Healthcare Leadership and Innovation

Good Afternoon.

I would like to establish a state CSA Mentor/Mentee program for students attending CAHIIM-accredited institutions, new grads, or to anyone looking for a connection. Our CSA has never had a program and I am wondering what other CSAs are doing or if someone here has development one in the past for their area. I understand there is a program here on Engage and that, due to the pandemic, reaching out is been made easier by way of teleconferencing. However, there is still that element of region when it comes to mentorship. Living in the same region as a mentor or mentee makes the connection more likely to become enhanced.

Could anyone here provide any suggestions or guidance? (Note: I have also spoke with a local CAHIIM-accredited school and they don't seem to have a program like this either.)

Please advise.

Thank You,

------------------------------
Robb Rogers, BSHIM, RHIT, CCS, CRCR
------------------------------

Hello:

I built one years ago for my state based on the mentorship program that I built for the local chapter of the association for my project management credential.  We had a hard time soliciting volunteers for mentors but the model worked well for my other association.  NCHIMA was moving towards mentorship circle meetings rather than one-on-one pairings because mentee requests outnumbered the mentors that volunteered so for that the mentees submitted questions/topics for discussion and the mentorship program lead then built an agenda based on those with both groups included and a Q&A session afterwards.  I think it depends on the level of involvement for the members and what kinds of things the mentees need assistance with as some wanted more general guidance while others wanted guidance in a specific area like coding.  I will attach the forms that we used...it is a lot so my apologies in advance.  The program was eventually cancelled due to lack of interest if I remember correctly for NCHIMA but it is still going strong for my other association.  The other association awarded me volunteer of the year for the program and it worked well for their model but it was intended to be a remote-based model and at the time, I think our HIM folks wanted more in-person interaction while this other group was used to operating in a remote capacity.  Kind of odd now looking back on that in light of COVID but I hope this is helpful.

Have a great day,

------------------------------
Pamela J. Lail, MHA, RHIA, CHDA, CPHI, PMP, FAHIMA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-19-2020 14:52
From: Robbie Rogers
Subject: Mentor/Mentee Program Questions

Good Afternoon.

I would like to establish a state CSA Mentor/Mentee program for students attending CAHIIM-accredited institutions, new grads, or to anyone looking for a connection. Our CSA has never had a program and I am wondering what other CSAs are doing or if someone here has development one in the past for their area. I understand there is a program here on Engage and that, due to the pandemic, reaching out is been made easier by way of teleconferencing. However, there is still that element of region when it comes to mentorship. Living in the same region as a mentor or mentee makes the connection more likely to become enhanced.

Could anyone here provide any suggestions or guidance? (Note: I have also spoke with a local CAHIIM-accredited school and they don't seem to have a program like this either.)

Please advise.

Thank You,

------------------------------
Robb Rogers, BSHIM, RHIT, CCS, CRCR
------------------------------

Pam,
Thanks so very much for sharing all your hard work!  This looks like an excellent roadmap for mentoring and leading.  I am promoting a program here at my workplace to take on some directed clinical practice students and it is difficult to put all the pieces together.  We need more of this type of leadership for our upcoming graduates to give them the tools they need to succeed and the vision to see their roles in a more non-traditional position.  The healthcare industry is changing rapidly and we need to be a step ahead of the changes to be sure that our graduates are prepared and can navigate the "choppy waters" of this change.

Thanks again for sharing - great stuff!!
Cheryl

------------------------------
Cheryl Bowling, RHIT, CCS, CHC, C-CDI
Implementation Manager
Craneware
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-19-2020 16:54
From: Pamela Lail
Subject: Mentor/Mentee Program Questions

Hello:

I built one years ago for my state based on the mentorship program that I built for the local chapter of the association for my project management credential.  We had a hard time soliciting volunteers for mentors but the model worked well for my other association.  NCHIMA was moving towards mentorship circle meetings rather than one-on-one pairings because mentee requests outnumbered the mentors that volunteered so for that the mentees submitted questions/topics for discussion and the mentorship program lead then built an agenda based on those with both groups included and a Q&A session afterwards.  I think it depends on the level of involvement for the members and what kinds of things the mentees need assistance with as some wanted more general guidance while others wanted guidance in a specific area like coding.  I will attach the forms that we used...it is a lot so my apologies in advance.  The program was eventually cancelled due to lack of interest if I remember correctly for NCHIMA but it is still going strong for my other association.  The other association awarded me volunteer of the year for the program and it worked well for their model but it was intended to be a remote-based model and at the time, I think our HIM folks wanted more in-person interaction while this other group was used to operating in a remote capacity.  Kind of odd now looking back on that in light of COVID but I hope this is helpful.

Have a great day,

------------------------------
Pamela J. Lail, MHA, RHIA, CHDA, CPHI, PMP, FAHIMA

Original Message:
Sent: 11-19-2020 14:52
From: Robbie Rogers
Subject: Mentor/Mentee Program Questions

Good Afternoon.

I would like to establish a state CSA Mentor/Mentee program for students attending CAHIIM-accredited institutions, new grads, or to anyone looking for a connection. Our CSA has never had a program and I am wondering what other CSAs are doing or if someone here has development one in the past for their area. I understand there is a program here on Engage and that, due to the pandemic, reaching out is been made easier by way of teleconferencing. However, there is still that element of region when it comes to mentorship. Living in the same region as a mentor or mentee makes the connection more likely to become enhanced.

