Hollis Cobb Associates is a long time Gold Sponsor for the Georgia Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA). The company’s yearly sponsorship donation goes toward providing educational events for the nearly 1,000 member organization. One of the biggest events of the year, the annual Fall Institute, took place last week at the Ritz Carlton at Lake Oconee, Georgia. Hollis Cobb staff is actively involved in the company’s home state HFMA chapter, racking up many volunteer hours to help produce educational events like the one last week at Lake Oconee. The nearly 200 attendees participated in sessions for three days focused on innovation in healthcare, and also spent some time on the lake and the hotel’s beautiful grounds.
Richard Milani, Chief Clinical Transformation Officer from Oschner Health System in New Orleans, discussed Re-Engineering Healthcare Delivery focusing on chronic disease which is responsible for 75% of total healthcare costs as well as the majority of deaths in the United States.
Dave Belkoski, CFO of University Health System in Augusta, Georgia and Reyne Gallup, VP of Clinical Operations discussed the latest healthcare challenges related to Bundled Payments, Lessons Learned and how to win in this new reimbursement world. The bundled payment concept reimburses hospitals and physicians on an “episode of care” basis, which is a middle ground between fee for each service provided and capitation, in which providers receive one lump sum per patient regardless of how many services are provided to the patient.
University Health VP of Revenue Cycle, George Ann Phillips, is this year’s Georgia HFMA program chair, and organized the Fall Institute’s agenda topics and speakers.
Chris Long, Partner with Bluestone Strategies, A Washington D.C. based bi-partisan government relations firm specializing in formulating sound public policy for clients served as a keynote speaker. Chris addressed the latest political polling data and explored potential implications for future health care policy, and answered questions from the audience.
Pat Alford, Revenue Cycle Director at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, provided her audience with Strategies to Adapt in a Constantly Changing Revenue Cycle Environment. Pat discussed some new and creative approaches she has implemented at Shepherd to encourage, motivate and educate employees, with the end result being increased revenue for the Center.
The Shepherd Center is a private, not-for-profit Hospital specializing in medical treatment, research and rehabilitation for people suffering from spinal cord and brain injuries. The Center is ranked among the top 10 rehabilitation facilities in the U.S. It was started in 1975 by Atlanta natives, Harold and Alana Shepherd after their son, James, suffered a traumatic brain injury in a surfing accident.
Long time HFMA member, Shay Eskew, of Enable Comp, is a burn victim from childhood with scars over 65% of his body, yet he has gone on to become a motivational speaker and world ranked triathlete participating in Iron Man Competitions all over the world. Shay told his life story and encouraged a captive audience with advice on Overcoming Obstacles.
During the conference, several GA HFMA teams of volunteers were recognized with national Yerger awards for member education, collaborations with other professional organizations, member certification, social networking projects and service to early careerists. Hollis Cobb staff was among the proud members taking home Yerger awards this year.
