CREATING ACADEMIC LEADERS IN MEDICAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Savanna Garrity has been the program coordinator for the medical information technology program at Madisonville Community College since 1998. Medical information technology is a critical field in healthcare that involves the transformation of medical diagnoses, procedures, and other medical services into codes for the purposes of billing, insurance reimbursement, and data analysis. Medical coding is vital to the healthcare industry as it ensures accurate and timely payment for services rendered and enables the collection and analysis of healthcare data.

Over the years, Garrity has had many successful students graduate from the program. Two of her former students shared her passion for the program and have followed in her footsteps in becoming medical information technology program coordinators in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. Angela Smith (2012) is the MIT program coordinator at Hopkinsville Community College and Taylor Ladd (2019) is the MIT program coordinator at Owensboro Community and Technical College.

Both women feel that their time at MCC instilled their passion for their careers in higher education. Ladd reflected, “if it wasn’t for the experience I had at MCC, I wouldn’t have continued my education past my associate’s degree.” Smith stated that she always wanted to become an instructor and, “the support I received while working towards my degree made me want to become an instructor even more.” Smith and Ladd call Madisonville home and are proud to represent MCC in their careers.

Garrity, Ladd, and Smith attended a curriculum meeting in early February and had the chance to catch up. “It is a privilege to work with these two very bright and talented ladies and they will add so much to the Medical Information Technology Programs at Hopkinsville and Owensboro” Garrity stated.