University of Iowa Health Management & Policy

By: Bennett Luedtke (MHA ’20) Greetings from the best college town on Earth, Iowa City! This summer I had the great privilege of interning for ten weeks at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, working the Clinical Care Operations Administrative Internship with Dr. Theresa Brennan, Chief Medical Officer, as my preceptor. UIHC is Iowa’s only academic medical center and is ranked as Iowa’s #1 hospital according to U.S. News & World Report. With over 800 beds and nearly 37,000 annual admissions, UIHC is like a bustling citadel of healthcare committed to raising the bar in academic medicine and bettering the lives of thousands of Iowans. I had many fun projects this summer such as the annual Space Survey, creation of an interactive clinical documentation improvement dashboard, co-creation of a self-updating, interactive HCAHPS dashboard, and an HR project to establish a more equitable payment scheme for the many medical directors at UIHC. In addition to my proj...

By: Steven Alcantara (MHA ‘20) Hello and good tidings from Madison, Wisconsin!   I am writing this blog as I finish my last week at my graduate level internship at Dean Health Plan.   Dean Health Plan is an insurance company owned by SSM Health and is part of their Integrated Delivery Network (IDN).   Dean Health Plan is the largest insurance provider in the state of Wisconsin followed by Quartz Health Insurance which is owned by UW-Health.   My internship experience consisted of working on the Portfolio Team at Dean Health Plan. I am very lucky to be working with Elizabeth Witt in the Portfolio Department of Dean Health Plan.   She has 20+ years of experience working in the consulting field working for big companies such as Blue Cross California doing other portfolio related projects.   Dean Health Plan had a total of 10 interns overall from departments ranging in fields from portfolio, IT, healthcare management, and much more. ...

By: Jayden Snyder (MHA ‘20) This summer, I have had the privilege of interning at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics (UIHC). This system serves as the only comprehensive academic medical center in the state of Iowa. UIHC is nationally ranked, has 811 beds, and over 200 medical specialties. During my internship I have been able to work with the Chief Operating Officer of UIHC. My projects have included decreasing turnover time in the catheterization labs, expanding digestive health procedures with anesthesia from one day per week to five, working with the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center to streamline molecular testing, strategic planning for oncology services, and process improvement for digestive health. Each project has helped me to gain new experiences and tools. My favorite part of the projects has been working on process improvement and learning new Lean management techniques. One of the great things about the internship with UIHC is that you get to see an...

By: Madeline Cornell (MHA ‘20) Hi Everyone! This week I will conclude my ten-week internship with University of Iowa Physicians. UIP is a multi-specialty medical and surgical group affiliated with the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics (UIHC). Additionally, UIP oversees operations at several clinics (QuickCare and UrgentCare) throughout Iowa City and the surrounding areas. Working at UIP this summer has been extremely insightful and enjoyable. Since UIP is affiliated with UIHC, I have had the best of both worlds, gaining experience at both the clinic level and at the academic medical center level. This combination has taught me the value of collaboration and integration; moreover, it has really taught me how dynamic healthcare can be.  My projects have been associated with the Admission and Transfer Center, which is responsible for transferring and admitting patients from other hospitals and institutions to UIHC. Here, my work involves throughput, workflow, optimizat...

By: Keaton Betterton (MHA '20) Konnichiwa from Japan! The past three months in Japan have flown by and I am nearing the end of my internship at Nihon Keiei Group and Kameda Medical Center. It has been a truly eye-opening experience for me in terms of both education within a healthcare system with national insurance and immersion in a new culture. I have been lucky to have had two unique experiences interning at both a healthcare consulting firm (Nihon Keiei) and a high acuity healthcare organization (Kameda). It has been an amazing summer learning, working, and traveling in the land of the rising sun. During my time with Nihon Keiei I worked at their Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka offices as well as met with clients in other cities and prefectures. During one client visit I was able to engage and participate as a consultant, educating hospital staff on one of Japan’s new labor reforms to the healthcare sector. I also gave a short briefing on the status of the US healthcare syste...

By: Jay Shah (MHA '20) Hello everyone! As I write this blog, my ninth week as an intern at the Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital is coming to an end. It is unbelievable how fast the time has gone by. Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital is a leader in delivering the most advanced medical technologies and comprehensive health care services in Illinois’ northwest suburbs. It is part of Advocate Aurora Health, the 10th largest not-for-profit, integrated health system in the United States. Located in Barrington, IL, it is the largest health care delivery system in the state. I am fortunate that I got such an amazing opportunity to be an Administrative Intern for this health system. I work under the direction of Matt Pattelli, Vice President of Human Resources. To enhance my learning experience, Matt had given me freedom to work with and learn from the entire executive leadership team. Preparing a talent management report was one of the major projects that I had worked on. The purp...