Georgia Scroll
July 1997
HFMA Georgia
Chapter Vision Statement:
"In the era of healthcare reform,
the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA),
Georgia Chapter will provide innovative and cost-effective
services
to enhance the education and professional development of its
members."
HFMA Georgia Chapter Mission
Statement
"Our mission is to provide
professional development,
education, information, networking and leadership
for members to enhance healthcare financial management."
Innovation. Education. Cost-efficiency. Professional development. Networking. These are the type of words that are likely to appear in vision and mission statements across corporate America. On paper, they flow out of a strategic planner's pen like pure, peaceful spring water and later draw blushing nods of approval from corporate decision-makers. But as most organizations soon discover, "words" in a mission statement are never enough. They must be brought to life by people committed and dedicated to a common cause.
In 1996-97, the HFMA Georgia Chapter transformed a vision on paper into a bright reality. The information contained in this document serves as proof.
1996-1997: A Look Back
Education continued to be the most important and valuable service the chapter offers its members, Through our strategic planning process, we underscored the need to continue to provide timely educational programs that reflect membership diversity. Through institutes, workshops, and executive conferences, 283 hours of programming were provided. This consisted of 2,474 registrants and a total of 23,747 registrant hours.
Educational opportunities were co-sponsored with the American Guild of Patient Account Managers, the Georgia Admitting Managers Association, the Georgia Hospital Association (GHA),the Ambulatory Care Society, the Georgia Society of Managed Care. the Medical Association of Georgia (MAG), the Georgia Hospital Association Research and Education Foundation(GHAREF), the Georgia Society of CPAs and the Georgia Association for Healthcare Philanthropy. These were all efforts to share with various organizations the excellent education we have to offer to recruit new members from diverse markets. These efforts proved successful as we retained 85% of our members and enrolled 213 members.
The Certified Patient Accounts Representative (CPAR) project continued to be a tremendous success for our chapter. With 538 registrants and 191 successful candidates, we now have 1,480 CPARs. All indications are that, in upcoming years, the program will continue to grow in both number and reputation.
The Georgia Chapter is most proud of its 12 new certified members consisting of nine Fellows and three CHFP’s. In addition, a total of 30 members earned Founders awards. We submitted 22 projects including a very, significant project undertaken with the GHA. We also published a total of 29 papers in the Georgia Scroll and seven in the HFM Journal. Our corporate sponsor program surpassed all expectations with contributions totaling $86,500.
The Georgia Chapter and the Georgia Hospital Association have enjoyed an excellent relationship for many years. The two organizations work together on many issues. The president of GHA serves in an ex-officio position on the Georgia Chapter Board of Directors. This representation on the board goes back many years.
GHA provides part-rime secretarial support for the chapter and staffs the Chapter Helpline. This is an 800 number that allows members to obtain information relating to both the Georgia Chapter and HFMA. News from GHA is included on the Chapter "Hotline" which offers an excellent opportunity to share pertinent information from GHA with chapter members. HFMA sponsors a booth each year at the GHA Annual Convention which provides an additional opportunity to market HFMA to the CEOs within the state. The Chapter president serves on the GHA Council on Finance along with other HFMA members. GHA relies on HFMA members' input when making policy decisions relating to financial issues. The Georgia Chapter president, president-elect, and Pro-Action chairman attended the American Hospital Association (AHA) Washington meeting as part of the GHA delegation. GHA President Joe Parker also participated at the Spring Institute in the installation ceremony. We also co-sponsored three workshops with GHA. All chapter educational brochures and the Georgia Scroll are included in the GHA’s weekly mailing to its members.
Not only is the president of the Georgia Chapter employed at GHA but the GHA vice president of Finance and the GHA data analyst are also very active in the chapter. Both serve on TEAMS and participated in numerous projects. One of the major joint efforts this past year was the "Medicaid DRG Task Force." Through HFMA's participation on the task force, a new Medicaid payment system was recommended and later approved by the GHA Board of Trustees and forwarded to the Georgia Department of Medical Assistance (DMA) for review.
In the growing spirit of collaboration between state chapters, the Georgia and Alabama Chapters co-sponsored a project relating to the national initiative, "Making Medicare Easier". Together, the chapters developed an informational flyer that was distributed to senior citizens through numerous networks. As we implement the Davis Chapter Management System which will lay the foundation for increased collaborative efforts among state chapters, this project demonstrated the effectiveness and future potential of pooling group resources for the benefit of the health care community.