University of Iowa Health Management & Policy

By: Rob McDonagh (MHA '18) Hello from Boston! I’m in the sixth week of my internship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a 793-bed affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Its association with Harvard has consistently made it one of the highest-ranked hospitals in the country, and the U.S. News and World Report in 2016 ranked it the 13 th   best hospital in America. The Brigham is always searching to improve healthcare in Boston. It is associated with the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and founded Partners Healthcare, the largest healthcare provider in Massachusetts, in partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital. It’s been a wicked busy summer so far! I’ve been working in Physician Assistant (PA) Services on numerous projects, and I have been learning just how important PAs and other Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) really are in this time of physician shortages. My preceptor is one of the most ambitious people I’ve ever met, yet she is so supportive and open to granting me in...

By: Weston Riesselman (MHA ’18) Greetings from Downers Grove in Chicagoland! It has been just over a month since I began here, and what a month it has been.  Advocate's Good Samaritan Hospital is a nearly 300 bed, all-private-room hospital and is the only Level 1 Trauma Center in DuPage County.  It has been voted one of the Top 10 places to work in Illinois numerous times and is a Baldrige Award Recipient.  I have been beyond fortunate to experience Good Sam's palpable culture, people, and participate in their healthcare ministry.  I am getting experience in operations and strategy, as well as access to hospital and system leadership. I am stationed under Matthew Cross, the director of Oncology, Behavioral Health, and Ambulatory Services.  He has me working on several operations projects such as generating business for their new Bhorade Cancer Center.  In addition to this I am working with clinicians to improve community lung cancer screenings, r...

By: Zach Brennan (MHA ’18) Hello from Ada, Oklahoma! This summer I am interning at Mercy Hospital in Ada, Oklahoma. Mercy, as a system, was named a Top 15 Health System by Truven for the second year in a row. Mercy Hospital Ada is a 156 bed provider with 12 outpatient clinics in multiple specialties throughout Ada. I am fortunate to be working under a fantastic preceptor who believes I should not only be working on projects throughout my time this summer, but also believes I should tour and work in different areas of the hospital to gain a new perspective on healthcare administration. So far, I have been able to work in Environmental Services, Food Services, Oncology, and Accounting. I have also had the pleasure of watching multiple surgeries in the OR, observing procedures in the Cath Lab, visiting with patients in pre-op, and much more. My internship has given me exposure to many areas of hospital operations through my various projects. My work has included running...

By: Zoe Ribar (MHA ’18) Hello from the “City of Bridges”! Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has not only been cited to have 446 total bridges, but the metropolitan area also has the highest percentage of structurally deficient bridges in the U.S. Fortunately for me, I’ve been able to explore many these bridges as I frequently find myself on the wrong one. This summer I am interning with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), currently ranked 12 th in the nation on the U.S News and World Report Honor Roll . The system as a whole possesses more than 25 hospitals, 600 outpatient sites and clinics, and employs 65,000 people making the organization the largest non-governmental employer in the state. I’ll be spending my twelve weeks within the Women’s Health Service line at Magee Women’s Hospital, a 321-bed facility that births nearly 11,000 babies every year. Besides being the 12 th best provider in the nation for gynecologic care, the hospital provides many important ser...

By: Colin Carroll (MHA '18) Hello from Iowa City! I don’t have to travel far for my internship with University of Physicians (UIP). Located in the College of Medicine Administration Building, our offices are at the center of Iowa’s Health Science Campus, and directly adjacent to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC). UIP is the state’s largest medical and surgical group practice, employing more than 900 physicians in every clinical department at UIHC. Our physicians comprise the faculty of Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, and provide comprehensive care to patients of University of Iowa Healthcare. UIP directly oversees the Iowa River Landing in Coralville, 70 different specialty outreach clinics across Iowa, and multiple primary and specialty care offsite clinics. My internship with UIP has focused on offsite clinic operations. Two of the major projects I have been involved with include clinic leadership presentations and clinic lease trans...

By: Brian Rose   Greetings and salutations! I hope this post finds you all well and enjoying summer from wherever that may be. Like my fellow classmates, I’m fortunate enough to have been afforded an opportunity to be a part of an awesome organization this summer. I’m rapidly approaching the close of my first month with MediRevv and couldn’t be more excited about what the rest of my time here has in store. In brief, MediRevv is a healthcare revenue cycle management company based out of Coralville, IA. They deliver an array of revenue cycle solutions to hospitals, health systems, and physician groups across the United States. Currently in MediRevv’s arsenal are the following services: extended business office support, full business office outsourcing, accounts receivable conversion assistance, and coding services. What MediRevv is really about stems less from its service offerings and more from its culture, its people, and its temperament that is exhibited every day....

By: Claire Fleming (MHA '18) Hello from the Windy City! My time in Chicago has been one for the books. I am finishing up the first month of my three-month journey here at Ann & Robert H. Lee Children’s Hospital of Chicago, also known as Lurie Children’s. The hospital is ranked by US News & World Report as the top children’s hospital in Illinois and 6 th in the country. Lurie Children’s is a 288 bed pediatric hospital and the largest specialty provider in the region. This week marks the five-year anniversary of Lurie’s move from their Lincoln Park location to their new hospital in the heart of downtown Chicago. It is an exciting time here, as they are undergoing a major multi-phase expansion to add 48 beds, with Phase 2 beginning this month. The energy at Lurie’s is one of passion and eagerness. The executives’ commitment to policy and advocacy for children during a time of such uncertainty surrounding Medicaid has been astounding. As the picture leading to the mai...

By: Madeline Sherman (MHA '18) Hello everyone! This summer I have the pleasure of interning at the Office of Statewide Clinical Education Programs (OSCEP) in Iowa City. OSCEP is located in the Carver College of Medicine and is responsible for providing consultative services to physicians interested in Iowa medical practice opportunities and providing physician recruitment, general medical practice support and technical assistance services to physicians, hospitals and community groups. Since it is only the beginning of the summer, I have not completed any projects thus far, but I have a lot on my plate. My co-intern and I are currently working on creating the Opportunities Directory for the state of Iowa. Each year, the Carver College of Medicine creates a statewide opportunities directory for the joint benefit of healthcare providers and physician residents currently in training and interested in practicing in Iowa. The directory is the result of a statewide survey of health...

By: Kate Quigley (MHA ’18) (From left): Kate Quigley (MHA ’18), Taylor Buresh (MHA ’18), Grinnell Regional Medical Center president and CEO Todd Linden (MHA ’87), and Grinnell Regional Medical Center Board Chair-Elect Bill Menner experience the Depression Breadline sculpture at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C.             The nation’s capital was abuzz May 6 th through 9 th , not just because I was there, but for the annual meeting of the American Hospital Association (AHA). Taylor Buresh (MHA ’18) and I were thrilled to be able to tag along with our summer internship preceptor, president and CEO of Grinnell Regional Medical Center, Todd Linden (MHA ’87), and board members of Grinnell Regional Medical Center on a trip to Washington, D.C. for the meeting.             Taylor and I hopped on a plane in Cedar Rapids with a dream and a car...