The Florida Chapter has had a busy few months kicking off the Fall season with our conference in Hollywood Beach, Florida in September. And what an exciting way to end the summer – one and a half days of high quality education with some fantastic speakers such as Keynote Speaker Aaron Beam, first CFO of Healthsouth. The time spent in Hollywood was not all work and no play however. The conference included an International Wine Tasting and Food Pairing Event featuring wine and food from many different countries around the world. The networking opportunities continued with a “Paella & Sangria” Luau on the beach, all sponsored by our Platinum Sponsors.

The last few months also included our first annual CFO and Senior Financial Executive Forum at the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida. The invitation-only event was held in August and included over eight hours of education and quality networking opportunities for our Florida Chapter members. The Chapter plans to continue this new Forum each year in the summer providing CFOs and other Senior Finance Executives the opportunity to share best practices with their peers.

Billie Jean Mounts, our Director of Education/Program Chair and her education committee are planning another high quality educational and networking event in January at the Orlando Marriott Airport Hotel. This Mid-Winter Revenue Cycle Forum meeting will feature speakers and topics specifically related to current revenue and reimbursement issues facing all healthcare organizations in today’s unstable environment.

As we all prepare our organizations for Health Care Reform changes, ICD-10 coding conversions, electronic health record creation – sharing best practices and proven strategies is critical in our positions as Health Care Finance leaders. Be sure to look for agenda details and hotel information to be sent out to all Florida members over the next few weeks. Our website also provides information on all of our Florida meetings throughout the State. Please take a moment to review all these educational events at www.floridahfma.org/chapter-calendar. Most of these regional meetings are at a very low cost (or no cost) to our Florida members to allow our Chapter to provide value for your membership benefits.

The Chapter continues to have tremendous support from all of our Sponsors. The high level of quality education at all of our State and Regional meetings is a direct result of the funding our Sponsorship program provides to our Chapter.  Our website provides a listing and contacts for all of our current Sponsors and also provides information on becoming a new Sponsor in our Chapter. The continued success of the Florida Chapter is dependent upon the level of support our Sponsors provide to the chapter.

Finally, in September, I had the opportunity to attend the Fall President’s Meeting for HFMA’s Region V leaders (FL, GA, AL, TN and SC). The week provided ample time for each person to share ideas, offer “best practice” processes, and to hear from National and Region V representatives as to current events, policy changes or clarifications, and other important matters. This year’s meeting was held on a cruise that took us throughout some beautiful ports of call in the Northeast – such as Newport, RI, Boston, MA, Portland, MN and Canada. This event has been a customary practice for many years with HFMA Region V Presidents and Presidents-Elect and provides valuable HFMA team building and leadership training and of course lots of fun and memories! This traditional trip has always been a way to recognize those attending for the many hours and hard work put in on behalf of the Florida Chapter, Region V and National HFMA. This should be an encouragement for both long-standing and new members of any Chapter to “get involved” and participate in the future direction of their HFMA Chapter, Region V, as well as the continued success of National HFMA!

I look forward to seeing all of you at the January Mid-Winter Revenue Cycle Forum in Orlando.  I also request that any feedback on how our Chapter can better serve your professional development be directed to the online form available on our website www.floridahfma.org.

Please do not hesitate to contact myself or any Board Member or Committee Chair with any comments, questions or suggestions on how we can continue to improve and reach an even higher level of success.  We welcome your comments.

Thank you,

Joanne I. Aquilina
President 2011-2012
HFMA Florida Chapter
Bethesda Healthcare System
joanne.aquilina@bethesdahealthcare.com
561-737-7733 ext 84544