Getting to know Pittsburgh: ISDR Social Events

Coming to Pittsburgh from Indianapolis to start my career in the ISDR program was a little daunting at first. Having the fear of moving to a new city is always a little intimidating.  But having social events within the ISDR group have really helped me settle into Pittsburgh. These events have also been pivotal in bonding with my peers.

A great aspect of the social events and not knowing the city as well as my fellow colleges is the great FOOD! We pick amazing places to meet. This has not only shown me around the city but given me an insight to how great the dining experience is here. One place I especially enjoyed was going to the Hofbräuhaus. The atmosphere was exciting and we all seemed to have a good time unwinding after work.

We have also had fun nights bowling and ice skating. These have been a great way to spend time together outside of work.  It gives us a chance to talk about what others are working on in their rotation, and to see if we would also like to be in that rotation. With all of us coming from similar backgrounds, it makes it very easy for us to connect and share our stories and these social events promote that.

By Matthew Green, Information Services Division Rotation

Children’s ISD Summer Cookout

Last week the administrative offices social committee at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC hosted a Summer All Star Cookout for the employees of the Insurance Services Division (ISD). Everyone brought in a variety of food and the theme was centered around baseball and the All Star Game! It was a ton of fun taking some time to talk to everyone on a personal level and eat some great food; however, the most fun came to me unexpectedly.

We all knew the event planned on closing with a pie eating contest. I had not planned on being part of the contest, but I figured I’d get a laugh out of watching my coworkers face down in a pie, racing to be the first to finish. Little did I know I would soon be volunteered to be the fourth contestant! I willingly agreed and suited up for the competition. We wore surgical scrubs so that we didn’t get any of the mess on us.

The whip cream pies with chocolate crust sat on the table in front of me and the race began! It was a lot harder than it looked, but luckily no one got sick and we all had fun! Unfortunately, I did not win it all, but it was close between the four of us. This was a great opportunity to just kick back and have fun, and also have a real sugar rush afterwards!

By Nick Bakertges, Information Services Division Rotation

Describe a time you felt a sense of accomplishment or success in your work.

When I began my journey as a member of the Information Services Division Rotation (ISDR) Program at UPMC, I was not sure what I was getting myself into. I did expect to be pushed outside of my comfort zone with many opportunities to develop and learn, although I did not fully know to what degree. I have been working with the Disaster Recovery/Service Continuity Team for four months now, and I can say that it has been a challenging – and good – experience so far.

The main project I have been occupied with has been assessing applications for their criticality. To give a bit of background – there are about 1,200 computer applications that reside in corporate data centers at UPMC and one of my team’s responsibilities is to assess each application for how critical it is to the organization. The higher the application’s criticality, the sooner it needs to be up and running after a disaster has taken it down. That being said, when I came in, there were over 1,000 computer applications that had no criticality rating. My team’s goal was to reduce this number to 50% by June, 2014, and 0% by June, 2015.

I was tasked with the application assessment project and have been working on it since the first day of my rotation. It was such a daunting task when I began that I did not often check on how much progress I had made. My first real evaluation of how far I’d come happened when I presented my mid-rotation report out. Over the first three months of my experience, I had managed to reduce the number of unassessed applications from about 1,100 to 700! Although a decent chunk of this was due to retiring old applications and general database cleaning, I felt a strong sense of achievement in making it this far. Since then I have surpassed my team’s 50% goal and am continually working towards minimizing the number of unassessed applications.

Setting and reaching smart goals can create a great feeling of accomplishment, which can be an excellent motivator and confidence booster. For me, the feeling of accomplishment is heightened by knowing that the work I am doing indirectly helps the patients. I am excited to continue making a positive impact in my current and future rotations!

By Caleb Muller, Systems Analyst – ISDR

Organizing the Service Event at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC

Last summer, I did not even submit my name to be considered for a Service or Communications Chair position at UPMC.  It was my first real internship, and I was both excited and nervous for the work to come.  We were told at Beginnings Orientation that we, as Summer Associates (SAs), were going to be given projects and work that a first year associate would be expected to complete.  When the opportunity to hold a leadership position presented itself as well, I shied away from the notion.  I was concerned that if I was selected to serve as one of the Chairs, it might take away from my work performance.

In my second year as a Finance Summer Associate, I came into the summer wanting to get even more out of my internship.  I wanted to take advantage of any opportunity that presented itself.  Needless to say, when Sammi Soriano sent out an email asking us to let her know if we would like to be considered for Service or Communications Chair, I submitted my name for both.  I was fortunate enough to be chosen as the Service Chair, and was eager to organize an event that would make an impact on the Pittsburgh community, UPMC, and my peers.

