Informational Interview with Quality Improvement and HEDIS Supervisor
An informational interview is an interview that you yourself, initiate. You have the opportunity to ask questions you want to ask, and obtain information. Conducting this type of interview can be useful in getting an insider’s perspective on what you may be doing in your future career. It is also an effective way to build your circle of contacts in your field of work.
The Contact
- Name: Chelsey Doepner
- Title/Position: Quality Improvement and HEDIS Supervisor
- Company: UCare Minnesota
- Industry: Managed Care / Health Plan / Payer
Questions about the Contact
Career, Company, Industry; Skills, Success
1. Could you describe one of your typical workdays?
· Working in health care quality and in the health plan world is a constantly evolving process. My work day depends on what time of the year it is, but my typical day might look like…
· 6:30am from home: I have some staff that report to me who work on flex schedules and work longer days so I usually like to start my day by checking email to make sure all is ok with them from end of yesterday and the start of today.
· 8am -10am: Might be in meetings with some of our collaborative health plan work at Stratis Health in Bloomington or could be in the office attending meetings where I am the quality subject matter expert (SME) or consulting.
· 11–1pm: Back in my office, having 1:1 meetings with the nurses who report to me and following up on all of their special projects that I have delegated, usually conducting a medical record audit with provider care systems for things such as well child and teen check-ups, cervical cancer screening, comprehensive diabetes care etc.
· 2–4pm: Leadership meetings with other UCare departments that have dotted lines to quality; especially health care economics and our physician medical directors.
· 4–5/6ish: Usually quiet time at my desk after a day of meetings…catch-up on emails, approve PTO requests for staff or other HR issues like hiring or performance evaluations, making agendas for my team meetings or working on presentations for our CEO/VP board meetings that highlight our team’s work plans for the year.
2. What skills are required in your position on a day-to-day basis?
· Multitasking and staying organized are so key! Everyone has their own way of doing it, I like using Microsoft One Note to keep notes organized in electronic tabs and skimming emails and flagging important ones to come back to as tasks in outlook because my time every day is always stretched thin so being able to prioritize and plan your time helps a lot so you do not always feel pulled it 20 directions.
· Problem solving and listening with my direct reports is really important for me as a leader with a fairly large team; I always making time for team meetings and 1:1 meetings with each of staff.
· Making sure I am reading/researching about my subject matter is a big responsibility because I am the person that gets the questions from providers and other UCare staff who are less aware of how methodology changes can impact their project outcomes.
3. What parts of your job do you find most challenging? What do find most enjoyable?
· The hardest part of my job is probably managing a team of mostly nurses who are all older than me by more than 20 years. They have a communication style and skill set that is different than mine as a millennial and as a business/operations/project management oriented person. At its hardest, it can feel like I am not getting anywhere with them. I have noticed the need to not only consistently validate their work, but then to also pick up on their insecurities that can sometimes play out as less than professional behavior to each other. One example of this is that I have some staff really comfortable with technology and others feel bad when they struggle with it so it comes out as defensiveness or negativity to others. At its best, managing my team lets me have the opportunity to learn from really experienced clinical staff and we all get to learn and grow from each other. My management style is very collaborative and open. I typically like less structure, other than structure and expectations on how to be collaborative. The changing work force is so much more than just millennials entering it. It is also the range of ages and the very different degrees of education and experience that come with that. HR was probably what I was taught least about in undergrad and grad school, but has become dominate in my work life.
· The most rewarding part of my job is when I get the chance to represent UCare and speak with members about their experiences. I do not get the chance to do this all that much, but every year I volunteer to be an administrator of the Health Fair 11 building at the State Fair, of which UCare co-owns with KARE 11. I try to spend 16–30 hours out at the fair helping manage the building and the participants in the building like Hennepin County Medical Center, MN visiting Nurses (MVNA), Dept of Health Newborn Screening Program etc… I absolutely love hearing from members about their experiences either with UCare or with one of the care systems.
4. What educational preparation would you recommend for someone who wants to advance in this field?
· Make sure to do an internship! Having some experience in a work setting will help no matter what projects you do during the internship or what company it is. Look at every task as a learning experience.
· For me, I knew that I would eventually need a master’s degree of some kind. I also knew that leadership was probably in my future so I just recently completed my Masters of Business Administration with a Health Care concentration. The most important thing getting my MBA did for me was connecting me to more health care leaders in Minnesota, especially more physicians and basically forming a bond with them over the years. I have a few people from my MBA that I know are lifelong friends in addition to people I can count on professionally.
5. What qualifications do you seek in a new hire?
· I look for eagerness and energy. I also look for people who know the basic language about quality and maybe some of the acronyms. I like when applicants can define quality for me .
· I like people who are self-aware and can tell me about their working style, what kind of leadership they need and what their 5 year goals are; even just at a basic level and even if they might change.
·I also like to see project examples, maybe from an internship or other professional project. Writing examples or anything that you prepared to display or communicate data is also one of the things that tell me the most about a person.
6. This industry has changed dramatically in the past five years. What have you seen from inside your company? Where do you think the changes will happen in the next five years?
· Value-based care becoming more prevalent and pushing fee for service out.
