Summer Internship: University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics

By: Lindsey Reed

Greetings from Iowa City! I am one of many interns at the growing University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC). It is Iowa’s only comprehensive academic medical center; comprised of UI Health Care, UI Children’s Hospital (pictured), and UI Carver College of Medicine. Consistently ranked as a top hospital in the United Sates, Iowa was also ranked America’s #1 Employer by Forbes magazine.
My internship experience has been somewhat unconventional, being longer and larger in scope than most. I am an intern in the Health Care Information Systems (HCIS) division, which operates and maintains UIHC’s electronic medical record. I was fortunate to begin my journey in January 2015 and will continue until May 2016. This has not only allowed me to take a central role in many projects, but also shadow and meet a number of individuals within the organization.

With the changes and advancement in healthcare, information is king. I am surrounded by progressive-minded individuals in the information systems division, but implementing change and pushing initiatives hospital-wide is tough. We need to gain approval by a number of committees and ensure we have a physician champion in each department before we start a pilot. I’ve been assigned a number of projects, but I will highlight my favorite.

I act as Project Manager for a Support Service Recovery initiative. Currently, if a patient has a negative experience, an employee issues the individual a voucher to the cafeteria, parking, gift shop, or coffee shop. The vouchers are carried in large, red binders on each floor and the employee must write down a reason as to why they are issuing the voucher. We are moving the vouchers into our electronic medical record, Epic. By moving this process into Epic, we have the ability to positively impact the patient experience. Reports can be run weekly to observe why vouchers are being issued and which departments issued them. Interventions can be planned if there are any negative trends in specific departments. I truly am enjoying this project and am working with some great individuals in the Office of Patient Experience.


Outside of work I have enjoyed the summer fun Iowa City has to offer. There have been a number of festivals with live music and games. I have a few more trips planned before school starts, but am excited for all my classmates to return and football season to start! Go Hawks!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Adriana Kotchkoski (MHA '24): Nihon Keiei Consulting Group

Image
Konnichiwa from Japan!   As I sit down to write this blog post, I am filled with a sense of gratitude and accomplishment as I reflect on my time as an intern at Nihon Keiei Consulting Group in Osaka, Japan. This summer has been nothing short of remarkable, offering me a unique blend of professional development and cultural immersion that I will cherish forever.   During my time at Nihon Keiei, I had the opportunity to engage in in-depth research and analysis, creating comprehensive market profiles for the healthcare sectors in the Philippines and India. These profiles laid the foundation for strategic expansion plans, and it was an honor to present my findings and recommendations to a senior consultant during insightful one-on-one meetings. These interactions were not only professionally enriching but also allowed me to witness firsthand how strategic decisions shape the course of an organization's growth.   One of the most rewarding experiences during my internship was the develop
Read more

Devante Davis (MHA '24): UCHealth - Southern Region

Image
Hello my name is Devante Davis I am going into my 2 nd year as an MHA student at the University of Iowa!    I am currently interning at UCHEALTH southern region in Colorado Springs, and UCHEALTH mission statement is to Improve lives through providing quality care. My preceptor is Andrew Ritchie the Chief Operation Officer of the UCHEALTH southern region. He great a developing talent while unlocking hiding potential within his interns, and fellow! My favorite project was evaluating what the rest of the world is doing to recover from this global nursing shortage. Summarizing the data and be a part of creating a valuable plan to implement into the UCHEALTH southern region. A few other fun events I attended were the pikes peak annual racing event, viper’s baseball game, the incline!  
Read more

Kayla Rinderknecht (MPH’24): Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield

Image
Hello from Des Moines, Iowa! This summer, I completed a 12-week internship with Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS). Wellmark Inc. is a mutual health insurance company, with policyholders throughout Iowa and South Dakota. As a market leader, Wellmark’s mission is to make healthcare better and improve the health of the communities that they serve. Throughout the summer, I experienced Wellmark’s positive culture and contributed to its mission.     My Community Health Research Internship was housed under Wellmark’s Division of Health Equity, Access, and Improvement. The division’s strategy is to improve the health of all Iowans and South Dakotans, not just Wellmark’s policyholders. To improve the health of all Iowans and South Dakotans, the division focused on improving community health, addressing health equity, and improving rural health. My project focused on improving community health, in which I analyzed community data for Iowa and South Dakota, conducted evidence-based research,
Read more