University of Iowa Health Management & Policy

Hello from the University of Iowa! I stayed in Iowa City this summer to work with the Joint Office for Compliance (JOC) at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC). This summer, the JOC is working on drafting policies for their Hybrid Entities, and I have had the opportunity to take part in this process. I was required to do a lot of research when the internship first began so that I understood the importance of a Compliance department itself, as well as the particular regulations that needed to be complied with when creating the policies. Shortly after this, I drafted my first policy and sent it off to the review process. Other tasks during the course of the internship focused on some of the auditing requirements and determining policies that needed to be updated. I also collected information for Conflicts of Interest auditing and created pivot tables for data collected from EPIC for a compliance review. In addition to reviewing various hospital policies, including hospital

Greetings from UIP!! This summer, I have kept busy interning with the University of Iowa Physicians (UIP), and I have been enjoying every second of it! The UIP internship has a duration of 10 weeks, but I am lucky enough to be able to stay on as a Graduate Assistant this upcoming school year. As far as location, I have a lot of autonomy in where I'd like to work that day - whether it's at the main campus, an outreach clinic, or my personal preference, the Healthcare Support Services Building (HSSB), which is just a quick 3-minute drive from my apartment! Between rounding at UIHC, project meetings, outreach clinic initiatives, and cleaning up my email, I am regularly moving around from space to space - which I have thoroughly enjoyed! One of the best parts about working at the HSSB location is the working environment. The building is designed for you to move around and be active throughout your workday. Personally, I try to make use of the outside space whenever I can and take w

Hello from Iowa City! I am doing my summer internship with the University of Iowa Physicians Group (UIP). UIP has exposed me to a variety of challenging experiences so far. My preceptor is Elizabeth Jaggers, the Director of Clinical Services at UI Health Care. I have not only been able to receive Beth’s mentorship, but I have also had the opportunity to work with other key leaders in the organization, such as directors, mid-level managers, and physicians. In addition, the two UIP Administrative Fellows, Nicole Graf and Zoe Horak have been incredibly helpful in orientation and mentorship throughout my experience. My internship has had me traveling all over the Iowa City/Coralville/North Liberty area! I have really enjoyed my experience working at the UIHC Main Hospital, the Health Services Support Building, and the Patient Access Center. Additionally, I have traveled to outpatient locations such as River Crossing to deliver medical devices! My co-intern Laura Olds and I have had a fun t

Hello from Iowa City! I hope that everyone has enjoyed their summer internships so far! This summer, I have had the great opportunity to work under Tim Kan, Chief Growth Officer at The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC). With over 20 years of healthcare consulting experience, Tim brings a diverse and in-depth knowledge of the healthcare industry. Tim has been a great resource and mentor. He continues to push me every day to think deeper and continuing to develop and improve my analytic skills. From Day 1, the growth team at UIHC has welcomed me with open arms and has been a wonderful resource throughout the summer. As an integrated member of the growth team, I have had the opportunity to be a part of many projects. These projects have consisted of market research, space utilization, and implementation of strategies. However, my main project has revolved around an external referral analysis. My responsibility in this project was to do an in-depth analysis of UIHC's curr

Howdy from Rural Missouri. I am doing my internship at Bothwell Regional Health Center with CEO Lori Wightman in Sedalia, Missouri. Bothwell is a city-owned hospital with 99 beds and around 20 clinics. They provide an amazing array of services for a hospital their size and look to continue to grow. The administration and director teams here at Bothwell are exceptional and highly qualified in leading the organization. The culture in a rural hospital is something incredible to remark. Many people here have been working for Bothwell for decades. They know coworkers and their families at a personal level. People will bring baked goods and vegetables to share and always have some fun stories to tell. Sedalia is a town of 21,000. Originally, it got its start in 1860 from being an important place for cowboys to drop off their cattle and get paid. It has a cute historic district and plenty of references to its interesting past, which includes anything from a peanut butter burger to the hotel t

Hello, this summer, I have had the opportunity to work as a healthcare Summer Associate at the law firm Husch Blackwell. I was positioned in the firm's Denver Office located in downtown Denver near Coors Field. This has been the first time I have had experience working in a law firm, and I am grateful that it has been one with extensive healthcare practice.  While at the firm, I have been able to form connections and friendships with my fellow summer associates who themselves are pursuing different areas of law, from real estate to corporate cannabis work.  Arriving at the office, I was able to get right to work on several different and challenging projects. These projects impacted a range of healthcare clients, from physician practices to telehealth companies.  For instance, I had opportunities to perform regulatory research on issues such as the corporate practice of medicine and HIPAA compliance under the supervision of an attorney. Additionally, I have been able to learn new tr

Hello from Washington, Iowa! This summer, I have been fortunate enough to spend the past nine weeks interning with Washington County Hospital and Clinics under the mentorship of their CEO, Todd Patterson. The organization aims to serve the rural community with access to care as a Critical Access Hospital.  A large portion of my project work has been dedicated to location and service expansion. I have been working closely with the CFO, Shelli Cleverley, to complete a cost analysis on expanding the current services provided within the hospital. Washington County Hospital and Clinics have been growing in their specialty and outreach clinics, and a significant portion of my role has been to evaluate the financial impact of expanding the existing clinical services, as well as the potential for adding new ones. In addition, I have been working on an analysis for expansion into a rural community and identifying not only the financial implications of opening a new clinic location but also the