Typically, the SAs complete a service project with the FMRs for the FMR Day of Caring.  I worked with the FMR Service Representatives and worked on their Service Committee to help solicit businesses to raise money, organize a happy hour event, and execute the FMR Day of Caring with The Bradley Center.  This was a wonderful event, but I wanted to also organize a special service project specifically for the SAs.

I got straight to work brainstorming ideas, consulting the other FSAs for feedback, and decided to focus on Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.  My manager, Joe DiRenzo, connected me with the CFO of Children’s Hospital, Nick Barcellona, who put me in contact with Ann Love and Erin Werkmeister, the volunteer coordinators at Children’s.

We had originally planned an event for the 24^th, where we would briefly tour Children’s, clean books, break for lunch, and then deliver the books to patients.  Everyone was excited for the event, but the week before this event took place I received a phone call from Erin Werkmeister with a different service opportunity.  Once a week Children’s Hospital hosts a fun event for patients and their families; they have done a Candy Land event, Prom, and more.  This particular week, they were having a Summer Carnival as the event, and they were low on volunteers.  A group of 12 of the SAs were able to volunteer at the Carnival, helping set up the event, running the Carnival games, taking photos for patients, and assisting with clean up duties.

The atmosphere for the entire afternoon was incredible; it was extremely rewarding for each SA to see the impact that we were making on these patients and their families.  I am sure that each of us was moved in our own way by seeing how our presence was making a difference.  In all, I was beyond pleased that our group was able to encompass UPMC’s culture of Dignity and Respect, give back to Pittsburgh and UPMC, and I was very glad that I had the opportunity to organize the event.

By Lindsay Bernstein, Finance Summer Associate

UPMC is not just a hospital

Before I came to UPMC, I thought of UPMC as a chain of hospitals in western Pennsylvania. However, during my first week of work I received a list of assignments on UPMC Senior Communities and UPMC Urgent Care, which made me scratch my head.

I asked my mentor, Allison Jockel, “So, UPMC is not just a hospital?”

Allison responded with a big “No,” and directed me to the UPMC website for a list of “Specialized Services.” It is very wonderful for UPMC to have a wide range of services that target people of different ages and with different needs. No matter who you are or what you need, you can count on UPMC to provide you the service that best fits you.

Here are some of the specialized services that UPMC has to offer:

1. UPMC Senior Communities: The 12 locations offer state-of-the-art medical resources, preventative health care, and comprehensive wellness services to help seniors live life to the fullest and meet the challenges that they sometimes face.

2. The Aging Institute: This center provides access to a network of comprehensive clinical care, acts as a referral resource, and connects seniors with information on aging-related topics, educational programs, and research studies.

3. UPMC HomeCare: This program provides hospital-like care at home to patients of all ages. In-home services include nursing, rehabilitation and other specialized therapies, medical equipment, and intravenous (IV) therapy.

4. UPMC Urgent Care: With 10 locations in the region, Urgent Care is open 12 hours a day, seven days a week, with no appointments necessary. Urgent Care offers immediate medical care when you cannot wait to see a doctor or after the doctor’s office has closed.

5. UPMC Global Care: This center works with physicians, government officials, embassies, and other international clients to provide patients access to expert medical care. Telemedicine is used to connect patients and doctors over long distances. Hospitality Services provide Visa and travel assistance, translation services, housing and recreation, and dietary and religious support to patients.

6. The Supportive and Palliative Care Program: This program strives to improve the quality of life for patients diagnosed with terminal illness. At all locations, the program keeps patients comfortable, deals with their physical and emotional needs, and views death as a natural part of life.

7. re:solve Crisis Network: This center provides mental health crisis intervention and stabilization services for Allegheny County residents. Psychiatrists, counselors, and other mental health workers are available to help patients overcome any crisis from feeling lonely to feeling overwhelmed with life.

By MonaLisa Leung-Summer Associate

New York City Meets Pittsburgh

Ten weeks ago, I packed up my car and headed out to Pittsburgh for the first time in my life. As a New York City native, I was very unsure of what to expect. I ended up spending the summer in a tight knit, welcoming city that is full of opportunity.

I am so glad that I opted to venture out to Pittsburgh. I met many people who will serve as lifelong role models for me and had the unique chance to obtain a great overview of an extremely innovative healthcare system. As a Summer Associate in the Quality Department, I had the opportunity to interact with many various levels of hospital staff, attend a myriad of meetings, observe processes in many different hospital units, and perform data analyses to identify potential areas of improvement. My mentor and manager were both extremely supportive and constantly provided me with real exposure to their roles as improvement specialists. These experiences helped me to greatly enhance my communication, collaboration, and project management skills, which I know will be invaluable as I continue along my career path.

