As a hospital CFO, the move from Auburn, Alabama to metropolitan Atlanta is much more than simply crossing the Chattahoochee River Many similarities d0 exist including hot weather, great college sports and hospitality However, my move from one of the largest Rural Referral Centers in the U.S. - and the dominant healthcare provider in east central Alabama, where almost all of the non-physician health care dollars flowed through my organization. to the "free-for-all" managed care market of Atlanta has been quite a change. The health care market in Alabama was and is still controlled by Blue Cross of Alabama. Not only does Blue Cross serve as the Medicare intermediary but also over 85.% of the insured market is covered through Blue Cross, either through their indemnity insurance or their third party administration. That certainly is not the case in metro Atlanta, where practically every kind of insurance product is sold and managed or mis-managed. Sometimes. it seems that the rules are written on water and change with the tides.
Aside from my new managed care challenges: the opportunity to meet new colleagues, learn the history, procedures, and yes, the politics of a new and larger organization is an exhilarating experience. Changing positions allows you to discard those policies and procedures from your old organization that did not work and complement your new organization’s existing systems with those programs that did work. It also allows you to further develop your leadership skills. The CFO's responsibilities will always include financial statements, budgets audits, cash management, cost reports, etc., but in today's health care environment, organizations are increasingly looking toward the CFO to provide overall financial leadership and direction and not to just count the beans.
A real positive aspect about moving to Georgia is the strength of the HFMA Chapter. Both the Alabama and Georgia chapters provide great education and networking activities and have really dominated their respective HFMA leagues. Both chapters are highly respected at the national level and have recently won the coveted Shelton Award for Five Years of Sustained Excellence. In fact, a few years ago, one of the goals of the Alabama chapter was to emulate Georgia and become the "machine" in the Gerald League as Georgia was the established "machine" in the Hottum League. As anyone who is involved with HFMA will find, the business contacts and friendships you develop through HFMA prove invaluable when you change career positions.
Ken Robinson, FHFMA, CPA
Ken is the Chief Financial Officer at DeKalb Medical
Center,
Past President of the Alabama Chapter and current member of HFMA
's Principles and Practices Board