Her Story
About Jo
I've been in healthcare for over 40 years, starting at a large local hospital in health information management. That organization believed in growing their people, which allowed me to become director of the Quality Department for about 30 years. During that time, I also served as Director of Patient Access Services for 10 years, running both departments simultaneously and reporting to two different vice presidents. I established the organization's first utilization review program, which gave me comprehensive knowledge about hospital operations. After retiring from that same organization after over 40 years, I began doing interim quality director work and consulting, which I've been doing for the last 10 years. In my interim assignments, I'm usually brought in because someone has retired or they're replacing someone, and there's typically a challenge to fix something or make improvements. My work includes assessing where the department is and what needs to be done to bring it up to industry standards. Right now, I'm in between jobs, having finished my last interim assignment about a year ago.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jo
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to being genuine, honest, and transparent, along with being passionate about the work that I do. As I mentioned earlier, I'm always fully invested in helping organizations meet their goals, and I believe that they see and feel my commitment. It's very important to me to feel like I made a difference. I thrive on challenges, problem solving, overcoming obstacles, and finding innovative ways to do things that people thought couldn't be done. I also enjoy mentoring, educating, and encouraging employees, which is very rewarding and satisfying to me. I love to work, and being able to work and contribute is a privilege for me.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say, find something that you are passionate about. Don't settle, even if you don't see it at the beginning of your career. Find something soon that you are very passionate about doing, and don't ever stop growing and learning. You need to always take advantage of any opportunities you have to broaden your knowledge and stay current with whatever industry standards you're in. Also recognize that you're a part of the team, no matter what field you work in, and collaboration and teamwork are essential to being successful. It's not a one-person show.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Healthcare is ever-changing. The healthcare landscape, especially the quality realm, is extensive and includes all those areas I mentioned earlier. Maintaining expertise in all of those and staying current with the industry standards can be a challenge. Each one of those aspects of quality has its own unique set of knowledge and skills involved, and they're continually evolving, so you really have to stay abreast of all that. Nothing is stagnant in healthcare.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Honesty, integrity, and respect are most important to me. I also think you have to have kindness and compassion everywhere.
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