Betty Fitzpatrick:  

Life: I have been married to Ken Fitzpatrick for what will be 40 yrs on 11/10/13, and we have 3 children: Colleen, age 38; Kelly, age 36 and Kenny, age 31 (who is getting married on 9/22/13, and just bought his first home). I am THRILLED to FINALLY be an empty nester, and Ken is busy getting the last of Kenny's belongings out of his bedroom so I can finally have the sewing room that I have dreamed of for the past 13 years!! No grandchildren yet, but I'm hoping! I attended Orange Coast College after graduation, and later took classes through UCLA Extension and at Cypress College. I worked as a Medical Administrative Assistant from 1970-2004, working first in doctor's front offices for a total of 18 yrs. During that time, I managed a pediatric allergy office, a psychiatric office, and also worked in the front, and some back office for a urologist. I then left the hands-on, direct patient care field and worked for the Visiting Nurse Association of Orange County for 5 yrs in the Medical Transcription Department, transcribing into the computer the home health evaluations from visiting RNs, Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Therapists, and Medical Social Workers in order to produce the patient "Plan of Treatment". I served as a diagnosis and medical procedure coder, and as the department's technical specialist, helping other transcribers to decipher medical abbreviations and illegible handwriting (who said doctors are the only ones?), and assisting all of the various department managers with problematic paperwork. Then I left and started working in the managed care field in the medical group setting where I worked for the final 11 years of my career. I have worked in both Utilization Management, supporting Medical Directors and Medical Management Nursing Directors, & my last position was as a Quality Management Specialist, where I single-handedly investigated and responded to all member appeals for services denied by the Utilization Department, and was c...Expand for more