University of Iowa Health Management & Policy

By: Emil Kalloor and Chelsea Van Vark Heavy rain and flash floods are not the words we expected to use to describe the beginning of our summer in Texas. However, the hot Texas summer swiftly followed, and all is well in the Dallas – Fort Worth area. Our internship is at JPS Health Network in Fort Worth, which is an up-and-coming city with a much different vibe than its counterpart, Dallas. John Peter Smith (JPS) Hospital, is a 537-bed, county-owned hospital that serves Tarrant County, Texas. It is a Level 1 trauma center and provides care to all citizens, regardless of their ability to pay. The hospital is the main headquarters for the JPS Health Network, which extends throughout the county through various types of clinic and locations. There are four interns at JPS Health Network this summer, two of which are from Iowa (Go Hawks!). Each intern was paired with a Vice President as a preceptor according to their interests. Emil’s preceptor is Dianna Prachyl, the Vice Pres...

By: Kevin Blake Hello from Story County! I am spending my summer internship deep in Cyclone country while I work with Tim Ahlers, CEO of Story County Medical Center in Nevada, IA. The Story County Medical Center organization is comprised of a critical access hospital, and three clinics, predominantly serving the eastern half of Story County. It is an exciting time to be here as there are many changes taking place to improve the care and services offered to our  patients.   During my short time with Story County Medical Center I have had the privilege to be included in almost everything that goes on; from meetings, to leadership training and team building, and current executive level projects. I have been able to bring much of my previous work experience to the table with this organization, through various projects assigned to me or those I am asked to provide an outsiders opinion on. Some of the current projects that I am working on are: writi...

By: Juliana Anyanwu This summer, I am an administrative intern at Iowa’s only comprehensive academic medical center. UIHC is a 730-bed teaching hospital and a regional referral center that admits more than 32,000 patients per year. This summer, I am working with the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Nursing Officer in the executive offices at Colloton Pavilion. I just completed my second week and my experience so far has broadened my understanding of hospital administration. My daily routine includes attending meetings with my preceptors and daily Safety Huddles. Another interesting aspect of my internship is the Friday rounding, when all the interns visit different departments in the hospital.    One of my projects consists of a Chlorhexidine Gluconate (CHG) bath bag rollout aimed at reducing hospital-acquired infections. It is being used in Oncology, Bone Marrow Transplant and Critical care units but will eventually be used in all in-patient units. I work with my clinical...

By: Steven Johnson Hello from Coralville! I am spending my summer as the intern at MediRevv, located in Coralville, Iowa. MediRevv is a rapidly growing revenue cycle management company founded by Chris Klitgaard, an alumnus of the MHA/MBA program at the University of Iowa. MediRevv specializes in helping their clients maximize cash collections for both self-pay and insurance accounts through their Extended Business Office services (EBO). Along with their EBO services, MediRevv also offers coding services and a recently launched Eilgibility Management division. MediRevv consistently outperforms the expectations of their clients across the country and in doing so has brought on more and more clients and has grown from six employees to over 300 since 2007.  I have been fortunate enough to work with many MediRevvers (a nickname for MediRevv employees) from all divisions of the company. From the executive management team to the accounts receivable specialists and everyone in ...

By: Hillary Witte Iowa City in the summertime is like a secret utopia to me. Everything is green and lush, and the sound of whirring mopeds and chatter among students has vanished. It is just…quieter, but in a relaxing way. I am not suggesting that there is little to do in the summer, because the local families and townies, who usually try to avoid the students at all costs, come out of hibernation and reclaim the town. There are endless music venues, art festivals, jazz festivals, and my favorite, concession stands with local fried goodies. I am not living in Iowa City this summer solely for the beauty of the area, however; I am interning at the Office of Statewide Clinical Education Programs (OSCEP), through the Carver College of Medicine. OSCEP is a small office, but has a large scope of responsibilities. We interact with physician recruiters, administrators, CEO’s, and primary and specialty physicians across the state of Iowa. My primary project as an intern is to contact ...