Summer Internship: University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC)

Summer Internship: UIHC Support Services

By: Campbell Pendleton

 

Never has an uneventful summer been so busy. Although my internship has officially concluded, I spent the summer with UIHC Application Services under my preceptor, Karmen Dillon, alongside Gina Miller as my co-intern. Most of my work this summer was concentrated around three main projects; third-party insurance enrollment, current procedural terminology (CPT) coding updates, and new service locations.

 

Through a crash course in process mapping, I learned more about how the different departments in support services function, interact, and well, support the medical side of the system. It was eye-opening to discover and interact with all the relevant stakeholders and number of steps that need to be coordinated in order to function. For example, in regards to the new service locations project, we were asked to research exactly how varying departments within UIHC do so with the ultimate goal of streamlining the process. Doing so required interviewing and compiling enrollment processes from over half a dozen departments in a search for an ultimate “source of truth”. Although both our and our sponsors’ goals were loftier than our 10 weeks would allow, we were able to give our recommendations in our exit presentation for better and more timelier methods of communication and more efficient processes.

 

I am very fortunate to have been able to work with a project team that was more than willing to offer their guidance and experience in our quest to understand a number of very complicated systems. I cannot thank Karmen Dillon for the opportunity to learn about a side of the healthcare system that I would have otherwise been unaware about.

 

Looking forward to the beginning of the end of our program!