January 2024

Letter from our President:

Another year has flown by!? There were a lot of challenges in 2023 for MGMA-GKC.? Top of that list was , Don & Jessica Palmer retiring from being the administrative and accounting resource for the group.? They provided their tireless efforts to the association since its beginning in the 1980’s.? Taking their place is Andrea Wyatt, MBA, FACMPE , who has been a member of MGMA-GKC for many years and has most recently served in the position of Past President.? Andrea is not only qualified but is also very talented and has great positive energy. We are so grateful that she was willing to take on the responsibilities of managing the group.

The Annual Conference was a great success.? The speakers were knowledgeable and entertaining, and the location had good flow.? We will be beginning work soon on the 2024 Conference.? If you have any suggestions or would like to help with next year’s conference, please contact Brad Carney, FACMPE CPC CPCO , who will be serving as the Conference Chair.? Brad will also be moving into the position of President Elect, and Barbara Sack, MHSA, FACMPE will be moving into the position of Past President.? Barb has provided such a great example for me to follow, and I hope I can keep up with it as well as she did!

As we move into the new year, it’s a good time to reflect on all that has occurred over the past year.? It seems like since the pandemic, there have been a lot of difficulties to overcome – and 2023 was certainly included with that.? While some things have changed a little and others have changed a lot, where we needed to bend or stand strong, we did – and we did not break!?

I look forward to seeing everyone at the monthly educational sessions.? I have learned a lot from them over the years, and I hope you have too.?

Happy New Year Everyone!

. ~ Rebecca Allison, M.B.A., FACMPE

Upcoming Event

North Kansas City Hospital - Prairie View Conference Room

2800 Clay Edwards Drive, North Kansas City, MO 64116

Date:? January 17, 2024??Time:? 3:00pm - 5:00pm? ???

Presenter: Andrea Wyatt, MBA, FACMPE ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

"Streamlining Strategic Planning?? For Your Medical Practice"? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??

The thought of conducting a strategic planning session can be overwhelming.? My goal for this session is to break the process down into bite sized pieces so you can run through this exercise with your physicians with ease and demonstrate your value to the practice.

Learning Points:?

1. Preparation?

2. SWOT Analysis Ins and Outs?

3. Multi-voting and prioritization?

4. Executing the plan.

Sign up here: https://gkcmgma.wildapricot.org/event-5187684

Member Spotlight:

Each month we will spotlight one manager member and one business partner so you can get to know some of the people that make up our great organization.

Manager Member Spotlight: Brad Carney, FACMPE CPC CPCO

• Tell us a bit about yourself - What is your title at your current position??I was born and raised in the Northland, graduated from North Kansas City High School last century.? I began my college education at the School of the Ozarks.? After 4 semesters there I married my high school girlfriend and dropped out of school.? I did graduate with a Batchelor of Arts in Business Administration.? That was 3 other colleges and 15 years later.? I managed Western Auto stores for about a decade, then moved into non-profit accounting for another decade.? In 2009 I was laid off (economy tanked) and subsequently offered a position handling accounts receivable and payable at Northland Internal Medicine.? Before the end of the first year, I was managing the practice.? Currently I am the Practice Manager of Northland Family Care, an independently owned and operated practice just outside of Liberty, Missouri.
• Why did you decide to join GKC???When I was offered the position at Northland Internal Medicine the coder at that practice told me there were 2 organizations I should join:? AAPC (American Academy of Professional Coders) and NMM – Northland Medical Managers, later known as Northwest Missouri MGMA.? I heeded her advice and joined both – with absolutely no regrets!
• How long have you been a member and have you ever held a seat on our Board???The very first meeting I attended was the Northland Medical Managers’ fall symposium in 2009.? I left that meeting encouraged but scared.? I now had an acquaintance or two I could ask questions of but had no idea when I took the position what kind of risks and compliance requirements I would encounter.? None-the-less I stayed with it.? I have served on the board of NWMO MGMA and am currently serving as President Elect for GKC MGMA.? I have also served on the state board (Missouri MGMA).
• What is one of the best things you’ve gotten out of your membership???I know the question is “one of the best things” but I cannot narrow it down to one, but two.? First, the networking.? I’ve met and gotten to know many other leaders in the area. ?Even if they are in different specialties, we all have common challenges, problems, and issues we face - staffing, budgeting, compliance, etc.? Because of these relationships I can pick up the phone at any given time and call one of several other managers for their input.? The other is the top-notch education.? Our monthly meetings have relevant topics.? The speaker may even be from our own group or the business next door.? Sometimes we don’t recognize the talent and expertise in our own back yard!? Quite honestly and sincerely, I don’t know if I could have or would have succeeded had I not joined MGMA!