· Market consolidation, both vertical integration like health plans merging with care delivery and horizontal in terms of clinics and care systems absorbing each other.
· I truly hope in the next 5 years we see steps in the right direction to have universal coverage. There are a variety market ways that could be achieved, but whatever the method, it needs to happen. I do think that people should have to pay for some of their care expenses, but no one should be going without coverage or going bankrupt over getting a serious illness. Care should not be rationed on who can pay for it.
· I also think in the next 5 years you will see fewer independent clinics and physician practices; we may also see fewer health plans and hospitals, but I do not necessarily see this as a bad thing as long and access and quality standards are maintained.
Questions about Communications Practices and Writing
Could you please describe the typical kinds of writing you do and tell me a bit about each?
· Annual Quality Program Evaluations: Formal written document highlighting all the activities for quality undertaken by UCare in the past year, usually the format is 1) Description of the Activity or Project 2) Analysis with Data and Findings 3) Recommendations and Next Steps.
· Work Plans and Project Planning Grids: Short hand notes that are clear with bullets and specific outcomes or goal statements, deadlines and responsible staff.
· Technical Metric Methodology questions to Regulators: Detailed questions with examples of the problem written to get a black or white answer. Usually questions include coding schematics and clinical guideline references.
· Formal Performance Improvement Proposals : Literature review, methods, baseline data and improvement goals, interventions with process measures, barrier analysis, data limitations, results/conclusions. Very academic with citations etc, but becomes more practical by adding recommendations to leadership and a sustainability plan to the project and an executive summary.
· Communication articles for providers and patients explaining clinical quality topics: Most recently one was an article on depression for our provider newsletter called “Healthlines”.
What do you find most challenging about your day-to-day writing? What challenges do recent graduates face as they move from “academic writing” to “workplace writing”?
· Well for starters, you will be shocked at how many senior level staff are terrible writers! This is just unavoidable, but get ready to do lots of grammar editing if it is a formal report you are collaboratively working on.
· The biggest difference between academic writing to workplace writing is that you will usually have less time to finish it and you will often be writing collaboratively or with many other editors. Take nothing personal with being edited.
· Clear writing, more bullet points and key points vs. narrative. No more trying to get to a page limit. Quality over quantity.
· The goal is effective and actionable writing. Leaders want to hear your recommendations.
· The biggest goal you might face as a recent graduate is the desire to be a perfect writer and make documents pretty vs. making them to the point. When I write member or patient materials or talking points, it has to been at a 6th grade level. When I submit things for the state of MN department of health it has to be in 508 compliance so that it can be read for someone visually impaired. No one cares about pretty in those situations.
· Of course, always know your audience at the end of the day, but always stay professional and ask others to proof read for you.
How would you describe the balance between written and oral communication in your workplace?
· For my role, I do not see these things as being one or the other. Usually I communicate orally during meetings or giving instructions to staff, but it’s really important to have written elements too. For example, if I give instructions in a team meeting, I usually follow-up with an email restating them again. Also, our company culture is very disciplined in having thorough meeting minutes coming out of each meeting. We go back to look at written elements all the time, that’s also why I take a ton of notes in general throughout all of my work.
Questions seeking Advice for you
Background, Skills, Resume, Job Search and Interviewing
1. What are the most useful skills to possess in this field?
If possible, work in a small/community based health care organization first, you will learn so much and have more opportunity to participate.
· Having a commitment to the health of people. Empathy and emotional intelligence.
· Never stop asking questions or sharing innovative ideas, healthcare needs this and hiring managers are looking for dynamic people who do this.
· Being flexible and being able to adapt to change without much issue.
· Demonstrate your abilities by having work examples
· On your resume, show measurements of success if possible.
2. What is the best way to get my foot in the door here?
· Apply and always connect with any people that you might know.
· Networking, especially for women leaders, is often an underdeveloped resource. Never be afraid to use the people you know for recommendations, just always ask them first.
· Have experience and/or knowledge about Medicare and Medicare.
· Know how Minnesota’s health care landscape is different, we do so much state specific work.
· Never be afraid to apply for a position, even if you think you do not quite meet the qualifications. If you are close, you could still be offered an interview and selected.
· Do not be afraid of temp or contracted roles if the opportunity would help get you in the door. Many contracted roles can lead to a permanent role.
3. What are the typical entry-level job titles and functions? What entry-level jobs are the best for learning applicable skills?
· Customer Service Representatives: it’s a great way to get to know the company
· Data or Planning Analysts
· Compliance Specialists
· Credentialing Specialists
· Health promotions or community engagement coordinators
· Billing and Enrollment Representatives
· Provider Services Representatives
· Quality Improvement Coordinators
· Health Information Specialists
Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Chelsey happens to be my very successful cousin, who also studied Healthcare Management at UMD. Upon getting the chance to ask her these questions, I learned a lot that I didn’t know about the management side of the health care field. I believe that being able to ask her these questions helped to give me more knowledge about what I should expect in a future career, as well as what I should do to help prepare myself and be successful in the field. In the future, I will be far more confident in my abilities and take every chance I can get to prove myself and get my foot in the door. Overall this was a great learning experience for me.
