Greetings Montana HFMA members and friends! As I write this note I am sitting in my office on a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon and it is very cold outside. What started out as a very mild winter in western Montana has finally delivered the snow and subzero temperatures that this Montana girl has grown to expect!
Last month I had the wonderful opportunity to escape the (mild) Montana winter for a few days to travel to Las Vegas to attend the HFMA Western Region Symposium. Although we had a couple very nice days in Las Vegas, we also had a day of rain, which one doesn’t see often in the desert!
The Western Region Symposium (WRS) was a great success! Attended this year by nearly 900 people, it is the largest HFMA conference outside HFMA’s National Annual Conference which is held in June each year. This conference offers an incredible amount (19.5 hours) of education with five different tracks (Finance, Revenue cycle, Data Analytics, CAH & Leadership, Strategic Planning & Reimbursement), five keynotes and several general sessions. Combine that with the networking with attendees from 13 western states and I find this conference to be way more relevant to my reality in Montana than most national conferences. It is also much more affordable!
We had a great showing from Montana at the WRS, with 23 of our members and others from the state in attendance. The chapter was able to assist many of these folks with the cost of attending the Symposium, through the hosted provider program for new attendees, provider scholarships for return attendees, and travel stipends for board members and those who participated in our promotion. I am proud that our chapter is able to reinvest our funds in this expanded education opportunity.
2019 marked the third year that Region 10 (of which Montana is part) has collaborated with Region 11 on this Joint Regional Conference. Prior to the collaboration, our region hosted its own independent regional conference, which was poorly attended and generally not profitable. I had the opportunity to serve as the co-chair for the Keynote Committee for this year’s conference and it was fun to be at the table planning it.
So if you haven’t had the opportunity to attend the Western Region Symposium, start planning now to attend January 12-15, 2020. We will be back in Las Vegas and the chapter will again be offering financial assistance which makes this event even more affordable. It’s a great chance to travel to “Paris” and who knows? You might just spot Elvis while you are there!
Clark Fork Valley Hospital, Plains, MT