Why do #IHeartHIT?

Not everyone grows up with the foreign language of healthcare IT uttered throughout their household. But I did. I remember hearing my mom on conference calls spewing acronyms that would later become a large part of my life. I remember her traveling all over the country to things called “client sites” and “vendor campuses.” Her work sounded important but I just couldn’t understand. When people asked me what she did and I would stutter, and come up with, “she’s in healthcare,” not really knowing what that meant. It took years for me to understand the brevity of what she was a part of.

My mom started in healthcare IT when electronic health records were starting to take off. I started right when the industry became mostly saturated. I wouldn’t be here without her.

I started as an Administrative Assistant at Galen Healthcare Solutions shortly after I graduated college. I majored in Communications with a minor in Nutrition, so healthcare was of interest to me, but I still hadn’t quite grasped the giant that was healthcare IT. But boy would I soon.

Shortly into the job, I started helping with the company’s social media and this is where I started to grasp exactly what I had gotten into, and just the tip of what my mom had been working on all those years. Healthcare IT has, and continues to, have a large impact on the way our healthcare system functions. We have the ability to change the way patients interact with their doctors, and the way doctors deliver their care. Those of us working in healthcare IT carry the responsibility to make the healthcare world a better place, and I have never been around more hardworking people dedicated to doing just that than my coworkers at Galen.

I had never even considered healthcare IT as an option, and I quite honestly wouldn’t have been aware of it if it wasn’t for my mom. There is a whole industry of opportunity out there, we just need to be more proactive in making people, and more specifically, women, aware. I am now a Strategist at Galen and staying up-to-date on industry trends and promoting the opportunities out there is a daily part of my life.

My amazing co-worker, Max, started Doyenne Connections, to create more opportunities for women in health IT to connect, build & sustain relationships that will enhance their professional opportunities, with the hope that more little girls, like me, can make a difference and challenge themselves in the industry of healthcare IT.

#IHeartHIT because it has changed the way I view the healthcare world, and the way I can impact it.