I am so grateful to the people who I worked with, both directly and indirectly. My time spent interning at UPMC this summer was certainly inspiring and life changing. I am looking forward to returning to Pittsburgh again soon!

Caralyn Friedman-Summer Associate

Beyond The Cave

During my first week on the 57th floor of the US Steel Building, I believe I got the most exercise learning my way around. I wasn’t aware of the large size of the Marketing & Communications 

Department, and how all departments are interconnected. Tim Betler, Video Journalist in Public Relations, organized “grand rounds” to expose the Summer Associates to the different departments and the different roles of employees. It was to be similar to speed dating. The timing was perfect as we had completed our first week in the office. Tim called our conference room 

which was shared between twelve of the thirteen Marketing and Communications Summer Associates “the cave”, and needless to say, the name became a permanent reference.

We broke into groups, and I got the opportunity to not only learn about the departments, but also to know my fellow colleagues, Julia Saunders and Samantha Mitchell.  Here are the following stations and employees that volunteered 5 minutes to speak about their responsibilities:

•             Patient Experience Communications with Sarah Kastelic

•             ICSD & Clinical Marketing with Sara Fest and Jill Trainor

•             National Medical Reputation with Heather Mediate

•             Social Media with Kevin Smith

•             Digital Marketing & Strategy with Susan Hill and Clark Mitchell

•             Internal Communications with Karissa Millick

•             Newsblog with Andrẻa Stanford

•             Video Production with Tim Betler

Out of the presentations, I was the most impressed with the Digital Marketing & Strategy Team as they work the most with the development and management of Infonet (UPMC’s internal “internet”) and the UPMC website. But the grand rounds also helped me understand my fellow Summer Associates’ projects. Following the presentations, we enjoyed a Jimmy John’s lunch with some managers that joined us.

Karissa Millick, a Communications Specialist in Internal Communications, organized a survey after the event to receive feedback. One of the most interesting findings was that while all were interested in the work of their department, a lot of us were also interested in other departments. For example, there are currently two Summer Associates, Molly Skubak and myself, working in Internal Communications. According to the results, there were four additional people interested in our department. It also gave Summer Associates confidence to network with other managers and pursue collaborative projects with other departments. A special thanks again to Tim Betler for organizing the event. This was a great opportunity that I hope becomes a tradition and is also implemented in the other business units at UPMC.

By Liz Allwes, Internal Communications Summer Associate

When I Grow Up I Want To Be a Digital Marketing Strategist

I fell into the field of web design by accident at a previous internship.  I was working for a small business with virtually no web presence. Realizing this was a major problem if the business wanted to remain a strong competitor in the increasingly globalized marketplace of the 21st century, the company did what any organization in their position would do.

They bought a Dreamweaver license and let their 19-year-old intern have free reign.

All kidding aside, I spent the summer teaching myself both Dreamweaver and Photoshop, as well as basic HTML and CSS coding. Come August, they were happy with the results of my project, and I had a new hobby. As a communications and English major, I didn’t really expect to use this particular skill set during the work day. I had taken an elective course in digital media production at school, but it was more for my own enjoyment than for professional development. However, when I saw a digital marketing strategy opportunity at UPMC, I seized it.

I find my work intellectually fulfilling because it is crucial for me to be well-rounded. I need to think strategically in order to plan a website in the most effective and logical way possible and result in a positive user experience. At the same time, I need to be creative in order to make the site visually appealing and appropriately convey the image and message of the overall UPMC brand and the individual organization which I am representing.

Having never worked for an organization as large as UPMC before, I had no idea that there could be so many individuals involved in the creation of a website before the summer associates program began. I have had the opportunity to shadow everyone in the digital marketing department, from social media specialists to graphic designers, and software engineers to web content editors. Everyone has been more than willing to take time out of their busy schedules to talk to me about what they do, how they got to where they are today, and even let me help them with major projects to test drive that career path for myself. I have discovered some interests that I didn’t even know I had, and identified some areas in which I have little to no interest. What stands out most across the board is how much everyone genuinely cares about the quality of the work they do and each other. This teamwork mentality and upbeat office environment will remain priorities for me no matter where my career takes me.

My experience as an e-Strategy Summer Associate has challenged me to expand my knowledge base, and consequently, lead me to consider career pathways that I didn’t even know existed. With the rapid speed at which technology and media develops, I can’t say for sure what I will be doing five or ten years from now. For now, I am happy with where I am and grateful to UPMC for helping me get here.