Hello Everyone! It is crazy to think I am nearing the end of my summer internship at Park Nicollet. I was fortunate enough to have spent the majority of my summer as an Administrative Intern in their Community-Based Services service line. From day one of my internship, the dedication to exceptional patient care has been very evident. Through doing several meets and greets across the organization I have seen the importance placed on keeping the patient at the center of their work in all corners of the organization, from finance to front line staff. For a little background on the organization, Park Nicollet and HealthPartners combined in 2013, which has been so interesting to see how they are continuing to act as one system. Although they are still single separate employers the system operates and supports one another through strong partnerships. HealthPartners is an integrated health care organization providing health care services and health plan financing and administration. It

Hello from Kingwood (Houston), Texas! I have had the pleasure of spending the last seven weeks at HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood, a 400+ bed hospital apart of HCA’s Gulf Coast Division in Kingwood, TX, a suburb 30 minutes from downtown Houston. In my time here, I have had the opportunity to work on some really exciting projects and shadow people in various departments. I have learned so much about healthcare in the hospital setting. I am very grateful for CEO John Corbeil (Iowa Alum), COO Joel North, ACOO Brad Gerke, ACOO Adrian Moreno, and the rest of the administrative team at Kingwood for giving me the opportunity to join the team and for being so supportive of my development as an early careerist in the healthcare space. I am also thankful for everyone a part of the MHA program at Iowa (Gwen, Dan, my professors, my GA preceptor Becky O’Rourke, and my classmates) for preparing me for this awesome experience. Projects: The majority of the projects I have been working on have been op

Hello from Iowa City!  This summer, I have had the opportunity to intern at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) under Mark Henrichs, interim CFO of UI Health Care. In addition, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside and shadowing project managers, financial planners, budget/financial officers, coders, and auditors.    My main project this summer is working on the hospital-wide Coding and Documentation Improvement (CDI) initiative. The purpose of the CDI Program is to improve documentation accuracy, to improve communication, continuity, and quality of care. As a result, accurate public reporting metrics can be sent out, and proper reimbursement will be rendered. My focus has been on conducting data analysis of clinic and departmental data to identify key Medicare Severity Diagnosis Related Groups (MS-DRGs) where areas of opportunity exist. I have pulled Vizient data from Tableau to see how UIHC compares to other Academic Medical Centers over the past several fiscal

Ah, Chicago. Land of deep dish, red hots, and (Italian) beef. The Windy City! Fun fact: did you know that Chicago—while windy, indeed—did not receive its epithet because of the wind, but rather because of its  long-winded  politicians. Late 19th century blowhards aside, Chicago is a beautiful lakeside town of only 9 million (in the whole metro area) with no shortage of food, fun, and—most importantly—healthcare.  That’s right, Chicago is the healthcare epicenter of the Midwest. It boasts approximately 30,000 healthcare-related companies. It’s home to some of the largest health systems in the United States. Because of this, some of the country’s largest healthcare law firms call Chicago their home. I’ve had the pleasure of spending this summer with some of the brightest minds in healthcare law within the healthcare department at McGuireWoods LLP, a full-service law firm of 1,100 attorneys. [Pic: my 43rd-floor office facing South in Chicago.] My summer has allowed me to focus on my caree

  Hello from Iowa City, Iowa!  This summer, I have had the pleasure to spend the last six weeks working for the Stead Family Children’s Hospital under the mentorship of Pam Johnson-Carlson, Chief Administrative Officer. Pam reports directly to Suresh Gunasekaran, CEO of UIHC, in implementing and executing different initiatives for the Children’s Hospital, Women’s Services, and the Center for Disabilities and Development (CDD). Pam transitioned back into her role in April from being the Interim CNO, so I have had plenty of work to help make up for “lost time.” I have spent time doing market research evaluating different Children’s Hospitals that are intertwined within Academic Medical Centers. I have been using the CHA database and other resources to ensure that this is a deep dive as we at Stead Family Children’s Hospital try to go from being a good Children’s Hospital to a great Children’s Hospital.  Another project I have been working on is under the direction of MHA alum and CDD Dir

 Hello from the Quad Cities!!!!!! Things have been busy this summer! I am currently in my seventh of twelve weeks here as a Summer Associate with Lane & Waterman, LLP. Lane & Waterman is a regional law firm with Moline, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa. The firm has just under 50 attorneys who have expertise in multiple areas of the law. Lane & Waterman has been regionally ranked on the U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” list for many years. As a Summer Associate, I complete projects with multiple different practice groups. Given my healthcare focus, 65% of my projects fall under the “health law” umbrella. I have completed 19 various projects these last seven weeks ranging from transactional work for a local healthcare system to medical malpractice defense work for multiple healthcare clients. Despite only 65% of my work related to healthcare, the business focus within my MHA has been put to good use as I have completed projects regarding secured transactions and labor