Redefining, reinvigorating leadership for medical practices

In December 1992, I fell into healthcare by accident, and I didn’t know what I didn’t know. In my search for answers and direction, I discovered MGMA — a source for education, data, services and support. Along that journey, I fell in love with the diversity and the business of healthcare, and MGMA helped me turn a job into a career.

This Association has provided a platform for me to learn and it has offered me an opportunity to expand my connections and solidify my identity. Not only was MGMA my educator, my data source and my advocate but also its members became my mentors. Because MGMA has been a huge contributing factor to my own professional growth over the years, I am inspired to serve as a volunteer leader.

With a legacy spanning more than 90 years, MGMA is an association that continues to celebrate its history while looking toward its future. Keeping the spirit of our members as the heart of our Association, we must respond to the challenge of retaining traditions and institutional knowledge to preserve our legacy, yet be fluid enough to remain relevant in an ever-changing environment throughout the healthcare industry.

MGMA must serve as a resource conduit for medical practice leaders, as well as act as a change agent while healthcare delivery continues to morph around us. We should be able to redefine and reinvent ourselves as an association, while retaining and reinvigorating current members and attracting new ones. Ultimately, our Association must be a steward to help ensure the advancement of leaders and the advancement of practices.

As I assume my duties as MGMA Board chair, you will see several changes to the way the Association presents itself to members and the industry at large. Changes such as the new MGMA logo and color scheme were rolled out in recent months. Capping off those changes is MGMA’s new website, launching in early 2018 — the product of many months of reaching out and listening to what members want and need to help lead the change in their organizations and across healthcare.

MGMA data, practice resources, news and insights will be highlighted in new ways to connect members with the information, career development resources and networking opportunities that enrich our professional lives as individuals and the bottom line of our organizations.

But amid the ways in which MGMA has changed in the past year, it is not without reflecting on what MGMA has focused its attention on for the nearly 92 years since its founding. Keeping pace with our constantly evolving industry is only the first step in successfully moving our healthcare organizations toward better outcomes for our practices and our patients.

That also means understanding one of the biggest challenges in healthcare today, which is the role burnout plays in our own lives and those of our employees. This year’s MGMA Harwick Innovation Award winner — Peter Valenzuela, MD, MBA, CMPE, MGMA member, chief medical officer, Sutter Medical Group of the Redwoods, Santa Rosa, Calif. — is a prime example of the type of ingenuity that is born from getting beyond just understanding our profession and rethinking how it affects our work lives and the lives of each member of the organization.

It also means keeping a close eye on changes in Washington, D.C., understanding the impacts that regulatory burdens have on members’ practices and advocating on our members’ behalf. Jennifer McLaughlin, JD, senior associate director, MGMA Government Affairs, gives an overview of the 2018 final rules for the Quality Payment Program and Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, both of which have broad implications for how practice leaders strategize for a future focused on identifying data that is meaningful and rewarding from a reimbursement standpoint.

MGMA also remains committed to connecting to leaders on the cutting edge of the technological revolution in the healthcare industry and understanding how best to operationalize a continuous stream of new apps and capabilities. In this issue, you will see it reflected in articles on EHR medication safety systems, revenue-focused EHR optimization and mobile device management.

More than anything, MGMA’s identity — this year or any year — is shaped by the stories and experiences of members. Often it is viewed through the lens of our professional lives. But our mission as healthcare leaders must be informed by understanding the patient experience and dedicating time to look at our own organizations through the eyes of the patient as a consumer. Consultant Owen Dahl, MBA, FACHE, CHBC, LSSMBB, MGMA member, reminds us in his article that the personal experience of the healthcare consumer plays an incredible role in how we strive for better outcomes and satisfaction.

In this time of rapid healthcare change, we face growing uncertainty and increasing demands. As an optimist, I see endless opportunities for improvement in our changing industry. As a realist, I know it will require intentional collaboration, creativity and new partnerships. MGMA is our shared vehicle for innovation, insights, adaptations and people. Through synergy and sharing, MGMA offers ideas and solutions, serves as a catalyst for transformation and expands our network of connectivity for support — all to empower us as leaders.

Like a torch flame leading the way through darkness, we, as healthcare leaders, can help usher in the next chapter in our industry. With MGMA acting as the fuel to feed our flame, together we can transform uncertainty into a state of empowerment. I look forward to expanded connections and enhanced identities and to finding new insights and new innovations together.

Originally published in the January/February 2018 issue, MGMA Connection magazine.