When you think of health care, what do you picture? Many of us see doctors in white coats and nurses wearing scrubs, but we don’t think of the people behind the scenes who ensure everything runs smoothly. You don’t have to wear scrubs to work at LMH Health to make an impact in your community.

One of the first faces a patient might see in the Emergency Department is admissions clerk Hayley Daugherty. She is responsible for checking in patients when they arrive at the front desk or by ambulance. After spending time raising her babies, Daugherty was looking for part-time work as a young mother.

“I was looking for a job that fit our family and I came across an opening for an admissions clerk,” she said. “I’d worked as a medical receptionist before, so I thought I’d give this a shot.”

Thirteen years later, Daugherty is still traveling the halls in the Emergency Department, completing the admissions process for patients who need care. She still collects their information — name, contact information, insurance — but her job looks a little different than when she first began.

“I use a mobile office with a scanner, which allows me to go into a patient’s room to collect that information,” Daugherty said. “It keeps their information more private because I don’t have to take their ID and insurance cards out of their room. We’re able to scan them right there at the bedside.”

Maintaining your health record

As the director of health information management services, Paige Auten oversees a diverse staff responsible for safeguarding health care data.

“We’re responsible for overseeing and protecting all of the medical records and handling all of the coding for the hospital and physician clinics,” she explained. “We work to make sure charts are complete, accurate and audited, providing feedback to ensure we’re able to bill correctly and provide information for state and regulatory reporting. We have to do all of that in a timely, accurate manner.”

Working with medical records doesn’t require a medical degree. Auten earned an associate’s degree in health information technology at Washburn University, which gave her the foundation to work in HIMS.

“I learned about billing and coding, medical records compliance and the starting branches of cancer registries, documentation improvement and record analysis,” she said. “It also gave me the opportunity to become certified as a registered health information technician.”

Auten went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in health services administration at Washburn and master’s of business administration from the University of St. Mary’s. She came to LMH Health as the records integrity supervisor in January 2020, six weeks before the country shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It dramatically changed her team’s dynamic as most of the department began working remotely, while a handful of staff members continued to work at the hospital full-time.

“It was such a challenging time. I felt that it was important for me to still be on-site once or twice each week to see the staff that had to be in the office and to spend time with them,” she said. “If they had needs, I wanted to be there to help support them.”

Finding the right fit

LMH Health employees play a part in handling medical records behind the scenes, but finding the right people for those positions is one of the many duties of human resources. Carter Hicks joined the team as the human resources coordinator in June 2023 after earning a communications degree from the University of Kansas.

“I planned to live in Lawrence after graduating. Being able to work locally was a big deal for me. I have a minor in business and the opportunity at LMH Health was perfect timing,” he said. “It was the foot in the door that I wanted, and it gave me the opportunity to learn and discover the route I wanted to take in HR.”

As he began to find his way at LMH Health, Hicks began to think more about further education. Working in HR helped him decide that he’d like to work toward a career in leadership. Hicks applied to Wichita State University and is earning a master of human resource management degree. He’s been able to use LMH’s tuition reimbursement program to help with the cost.

“Using the tuition reimbursement program provides me with an opportunity to get the majority of my costs covered,” he said. “LMH covers the tuition, not the course fees, so it’s allowing me to get a degree at what amounts to a discounted rate. My experience working here in HR has helped me tailor my education and take courses that I enjoy.”

Why LMH Health?

If you’re interested in a career in health care but you’re not quite sure what you want to do, Auten suggests applying to be a volunteer at LMH Health or applying for programs like the Summer Leadership Academy.

“I got to volunteer at St. Francis in Topeka. That gave me the opportunity to see different avenues of health care that I might be interested in before I got into my education,” she said. “I also applied for jobs, even small ones, so I could get a feel for the environment to see if it was right for me. Until you get into it, you don’t see how different health care is from the way it’s portrayed on TV.”

Hicks said having an open mind is vital. He said that you’ll get back what you put into your work experience.

“I came to LMH Health in an entry-level position and wasn’t sure where I wanted to go with my career,” he said. “I got exposure to different areas of HR and decided where I want to go in the long term. I’m being fostered to grow in my career and have already progressed to a position as the benefits administrator.”

Auten also values the unique qualities her team members possess. She explained they each bring something unique to the table, providing her with different ways of looking at things.

“It’s important to me that every voice gets heard,” Auten said. “I love that LMH Health allows you to be who you are, to share your voice and ideas and those can help benefit your team and the community we are part of.”

It’s a sense of caring and community that makes LMH Health the perfect place for Daugherty. She values the open communication she has with her co-workers and the sense of feeling like she’s part of the bigger picture.

“LMH is a great place to work,” Daugherty said. “I’m part of a team caring for our community, and that makes it all worthwhile.”

Careers at LMH Health

You don’t have to be a clinician to work at LMH Health. Programs to help you on the path to becoming a medical assistant or sterile processing technician are available for current and prospective employees, and the tuition reimbursement program can help ease the burden of the cost of further education. Contact LMH’s human resources staff at HumanResources@lmh.org.

— Autumn Bishop is the marketing manager and content strategist at LMH Health.