By Julia Saunders, Digital Marketing/E-Strategy Summer Associate

My Experience at the WISER Tour

I had the privilege of visiting the Peter M. Winter Institute for Simulation Education and Research (WISER) on July 16. This is a world-class facility that uses simulations such as dummies and computer 3D human anatomy to train health care professionals. I visited WISER two years ago when I was still a pre-med student at Pitt. Although it was a brief visit, I was really fascinated by the human-like dummies and how closely they simulate real human problems. I have since switched into the communications field, but my great interest in health care has led me to join the UPMC Marketing/Communications Summer Associates Program. I was very excited when WISER offered a tour for summer associates, and I didn’t hesitate to sign up and finally have the opportunity to learn what WISER truly does.

There were a total of six summer associates at the 2 p.m. tour, and we were greeted by Kevin Miracle, manager of simulation services. He led us into a classroom where he showed us two video clips to introduce us to WISER. The first one was about the history and basic facts of WISER, and the second one was a KDKA news clip on how WISER trains first-responders to treat a large number of victims in light of the Boston marathon bombings. We then left our belongings in the classroom and followed Kevin around the facility for a tour. WISER has nine simulation rooms with a dummy and cameras, and there are “Wizard of Oz” rooms where instructors manipulate the health condition of the dummies and monitor students’ progress. The newest dummies in WISER cost $95,000, essentially the price of a house in many neighborhoods. A group of medical students were learning about the heart in one classroom, so we peaked into the room to observe what they were doing.

We entered the largest simulation room where different scenes are recreated to simulate real-life scenarios.

There is one layer of curtains that shows the street scene outside, and there is another layer of curtains that shows a hospital operating room. A dummy was already there, and Kevin used it to teach us how to defibrillate a human (each of us tried it) and how to open up the airway and push a breathing tube down the throat (Debbie Chen and I tried it). This was a very awesome experience because that was the first time I had done any medical practice. To end the tour, we went to a room with a huge 3D TV to look at the human anatomy of a prisoner who donated his body to science. It was very fascinating to look at the inside of the human body and what organs actually look like.

I really enjoyed my experience there, and I urge others to visit WISER if they have the chance. WISER advocates for and supports the advanced medicine and research done by the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC. I also now have more confidence in UPMC medical professionals because WISER showed me that they are trained effectively to deliver the best healthcare to their patients.

By MonaLisa Leung, Clinical Marketing Summer Associate

Working in the IT Crowd

When I decided to switch majors from landscape architecture to information sciences and technology (IST), I was a foreigner to the world of information technology (IT).  From what I had heard from fellow IST graduates, all of the processes and tasks in the workplace seemed extremely complicated and stressful.   However, during my time as an ISD Summer Associate, I realized the Matrix-like atmosphere I envisioned in the workplace was not at all accurate.  In fact, the environment is much more relaxed and fun.

Initially I expected to be in front of a computer all day performing complicated, yet beneficial, computer programming.  Since I did not have any professional programming experience, I was extremely anxious.  I was surprised when I received my first project of designing and building a database for the Infrastructure department. The task introduced me to the world of very specific Google searches in order to puzzle out the many aspects of Microsoft Access 2010.  While I was expecting to work on meaningful projects, I was pleased to be given so much freedom and responsibility.  Keith Lish, my manager/mentor, granted me that same freedom when working on my second database for the Finance department.

My favorite project was working on the Integrated Testing Event.  The Epic system is used throughout the outpatient hospitals, and it will be going through an update.  To ensure all of the systems will still work after the update, UPMC created a simulated testing environment to test the functionality of the processes.  When Keith informed me that I would be involved in this project, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.  After the many weeks of helping to plan, edit, and format scripts, the testing event began.  To my immense delight I was able to work with scores of people throughout the whole process from planning to the actual event.  During the event, I was one of two points of contact, and when a tester completed the first step, I let the next tester know when to begin. Coordinating and participating in this event helped me realize that there is so much more to the IT world than programming and lonely desks.

At first glance IT seems like a lonely and difficult area of work, but I was extremely pleased to find the amazing amount of variety in IT at UPMC.  The coworkers are fun and friendly!  When we moved to our South Side location, my coworkers granted me an office with my name on the door. However, I decided it was a lonely prospect, and I moved into a different office to share with a project manager.  My name is now in front of one and a half offices, and I enjoy hearing people ask, “Who is that Katherine Daugherty?”

IT at UPMC is definitely more friendly and fun than I expected, and I am so thankful and glad that I received this experience.

By Katherine Daugherty, ISD Summer Associate