Olivia Moran (MHA '22): Park Nicollet

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 is the largest consumer governed nonprofit health care organization in the nation as it serves more than 1.8 million medical and dental plan members nationwide. Their care system includes multi-specialty group practice of more than 1,800 physicians that serve more than 1.2 million patients. They employ over 26,000 people, to help achieve their mission.

Where I have spent my summer, in the Community Based Services service line HealthPartners, Park Nicollet, and Lakeview partner to provide Hospice, Palliative care, Home Care, and Community Senior Care. Our Hospice and Palliative care programs expand across the continuum of care from inpatient to community-based services or in-home care. Our palliative care program has embedded our teams in specialist clinics, such as oncology or pulmonology, to support patients with chronic illnesses. Our Home Care program service patients that are homebound with a variety of services such as a nurse, OT, or PT visits. Our service line also has an Advance Care Planning program and Growing through Grief program, which provides barrier-free support to children and teens that are grieving.

My main focus this summer has been the management of planning and implementing the concept of What Matters Most across our service line. This project is focused on enhancing patient-centered care through understanding the whole patient outside of just their medical condition. This project has combined my passion for public health and addressing issues outside of medical care with providing quality medical care. In addition, I have been supporting projects related to palliative care standardization across the system, developing an action plan for our annual engagement survey, and assisting in increasing our Home Care FTE to increase our capacity to meet our organizational needs. These projects have exposed me to a wide arrange of functions within our organization and the different aspects of standardization and growth.

My summer experience has been not only an opportunity to build my technical skills but also to learn about the industry surrounding our service line. Outside of my project work I have been able to shadow many roles in the care team such as a palliative care clinician, hospice chaplain, hospice nurse, and social worker, home care nurse, and round with the inpatient care teams. In addition, I have had the opportunity to sit in on several different meetings surrounding leadership, community partnerships, operations, quality improvement events, and regulatory preparation. I had the opportunity to sit in on the system-wide safety huddles to hear how the organization was handling various issues related to COVID-19. I have also been very lucky to have several small group sessions with a quality improvement consultant to dive deep into Park Nicollet’s Lean theory, control charts, A3 documents, and mistake-proofing. It has been engaging and motivating to see the determination, partnerships, and teamwork across the organization and service line to achieve the most optimal care for our patients.

Outside of my time at work, I have spent a lot of my time enjoying MN. I have loved being able to
spend lots of time walking my dog, boating, gardening, and getting in some runs when it’s not too humid. With the pandemic restrictions lowering, it has made me so happy to be able to spend quality time with my friends and family! I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and staying cool, I look forward to heading back to Iowa City in August and starting classes again!

*A Note From The Editor*

If you would like to keep up with Olivia, you can find her here on LinkedIn!