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    Home > First Place State Affiliate of the Year Award Winner

    First place winner: Tennessee

    Tennessee MGMA had a very successful 2019.  We continue to focus on our Mission Statement,
    “TMGMA is the Authoritative Leader in the profession of Medical Practice Management. We provide
    resources through education, mentoring, networking and advocacy.”, at the forefront of all we have
    done throughout the year.  The Mission Statement is kept at the top of all Executive Board and
    Leadership meeting agendas to remind us of our purpose and to ensure all decisions we make are
    centered around our Mission Statement.  

    To address mentoring and networking, we added a “first time attendee” breakfast at the beginning of
    our Spring Conference.  TMGMA Board members and ACMPE Forum Representative attended the
    breakfast to ensure our new attendees were getting acclimated to the conference.  A facilitator was
    present to introduce everyone.  A warm, inviting, open environment was created for the attendees by
    sharing experiences of our first conference attendance, and what we have gleaned from our attendance
    and membership in subsequent years. The networking did not stop after breakfast.  Board members and
    seasoned members attended general sessions, break‐out sessions and the social events with the new
    attendees.  Every effort was made to introduce new attendees to members as they interacted
    throughout the conference.  This made a lasting impression, as 12 of our 34 first‐ time attendees
    returned to the Fall Conference.

    Expanding communications with our membership and attracting new members was another goal for
    2019.  This resulted in implementation of a new updated Facebook page.  TMGMA engaged a
    professional company to assist with making daily posts pertaining to medical news from local to
    national. We are taking advantage of this media by posting conference pictures, information and reserve
    the date messages.  An updated website was introduced this year to include more announcements of
    upcoming events.   A member list exchange with our 10 local chapters was added in an effort to
    communicate to more medical professionals across the state.  A state wide listserv is set for
    implementation in February 2020 for our membership to connect and network.

    We rebranded our pilot mentoring program (attachment A), “Trusted Advisors”, into “Peer to Peer
    Initiative”. The initiative has become a permanent benefit for any medical manager in our state and the
    participation rate has grown.  This growth has demonstrated that a need for mentoring our membership
    has been met.  We are anxious to see how much it will grow this coming year as we market it through
    our conferences, Facebook page and website.

    Additional focus has been placed on our ten Local Chapters in 2019.  In an effort to educate the local
    chapters on their Affiliation Agreement and the benefits of participation with the state and national
    MGMA, Tennessee MGMA Board Members visited all the Local Chapter board meetings throughout the first quarter. A formal presentation (attachment B) was given to the local boards, as well as a questionand answer session.  Our message was one of support, encouragement and participation. The emphasiswas “Tennessee MGMA is a resource for local chapters”.    A schedule was developed to assign a Board member to participate on the monthly local chapter leadership conference calls. Through the monthly calls we were able to promote participation in MGMA’s STAT, MGMA’s annual Salary Survey, ACMPE Certification/Fellowship, and promote Tennessee’s Day on The Hill.  We hosted a pre‐conference dinner in the spring to honor our local chapter leadership.  This event gave leadership an opportunity to network with each other.  In 2019, Tennessee MGMA increased conference participation with local chapter leaders by greater than 80%.   Developing relationships with local chapter leadership was the goal, knowing they were the key to making our state organization stronger and more effective.
      
    We continued our focus on educational opportunities for our members by providing free monthly
    webinars.  In 2019 we saw an increase in participation as members became aware of this offering
    through our marketing efforts.

    Tennessee MGMA’s Legislative Liaison, Sharon Cannon, has worked diligently this year with the
    Tennessee Medical Association (TMA), our state medical association, to communicate changes coming
    from both state and national legislation. Sharon has assembled a committee of members from each
    local chapter to conduct regular conference calls. These calls provide updates to members while the
    Tennessee legislators are in session.  These calls keep information flowing throughout the state about
    laws being introduced/passed that effect the practice of medicine.  This grassroots effort resulted in
    record attendance for Tennessee’s Day on The Hill this year. During our Spring Conference, Drew Voytal commended Tennessee’s consistent efforts with communication and updates.

    During our summer Board retreat, a decision was made to place additional emphasis, support and
    recognition for those members seeking ACMPE Certification and Fellowship.  We redesigned the Past
    President’s Scholarship Fund to reward members who become certified or obtain fellowship in the
    college.  We are awarding these accomplishments with a free Spring or Fall state conference
    registration.   

    ACMPE Forum Representative, Loretta Duncan, writes regular articles in our bi‐monthly newsletter
    (attachment C) to promote the college. Loretta addressed the membership at our Spring conference and
    challenged them to obtain ACMPE Certification or Fellowship during the coming year.  The challenge
    worked. For 2019, Tennessee MGMA had 10 new Certified members on their way to Fellowship and 2
    new Fellows. Spring Conference 2020 will provide a pre‐conference workshop with Cristian Lieneck,
    FACMPE, presenting the path to fellowship training.  We will continue to provide opportunities in
    support of our members working toward these goals.

    While reviewing our challenges for the year, we realized our membership population has changed.  As
    the landscape in the medical management profession changes due to mergers and acquisitions, we find
    there are more large corporations obtaining practices; smaller physician owned practices are not the
    majority in our state any longer.  In an effort to provide relevant education for all members, we have
    developed two tracks for our 2020 Spring Conference education.  The General Sessions will provide
    leadership skills that will pertain to all members.  Our breakout sessions will provide two options for
    attendees.  One will offer more education for hands on smaller practices, the other will provide more in‐
    depth education for larger practice administrators and CEO’s.  Topics were chosen to enhance the
    conference educational experience for all members.

    To identify the needs of our members, member surveys were sent out.  The information received has
    been very helpful.  We chose our 2020 and 2021 conference locations as a direct result of our members
    request via the survey.  We have been proactive in getting the dates/locations out to our membership to
    provide ample time for planning.  

    Knowing that the future depends on new membership, we have developed a pilot program with
    Cumberland University.  Cumberland offers a degree in Medical Administration.  We had several
    discussions with the head of the department to determine how we can work together to develop
    student members.   Students from the program have been invited to attend a day of our Spring
    Conference to introduce them to Tennessee MGMA.  We believe introducing them now will provide a
    foundation for future membership in a MGMA organization.

    Tennessee MGMA has made a commitment to build a strong Board. We feel a strong, cohesive Board
    will lead to a stronger, more successful organization. To accomplish this goal, we have established
    monthly conference calls, face to face meetings four times per year, consistent summer planning
    retreats and consistent Board orientation retreats. A decision was made to send all of our Executive
    Board to MGMA’s State Leadership conference. A Board meeting will be held at the beginning of the
    conference to discuss the organization’s business and to make breakout session assignments for the
    conference. Our strategy is to have two members at each break out session offered.  At the end of the
    day we meet to discuss what we have learned.  We are capitalizing on this event by educating our Board
    members at the beginning of their term with the thought they will become stronger leaders for the
    organization.

    Tennessee PowerPoint

    Tennessee ACMPE


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