You may have heard her name, seen her picture in the Georgia Scroll or even seen her doing the Cha Cha slide in the middle of the dance floor at one of the Institutes, but you may not know who Kimberly Farmer really is.

Kimberly’s healthcare career had a very humble beginning, when she picked up and moved from Blairsville, Georgia to start a job as an Emergency Room Registration Clerk at Gwinnett Medical Center in 1993. Kimberly says, “at that point in my life, it was just another job that paid better than anything I could find in Blairsville”. She says that after a year she realized that the healthcare industry held many possibilities for a long-term career for her. Kimberly credits her former boss and friend Cathy Dougherty with giving her the support and courage to excel in as many things as possible. Over the next several years, Kimberly began to work her way up the proverbial corporate ladder at Gwinnett, where she helped develop their preadmission program, started a position dedicated to educating the registration staff on insurance plans, and eventually became the Insurance Verification and Pre-certification Supervisor. It was during that time that Kimberly was first exposed to HFMA. Kimberly says, “Cathy has the insight to promote people who show initiative, and she encourages them to experience as many things as possible, thereby helping them grow not only professionally, but personally as well”. Kimberly was encouraged to take the CPAR exam, which she did and passed receiving her CPAR certification.

The following year as luck would have it, Cathy Dougherty and Tom Morris, both from Gwinnett at the time, respectively served as Chairperson and Co-Chairperson for the CPAR Committee, and thus Kimberly’s service to HFMA began. That involvement lead her to join HFMA in 1995, as she felt that the membership would be so beneficial to her that she even paid the membership dues out of her own pocket for numerous years. Kimberly admits that her first Institute at Callaway was more than a little intimidating. She found herself surrounded by a group of people that she felt where “a step above her” in their careers. This experience only proved to inspire her to set her goals higher. Kimberly proclaims herself “a poster child” for HFMA, and says that after many years of active involvement with the Chapter, she credits HFMA with being the catalyst for helping her to achieve many of the goals in her life.

During her first three years of membership, Kimberly served as a TEAM member on the CPAR Committee, where she helped to facilitate coaching sessions and proctored tests. Through this service she was able to travel to many parts of the state and meet a large variety of people involved with healthcare. This allowed Kimberly to form professional and personal friendships with people that Kimberly says she would normally not have developed. She says, “the CPAR Program has given me many opportunities that I would never have had otherwise, and I am grateful to Cathy and Tom for supporting me in the those endeavors because it took time away from my responsibilities at Gwinnett”.

In 1998, Kimberly says she came to the realization that having not completed her college education, she had “topped out” on her climb up the corporate ladder. As a result, Kimberly made the decision to return to school. “The next two and a half years where definitely a struggle” she says, “balancing a home, fulltime job and fulltime hours of school at night can be quite daunting at times”. Thanks to HFMA the financial worries where eased, as Kimberly received the OJ Booker Scholarship on three different occasions. Kimberly says, “the scholarships that HFMA provided to me, allowed me to complete my education without the financial worry of paying back thousands and thousands of dollars of student loans”.

In March of 2000, she had another hard decision--she had made a home for herself at Gwinnett, but she also knew that it was time for her to take the next step in her career. Leaving Gwinnett for advancement reasons, she accepted a position at Northeast Georgia Medical Center as the Patient Registration Manager, and although Kimberly left within a year, she says that she gained valuable experience as a manager.

In March of 2001, Kimberly began a new phase of her career, moving from the provider environment to accept her current position as Client Services Manager with Chamberlin Edmonds & Associates. Shortly thereafter, she completed her educational journey, earning her BBA in August of 2001. During this time, Kimberly says, “I wanted to be active in the Chapter, but knew that my time would be limited due to school”, but after being approached by Tim Beatty, she agreed to Chair the Hotline Committee. Kimberly says, “chairing the Hotline Committee allowed me to stay active with the Chapter, but didn’t overwhelm me. I made Tim a promise that when I finished with school, I would jump head first into the Chapter”. Kimberly Chaired the Hotline Committee from 2000-2002, as well as interned on the 2001-2002 Education Content Committee, and was able to fulfill her promise to Tim by agreeing to Chair the 2002-2003 Education Content Committee under Program Chairperson Terri Tillery.

Kimberly says, “I owe a lot to HFMA. You can’t measure the value of the networking opportunities that HFMA provides. Many of my career opportunities can be linked to HFMA”. More recently, Kimberly had the opportunity to see just how many friendships she had developed in the Chapter. Unfortunately, this came as a result of a horrible motorcycle accident in March of this year. Kimberly was vacationing with her husband and friends in Florida when a motorist hit their motorcycle causing multiple injuries. For a week, she was away from “home”, but the reach of HFMA extended to where she was. Kimberly says, “I was overwhelmed by the number of people that expressed concern and love for me and my husband, as well as offered me assistance, helping me through this. I can’t say if other Chapters foster the same bonds and support systems that you see routinely forged within the Georgia Chapter, but I can honestly say that regardless of your employment and/or volunteer status, as a member of Georgia HFMA, you are a part of the Chapter’s ‘family’”. Terri Tillery says that, “Kimberly is extremely modest when it comes to what she has given the Chapter. She has shown the truest form of dedication to the Chapter, fulfilling her commitments to the Chapter, even as she continues to rehabilitate from the severe injuries she suffered in the accident. I am truly amazed by her, as we all should be, and I am proud to have her work for me both at Chamberlin Edmonds and as Chairperson of the Education Content Committee. The Chapter is lucky to have her! I hate to contradict her, as I agree with her on you get more than you give, but in this case, I think she may have just proven that theory wrong--giving us more!”.

Kimberly says that she would challenge any new members to become active in the Chapter, “the return on your investment of time and money can only improve your life professionally and personally. I am so proud to be part of this wonderful group of people called the Georgia Chapter of HFMA”.