Teaching Experience

University of Texas Health Science Center School of Health Information Sciences at Houston

Graduate teaching assistant

• Health Information Technology for Patient Safety and Quality; Faculty: Todd Johnson, PhD
• Project Management; Faculty: Kim Dunn, MD, PhD; Pamela Salyer, PhD
• Interface Design; Faculty: Jiajie Zhang, PhD

GE Medical Systems (formerly TRIPLE G Systems Group, Inc.)

Markham, Ontario, Canada, 1/03-12/04

When my project at MD Anderson was completed, I was fortunate to obtain a telecommuting position writing technical manuals for a laboratory information systems company. This let me work from home while I worked on my master's degree in health informatics. I developed documentation for support of a 510(K) transfusion medicine submission, including traceability matrices and standard operating procedures; updated and created system documentation for anatomic pathology and transfusion medicine. I also developed VBA scripts to automate production of release notes, reducing production time from 14 days to 2 days.

The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Management Information Systems

Houston, Texas, 7/00-1/03

Always up for a challenge, I jumped when I heard that MD Anderson - one of the world's premier cancer centers - needed a business process analyst / project manager to handle the replacement of the computer system for their 300-user anatomic pathology department. I reported to four oversight committees, including  the vice-presidential level and I oversaw completion of the system selection process and coordinated execution of the system contract. I handled all the project documentation, schedules, and budgets for the hospital, state, and legislative budget board, securing approvals at each stage of the project life cycle. Along with my team of analysts and contractors, we successfully brought the system online on time and on budget, with an estimated cost savings of $3.5 million over five years due to streamlining of department processes.

In addition to these traditional project management responsibilities, I was also the lead technical resource for the project. I  coordinated the activities for conversion of 20 years of data from two separate legacy systems and performed all data-scrubbing activities for 1.3 million patient cases; worked with a contract programmer for development of a customized programming solution for bone marrow differentials; developed Visual Basic tools for Microsoft Word for transcription; and wrote the end-user training materials and led training classes.

ADAC HealthCare Information Systems, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Winning Company (formerly CHC/Community Health Computing)

Houston, Texas 7/1990-7/2000

Implementations and Client Support

I was the primary liaison between clients and company personnel as I assisted clients in their implementation of general laboratory and anatomic pathology software. I evaluated client requirements, provided technical recommendations and solutions, and trained the client’s staff on operating system and application software. I successfully worked with one hospital to convert over 800,000 anatomic pathology cases from a legacy system; for another hospital system, I handled the successful merger of 8 production hospital environments into a new single production database and 8 archive legacy databases. I handled anatomic pathology implementations for 19 large hospital systems, and was a team member supporting laboratory information systems (LIMS) implementations for three other hospitals. I developed training materials for the implementation department, and I taught system setup training for anatomic pathology clients. I provided support for clients for software issues ranging from critical system-down problems to documentation questions. I also planned and executed software upgrades, disk optimizations, database upgrades and conversions, as well as platform migrations. I was consistently a top producer for client satisfaction and incidents closed, and I received the company’s highest award, the "Power of One", in January 1996. Within the company, I participated in development projects, including anatomic pathology, developed new documentation and updated existing documentation, and taught myself the system's proprietary database query report writer and developed a manual of quality assurance reports for anatomic pathology. Eventually I was promoted to Project Manager. In this role, I prepared and maintained client installation schedules; assured that contractual obligations were developed, tested, and documented for delivery; coordinated software, hardware, and network installation activity; and assisted the client in analysis of software against their workflow needs.

Technical Publications

After seven years in implementations and support, it became obvious that the company's technical documentation needed work, and I became the manager for this department. In this role, I implemented procedures and processes for meeting regulatory requirements and converted documents from obsolete systems (CDOC and Macintosh IISE) into Word. I evaluated and purchased heavy-duty printers for printing training manuals in-house, and evaluated and implemented delivery of reference manuals on CD-ROM in PDF format, saving $40,000 annually in copying and shipping costs. I spearheaded the development of a division intranet and coordinated the development of a corporate web site for clients. I again received the company’s highest award, Power of One, January 1998.