Business Partner Spotlight: Carolyn Baruch

• What has membership member of GKC MGMA meant to you and how long have you been a member. - I’ve been a Business Partner Member since 2003! We were relocating from Chicago and found GKC MGMA even before we got here and knew this group looked perfect for us! It’s been an incredible journey as we’ve become more and more involved in the association, made so many friends, built amazing business relationships and very much attribute this organization to helping us build our business over the past 20 years!
• Please share a few things about what your business can do to help our manager members. We really have two divisions of our company but both serve only those in the healthcare space. The Highland Group is our parent company and provides website design and hosting for healthcare practices. We started this side of the business in 2000 so REALLY know and understand all that medical practices have to deal with on a daily basis! The Form Team is our newer division and spun out of the online patient forms we were creating for our website customers. Now, The Form Team builds custom patient forms, to match the practice’s current forms and we deliver them securely to the office, even now integrating with the practice’s EHR! This helps the practice save a HUGE amount of time with the patient check-in process!
• Anything else that might be important to share with our members? For other Business Partners, I really encourage you to get involved with GKC MGMA beyond just paying your dues and coming to an occasional meeting. It takes face time to build relationships and this group is VERY loyal to their Business Partners once they get to know them!

Upcoming Member Events

https://gkcmgma.wildapricot.org/events

January:

January 17, 2024 - 3:00 - 5:00 pm

North Kansas City Hospital - Skyview Room

Speaker: Andrea Wyatt, MBA, FACMPE - OSI Orthopedics CEO?

"Streamlining Strategic Planning?? For Your Medical Practice"? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??

The thought of conducting a strategic planning session can be overwhelming.? My goal for this session is to break the process down into bite sized pieces so you can run through this exercise with your physicians with ease and demonstrate your value to the practice.

Learning Points:?

1. Preparation?

2. SWOT Analysis Ins and Outs?

3. Multi-voting and prioritization?

4. Executing the plan.

https://gkcmgma.wildapricot.org/event-5187684

February:

February 21st, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Live webinar via Zoom

Speaker:? Kim Stupica-Dobbs, Regional Administrator, CMS Kansas City (Region 7)

"CMS Update"? ? ? ?

CMS will provide relevant regulation updates and announcements, as well as a review of CMS priorities and progress.?

https://gkcmgma.wildapricot.org/event-5497954

Job Posting

** If you have events or job postings that you would like us to share, please reach out to us at [email protected].

https://gkcmgma.wildapricot.org/Jobs

Encompass Medical Group is a nine-office, primary care, independent physician practice.? We have over 60 providers in the Greater Kansas City area.?

• Encompass Contact: Madison Campbell.?

Encompass Medical Group has competitive salary rates as well as a great benefits package, which includes health and dental coverage beginning the first day of employment. ?If the position you are wanting to fill is no longer available, rest assured that we keep applications on file for at least six months and will get in touch with you should another opening occur.? ? Contact us via our website at:? www.encompassmed.com/employment? ?or call 913-495-2069.

About Us

Benefits of Joining GKC-MGMA

We are a not-for-profit corporation comprised of administrators, medical managers and staff; allied health professionals and business partners. We cover the entire Kansas City metro area.

GKC-MGMA is an affiliate local chapter of National MGMA through our state chapter Missouri MGMA. We are working together with other local chapters across the state to provide additional educational opportunities for our manager members and other opportunities for business partners.

Board Members

President - Rebecca Allison, M.B.A., FACMPE

President Elect - Brad Carney, FACMPE CPC CPCO

Treasurer - Jason Stalling, DHSc

Secretary - Barbara McCollum, CMPE, COPM

Past President - Barbara Sack, MHSA, FACMPE

Membership - Barbara McCollum, CMPE, COPM

Programs - Ashton Smith CPC, CPB, CPPM

Social Media - Jennifer Caswell, PT, DPT

ACMPE Forum Rep - Tracy Bird

BP at Large - Cindy Bobbit

BP at Large - Cinda Dowell

BP at Large - Carolyn Baruch

Business Partner at Large - Lou Anne Gonzales, Scott Walterbach