Interactions

During the first half of this internship, I came in contact with every part of this healthcare institution. I got the opportunity to interact with residents, therapists, counselors, the CEO, finance, Human resources, nurses, and many more. Each department  I worked in communicated with every other department in the facility. Finance has to talk to human resources about pay, counselors, Cafeteria workers, and maintenance about the financial needs to keep the facility running smoothly. While in Health Information Systems, I had to interact with Admissions, counselors, and Utilization Case Management (UCM). While at UCM interacted with residents, counselors, nurses, Human Resources, and Medical Records.

Intern Duties

While completing my first 100 hours at my internship site, I made it a priority to experience each department. I have spent some time and the admissions department. Here, I assisted with paperwork for new residents coming to the facility. This paperwork included rule acknowledgment and temporary custody orders. I have also dealt with releases of information (ROI). I helped with receiving faxes from other medical facilities and inputting them into the system that is currently being used. This is vital because the information is needed to see if a resident is a good fit for this institution. I had a lot of interaction with the Utilization and case management department at the Barry Robinson center. In this department, I worked with the foster care system that the center runs. Some duties that I was in charge of included finding appropriate aftercare for children that would be discharged within the next couple of months. I helped out employees with the application process to ensure that the care would get approved by insurance. One of the last departments that I was able to learn from during my first 100 hours was Health Information Systems. In this department, I had the job of finishing out medical record files for those residents who were discharged within the last year. I finish these files by printing out all the case notes associated with the resident and inserting them into their medical record folder.

Skills and Knowledge

I have learned a lot of skills during these 100 hours. The most important thing that I have learned is how crucial the role communication plays in an organization like this is. A communication gap can cost the facility a lot of money. It can even affect the progress of a resident. I learned about the information systems that can be used by different healthcare facilities. By working in multiple departments, I saw firsthand how all the information put into the system by one department is needed for the next. I have also improved my professional communication skills myself. I have sat through professional meetings that gave me an example of how to manage myself in a setting like that. I learn the correct etiquette for communicating professionally through email and telephone.