Could anyone here provide any suggestions or guidance? (Note: I have also spoke with a local CAHIIM-accredited school and they don't seem to have a program like this either.)

Please advise.

Thank You,

------------------------------
Robb Rogers, BSHIM, RHIT, CCS, CRCR
------------------------------

Hi, Robbie. I am a Director with Florida Health Information Management Association (FHIMA) and currently the Director over the committee that handles our state's mentorship program. I have previously chaired the committee and have also been a mentee under it.

As a sponsor of House Resolution: Increase Dialogue, Employment Opportunities (AHIMA Advantage 9:5 (August 2005)), FHIMA has been actively pursuing the need to bridge the gap between education and employment. This year, our program had 85 students statewide matched to 48 mentors. The match cycle is once a year, but we take sign-ups all year long from both mentors and mentees. We utilize social media, regional associations and leader meetings, our annual convention, and direct communication with our program directors across the state to encourage sign-ups. This program was supported by our Board from the beginning and has become an ongoing event.

I am happy to answer any questions or provide insights that may assist if you choose to move forward in developing a mentorship program. You can message or email me directly. Please also take a look at our website  to see the criteria and application we have in place for both mentors and mentees.

Good luck!


------------------------------
Geri Newman, BS, RHIT, CHTS-IM
Assistant Manager HIM
UF Health Shands, Gainesville,FL
newmgr@shands.ufl.edu
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-19-2020 14:52
From: Robbie Rogers
Subject: Mentor/Mentee Program Questions

Good Afternoon.

I would like to establish a state CSA Mentor/Mentee program for students attending CAHIIM-accredited institutions, new grads, or to anyone looking for a connection. Our CSA has never had a program and I am wondering what other CSAs are doing or if someone here has development one in the past for their area. I understand there is a program here on Engage and that, due to the pandemic, reaching out is been made easier by way of teleconferencing. However, there is still that element of region when it comes to mentorship. Living in the same region as a mentor or mentee makes the connection more likely to become enhanced.

Could anyone here provide any suggestions or guidance? (Note: I have also spoke with a local CAHIIM-accredited school and they don't seem to have a program like this either.)

Please advise.

Thank You,

------------------------------
Robb Rogers, BSHIM, RHIT, CCS, CRCR
------------------------------

OkHIMA has a couple different mentor opportunities.  The first is open to anyone, member or nonmember, student or actively employed, who either has one question or would like an established mentoring experience.  This is what we call our Mentoring Corner (https://www.okhima.org/careers-colleges/mentoring-corner/).  What they do is shoot our Mentoring Corner an email address and that email is sent to a committee of persons who can respond with their advice.  If the person is looking for a more long term mentoring situation, the committee will internally decide who will be bet to take this on.  We have encountered some problems with this program though.  The first being lack of volunteerism to be on the committee and lack of being active on the committee when emails come through  We tend to have the same people fulfilling the needs over and over which in turn creates burnout and frustration if the question is not something they have expertise in and they can't get help from someone else who does.  While we do some small advertising of this service, we have also found it not to be used much by the members.  We average around 3-4 emails per year right now so it puts into question how much this service is really needed.

The other opportunity we have is our Convention Mentor Program.  This is open to any student in any HIM program who is planning to attend our annual convention.  We started it because we found students were attending convention and they'd huddle in corners together and they weren't getting any networking or gainful experience from the event.  What we do is pair the student with a member is who attending our annual conference.  They attend sessions with the member, eat meals with them, and are given the opportunity to pick the member's brain.  We provide sample questions and guidance to the student, but leave much open to them so they can get from the experience of having a mentor what they are looking specifically for. We have had great success with this program thus far.  2021 will be our third time hosting it and each year we compile lessons learned by having mentors and students both fill our evaluations so we can grow the program further.  Thus far though, the mentors love it because they feel the students are more engaged this way and the students love it because they feel like they are getting a much better experience by being paired with someone.

I am happy to discuss either program further if you have any more questions!  Building a mentor program is hard and keeping good, dedicated volunteers can absolutely be a challenge but it gives so much back to those in need.

------------------------------
Diana Flood
Clinical Consultant
(405) 5172919 dflood@ofmq.com
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-19-2020 14:52
From: Robbie Rogers
Subject: Mentor/Mentee Program Questions

Good Afternoon.

I would like to establish a state CSA Mentor/Mentee program for students attending CAHIIM-accredited institutions, new grads, or to anyone looking for a connection. Our CSA has never had a program and I am wondering what other CSAs are doing or if someone here has development one in the past for their area. I understand there is a program here on Engage and that, due to the pandemic, reaching out is been made easier by way of teleconferencing. However, there is still that element of region when it comes to mentorship. Living in the same region as a mentor or mentee makes the connection more likely to become enhanced.

Could anyone here provide any suggestions or guidance? (Note: I have also spoke with a local CAHIIM-accredited school and they don't seem to have a program like this either.)

Please advise.

Thank You,

------------------------------
Robb Rogers, BSHIM, RHIT, CCS, CRCR
------------------------------