HIM LEADER SPOTLIGHT: Dee Mandley, RHIT, CCS, CCS-P

Name	Dee Mandley
Employer	Self-Employed
Current Job Title	President
Job Duties and/or Educational Background	Owner operator of D. Mandley & Associates, LLC. My job duties vary depending on the project at hand.  My education is associates degree, CCS and CCS-P certifications.
How did you progress to your current leadership position?	I have held various HIM roles throughout my 30+ year career.  I started as a coder and worked my way up to HIM director.  I also worked several years for contract companies and went off to work for myself 12 years ago.
What are ways that you motivate and inspire your team?  Please identify what type of team you are referring to (i.e. your direct reports at work, a committee, a different organization you are part of).	My team are the coding contractors who work for me.  I pay them well and send them little notes occasionally letting them know how appreciative I am of them.  Sometimes I’ll send them Starbucks gift cards.
How do you select a mentor?  What traits do you look for?	Someone who is up-to-date on HIM practices, volunteers at a local, state, or national levels.  Must be a good verbal and written communicator and provide good follow up and patience with people who are learning the ropes.
What professional organizations are you associated with?  Has your participation in these organizations enhanced your leadership capabilities?  If so, how?	EOHIMA, NOHIMA, OHIMA, AHIMA.  I have held various roles at each of these associations.  The connections I have made over the years enhanced my ability to venture off on my own.  I worked very hard to make a name for myself through volunteering.
What advice would you give someone aspiring to be a leader?	I truly believe leadership skills are obtained through observing others in leadership roles and going above and beyond in every work situation.  Never burn bridges and always look for ways to improve whether it be through additional education or personal research.

AHIMA Pillar: Leadership - Develop HIM Leaders across All Healthcare Sectors

Definition of Leadership ~ the activity of leading a group of people or an organization  or the act of inspiring subordinates to perform and engage in achieving a goal.  

Leadership involves:

1.    Establishing a clear vision,

2.    Sharing that vision with others so that they will follow willingly,

3.    Providing the information, knowledge and methods to realize that vision, and

4.    Coordinating and balancing the conflicting interests of all members and stakeholders.

“A leader steps up in times of crisis, and is able to think and act creatively in difficult situations.  Unlike management, leadership cannot be taught, although it may be learned and enhanced through coaching or mentoring. Someone with great leadership skills today is Bill Gates who, despite early failures, with continued passion and innovation has driven Microsoft and the software industry to success”.

Source: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/leadership.html (EXPIRED LINK)

The AHIMA 2014 – 2017 Strategic Plan defines its Leadership Initiative as follows ~ “To move the industry forward, HIM directors must recruit the best and the brightest and develop their current workforce to provide innovative solutions for capturing, processing, and creating intelligence based on health data. They must proactively offer their knowledge and decision support expertise as they become more integrated into organizational leadership, with AHIMA providing support and training to allow them to feel confident in doing so”. (AHIMA 2014 - 2017 Strategic Plan)

This goes without saying, we as HIM professionals need to display a certain level of confidence, poise and flexibility to lead this ever-changing profession. As the industry changes, we need to change along with it. Having specific leadership skills and communication & analytical skills will take us far in our careers.  We need to support one another with education, training and create pathways for recognition of our current skills.  Expanding our education and advancing our careers with additional certifications, are excellent ways to excel in this constant state called change.  Collaborating with other healthcare professionals (not necessarily HIM) is a good way to step out of one’s comfort zone to learn new skills or strategies to handle everyday life. Possibly look for courses at a local community college or something online as well.  Look for a community leadership group that will offer a mentor program or outreach program that will further one’s abilities. 

We as HIM professionals also need to encourage our government, colleges and universities to increase awareness of our industry, be on the cutting edge of topics in our field, and encourage the development of leadership skills early on.  This is our profession and we need to take control of it!  It’s up to us to lead the change and ensure that it’s beneficial for everyone involved. Please feel free to review the Strategic Plan for more information about this pillar. 

References:  
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/leadership.html (EXPIRED LINK)
http://library.ahima.org/PdfView?oid=107449

About the Author

Kim Garver, RHIT, CHTS-IS is a CIS Application (Epic) Analyst at Dayton Children's Hospital.  Kim also serves on the OHIMA Board of Directors as the Director of Public Good and Committee Chair of the e-Newsletter Committee.  She is also active in the Miami Valley Health Information Management Association as a Student Involvement Project Leader.

 

HIM LEADER SPOTLIGHT: Susan White, PhD, RHIA, CHDA

Name	Susan White
Employer	James Cancer Hospital at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
Current job title	Administrator of Analytics
Job duties and/or educational background	PhD in Statistics, RHIA, CHDA Administrator over Cancer Program Analytics team, participate in enterprise-wide committees (Patient Services, Information Governance, Value-Based Purchasing measurement, Clinical Transformation), design of cancer-related bundled payment models
How did you progress to your current leadership position?	Consultant > Academic appointment > hospital administrator Moving between companies
What are ways that you motivate and inspire your team?  Please identify what type of team you are referring to (i.e. your direct reports at work, a committee, a different organization you are part of).	I want my team to be as satisfied with their work as I am.  I strive to supply them with the tools and training that they need to be successful.  I also (with my Director) work to mix their duties to include some ‘production’ (monthly/quarterly dashboards and scorecards) with some data mining and discovery work.
How do you select a mentor?  What traits do you look for?	I am not sure I ever actually ‘selected’ a mentor per se.  I draw mentorship from a variety of sources and look for people that are successful in their careers who have a life/work balance.
What professional organizations are you associated with?  Has your participation in these organizations enhanced your leadership capabilities?  If so, how?	AHIMA, American Statistical Association, HFMA I believe my service on the AHIMA Board of Directors and leadership positions on committees and practice councils has helped me further develop my leadership skills.
What advice would you give someone aspiring to be a leader?	Look for opportunities!  As I travel around the country talking to HIM professionals, I hear many say ‘no one asks me to participate’, ‘no one invites me to meetings for leaders’… sometimes you have to look outside of your comfort zone to become recognized for your expertise and leadership.  High performers are noticed and often tapped to work on critical projects in addition to their day-to-day work.  It is worth the time and effort to take advantage of those opportunities; step up in a meeting and volunteer!