a diabetes prevention program for patients diagnosed with prediabetes. This program will offer diabetes education and weight management classes with the goal of preventing the progression of these patients to overt diabetes. With the rise in the prevalence of chronic conditions, the health care industry is shifting towards population health and managing these conditions. This plan has been an interesting case study in how organizations are preparing for this shift and positioning themselves to successfully navigate this new environment. But prevention is only part of the strategy, and I have also developed a business plan to increase patient volumes at the diabetes clinic and facilitate care coordination. Diabetes can lead to a host of complications and requires careful management and monitoring. This new program will enable patients to partner with their provider to learn techniques to manage their blood sugar and prevent complications. I’ve also been working on a process improvement project to improve the functionality of the supply chain in the GI Department and reduce expense relating to supplies. As you can imagine, the supply chain process is an incredibly complicated process for a health care organization, and can at times be unwieldy and difficult to manage. This project required me to learn the intricacies of PAR, the inventory management system, and to shadow the nurses in charge of ordering supplies. I’ve also helped to develop a template for when departments are looking to hire a new Advanced Practice Provider. University of Colorado Hospital is in the process of organizing into a new health system, University of Colorado Health, and has expanded and acquired hospitals along Colorado’s Front Range. With this expansion comes the need to standardize processes across the entire system, which is what we hope this new template will help to accomplish. This has been another interesting aspect of my internship. Across the country, health care organizations are working to consolidate and expand their reach, and it has been interesting observing this formation process from an administrative standpoint. I have also been assigned to do time studies in various departments throughout Ambulatory Services to optimize staff workflows and identify opportunities to increase process efficiencies. During my time here, I’ve also had the opportunity to attend weekly executive lunches where the other interns and I are able to have lunch with a senior leader of the organization and ask them questions about their role. I’ve also been allowed to attend meeting with senior leadership, and shadow in the emergency department and GI. 

Rocky Mountain National Park

Outside of work, I have been enjoying all the Colorado has to offer in the summer. I did my undergraduate at CU Boulder which is about 45 minutes northwest of Denver, and many of my friends from undergrad have moved to the Denver area. It has been great reconnecting with this and taking advantage of summer in Colorado by camping, grilling, hiking, and exploring the downtown area. My family also lives down south in Colorado Springs, so I’ve also been able to spend the occasional weekend hanging out with my parents which they are happy about. I’m looking forward to making my way back to Iowa to reconnect with my classmates and meet the new batch of MHA students.