HIMT Capstone at Watertown Regional Medical Center Jumpstarts Student’s Career

UW Extended Campus Blog Team ● January 31, 2018

Mariah Rathamp gives presentation during her capstone at Watertown Regional Medical Center.

In the UW Health Information Management and Technology (HIMT) program, students gain real-world skills through their capstone projects. These projects provide the hands-on experience that employers value. Each capstone project is uniquely tailored to the students’ interests. In spring of 2017, Mariah Rathkamp conducted her capstone project at Watertown Regional Medical Center.

Watertown is one of the HIMT program’s many capstone sites across the country. Other leading organizations include Detroit Medical Center, Shriners Children’s Chicago, Miami Veterans Administration, and Green Bay Oncology in Wisconsin.

Mariah’s project addressed the cumbersome problem of delinquent medical records from providers. Her solution: Streamline the record completion process through automation. She worked with supervisor Jackie Busalacchi, manager of Health Information Management, and UW Advisory Board member Jennifer Mueller Laughlin, MBA, RHIA, vice president and CIO at Watertown Regional Medical Center.

Upon completion of her project four months later, Mariah successfully shortened the workflow, saving the staff’s time while helping the medical center better comply with accreditation standards.

Watertown Regional Medical Center, UW online degree

The HIMT curriculum really prepared me for working in a hospital. In a recent job interview, I was able to highlight all the different things that I did in the program. I was able to say, look, I can handle that. I can do that.”

Mariah graduated from UW-Green Bay in May 2017 and earned RHIA certification. Today, she’s a Clinical Systems Analyst at UW Health. She’s excited about her future in health information management. Mariah’s husband, Justin Rathkamp, is also a graduate of the online UW HIMT program.

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“I love working with medical records. There’s so much to do,” Mariah said. “It’s amazing! Right now, with all the changes that are happening, there is so much potential for health information management to help patients be cared for in the best possible way.”

UW Health Information Management and Technology is a collaboration of UW System campuses. Mariah earned her degree from UW-Green Bay.

Would you like to start the next phase of your healthcare career? Contact an enrollment adviser at 608-800-6762 or via email at learn@uwex.edu.