A new year, a new Connection

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12/19/2018

Halee Fischer-Wright, MD, MMM, FAAP, FACMPE

When I began my journey with MGMA in spring 2015, I said that providing better care for people is what brings us to work every day, and I knew we could do better.

A similar message came from New York Times best-selling author Simon Sinek at our 2018 Annual Conference: Our jobs as leaders in transforming healthcare include taking care of the people who care for patients.

As the Association works to fuel that transformation, we have changed many of the ways we serve members, the business community of healthcare and the broader industry.

One of those changes is this issue of MGMA Connection magazine, whether you’re holding it in your hands or reading it via the new digital flipbook version on mgma.com.

This issue brings a bolder, modernized look at the issues affecting healthcare and medical practice management. You will see it reflected in strong headlines, succinctly listed key takeaways and a unique personality of visual illustrations.

If you are holding a print copy, you will immediately notice something else: The physical heft of MGMA Connection magazine better matches the intellectual heft of the subject matter experts who have written for this issue or are quoted throughout. At more than 160 pages, this issue is more than triple the size of the average issue we published in recent years.

You also will notice better navigability of the magazine: Sections clearly signal the topical areas being covered, all of which today’s practice leaders should master to succeed in our rapidly evolving industry:

Business strategy
Financial management
Human resources
Risk & compliance
Operations management
Quality & patient experience
Revenue cycle
Health information technology

The sections align with member-benefit resources on mgma.com. The content you find here will bring new thinking to the topic and connect you to additional resources, podcasts, live events and other information to continue your journey of education and professional development.

Getting past top-down management and into sustainable cultural change in an organization is crucial, and we as practice leaders must recognize that everyone in an organization matters. The broader range of topics in this magazine — suitable for everyone from the MHA student to the seasoned practice executive — acknowledges the countless steps in our respective healthcare journeys. MGMA is here to meet you where you are in your journey.

The magazine’s evolution is one step toward MGMA developing better practice management and better healthcare. We hope you find many opportunities for personal and professional success that influence the future of care delivery in the new year and beyond.

Written By

Halee Fischer-Wright, MD, MMM, FAAP, FACMPE

Halee Fischer-Wright, MD, MMM, FAAP, FACMPE is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). For nearly 90 years, MGMA has been the largest association for medical practice administrators and executives in the U.S. Dr. Halee Fischer-Wright, a nationally respected healthcare executive and physician leader was most recently, the former Chief Medical Officer for St. Anthony North Health Campus, part of the Centura Health System. Dr. Fischer-Wright’s work focuses on medical management innovation and creating cultures of excellence. She’s led transformation of physician culture as well as performance improvement for clinics, hospitals, and systems. Her efforts focused on ensuring value based performance—achieving the highest possible patient experience, medical quality and patient safety while managing the costs of health care delivery across the health care continuum. Dr. Fischer-Wright’s career in practice management began when she opened her first successful medical practice. Building on personal experience and a desire to develop systems of excellence, she became the President of Rose Medical Group- a 680 physicians PHO/MSO in Denver for over 12 years. Dr. Fischer-Wright brings many unique experiences and skills to MGMA including her time as a management consultant, (focused on high performance teams and strategic development with tactical execution.) It is during her consulting work that she co-authored the New York Times bestselling book, Tribal Leadership.