Meet the speakers for the HFMA MA-RI Chapter and the New England Healthcare Internal Auditors (NEHIA) 2.5 day in-person educational conference December 4-6, 2024. Click here to register!
Mike Witek, CIA, CFE
Executive Director
Kodiak Solutions
Tell us about your internal audit career journey:
I started out in external audit for a large international firm. After several years, I realized I liked audit work but preferred to be on the other side of the table and moved into internal audit. I was fortunate to work in a few industries and travel the world while auditing, before landing in healthcare 7 years ago. I now lead tech enabled services for risk and compliance and help chart a course of the future of risk work.
What one piece of advice would you offer young internal audit professionals who are starting out in their careers?
Find a mentor or two. Pick someone who is a few years ahead of you in their career and study them. Emulate what they do well and correct what you perceive as gaps. Use them as a target for growth as you shape what you’ll look like in a few years. Never work against that person and celebrate their wins but use them as a roadmap to what you perceive success is.
What does the future of health care internal audit look like for you?
I think it’s a blend of humans doing what we do best and machines doing what they do best. I’m also fortunate to work with many internal audit teams and health systems and the successful teams I work with view internal audit as a value-added partnership with their organization. Their idea of a successful audit isn’t determined by the number of findings or action plans, but the value they provide the teams organizations they serve.
If somebody googled you, what would they not find out about you?
I guess I could say just about anything here and you wouldn’t be able to use the Googles to disprove it. With that said, I once swam in the deepest swimming pool in the Caribbean. I guess it’s up to you to decide if it’s true or not.