St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital

Laboratory Information System (LIS) Supervisor / Database Analyst 8/88 to 7/90

In the summer of 1988, St. Luke's announced that it was going to implement its 1.5 million tests per year laboratory from a completely manual, paper-based system to its first laboratory computer system, and put out a call for its medical technologists to apply for the position of LIS Supervisor. The application process included writing an essay on "What do you perceive is the biggest issue in implementing a laboratory information system?" I had worked part-time in the clinical chemistry laboratories of two other local hospitals, and used their laboratory information systems during that time. These experiences led me to focus my application essay on training issues, and I was selected as the LIS supervisor.

From August 1988 to October 1989, I was responsible for developing, implementing, testing, and maintaining all database tables for chemistry, hematology, microbiology, anatomic pathology, and nuclear medicine. I evaluated the impact of requested database changes; installed, maintained, and supported all peripheral hardware (terminals, PCs, and printers); and I developed and maintained policy and procedure manuals and logs. I assisted the vendor (CHC) in correcting problems and installing updates and I provided 24-hour beeper support. Finally, I coordinated the training of 230 employees, including phlebotomists, technicians, technologists, pathologists, clerical staff, and computer operators.

Medical technologist, clinical chemistry, 5/85-7/88

In May of 1985, I was recruited back by the hospital laboratory where I had done my medical internship. I worked as a medical technologist in the clinical chemistry section, where I was the key operator of the Technicon SMA IIC and assistant key operator of the Kodak Ektachem 700 and Abbott TDx (for therapeutic drug monitoring). I was also responsible for instructing medical technology students, and I wrote a complete SMA IIC teaching manual that covered both the analytic methodology of the instrumentation as well as the clinical significance of each of the analytes for which the analyzer was used. Other duties included urinalysis and electrophoresis.

The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Division of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery

Houston, Texas, 8/83 to 5/85, Medical Technologist
After completing my medical technologist internship and passing my board certification by the American Society of Clinical Pathology (ASCP), I got my first job as a medical technologist in the Division of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery. I was part of a small laboratory that was responsible for hematology, chemistry, and bacteriology work on all clinical patients that were referred in from private practice veterinarians for oncology treatment, and we also did work on the laboratory animals, such as rabbits, mice, and rhesus monkeys. When the laboratory was not busy, I was also able to assisted occasionally in the treatment clinic, such as with cisplatin therapy of animal patients.

Fondren South Animal Clinic

Houston, Texas,  1/81 to 7/83, Veterinary assistant
After I graduated with my BS in Microbiology and moved to Houston, I learned that degree is not sufficient for getting a job in a hospital microbiology laboratory. Fortunately, there was a veterinary clinic around the corner, and I was able to work there as a veterinary assistant.  During that time, we participated in obtaining American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) accreditation. From 1982-1983, I worked part-time while obtaining my medical technologist certification at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital.

Breathitt Veterinary Center, Murray State University (formerly University of Kentucky Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory)

Hopkinsville, Kentucky 1975-1978, Volunteer laboratory assistant
I was very fortunate that this laboratory was located directly across the street from my high school, and walking distance from my house. In the mornings I would go in the bacteriology lab and get cultures ready for the microbiologists to examine. After school, I would assist in necropsy, bacteriology, and serology. In necropsy, the pathologists taught me how to open animals and get them ready for the necropsy examination. I had the rare privilege to sometimes be able to see a sick animal on Saturday call with the veterinarians, and then see the necropsy on the same animal later in the week at the diagnostic laboratory.

Skyline Animal Clinic

Hopkinsville, Kentucky, 1974-1980
Volunteer veterinary assistant on Saturdays and during school/college holidays in a four-person practice that covered four counties.  At that time, the practice was 75% large animal, primarily cattle and stockyard work. I assisted with general medical, surgical, and obstetrical calls and stockyard / herd health work such as dehorning, castrations, and blood collections for brucellosis surveillance. One summer I performed fecal parasite examinations for a clinical field trial of a bovine anthelmintic.

Elizabethtown Animal Hospital

Elizabethtown, Kentucky  1973-1974, Volunteer veterinary assistant
On Saturdays and during school holidays in a two-person practice that was 90% large animal, primarily cattle. I assisted with general medical, surgical, and obstetrical calls and herd health work.