President’s letter
Linda Young, JD, RHIA
President
April, 2013
As my opportunity to serve the MaHIMA as your President for 2012-2013 is coming full circle, I am reflecting upon all that we have done and all that we continue to set out to accomplish! It all began with the transition of a new Administrative Director, swung into the need to plan an annual meeting in Massachusetts and amazingly, now we refocus again toward another election. I never imagined that the year would fly by so fast.
The election voting process will begin on April 15th and end on May 3rd. We ask that everyone please be paying attention to the e-alerts and take the time to vote on-line. It is very quick and easy, so please vote!
Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in the AHIMA Leadership Symposium and Hill Day in DC. Delegates, Nancy LaFianza, President-Elect and Ellen MacMullen, Legislative Director joined me. The focus was primarily on the Medicare Audit Improvement Act, bi-partisan legislation proposed by Congressmen Sam Graves (R-MO) and Adam Schiff (D-CA). The bill would amend the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 to rectify problems identified since the creation of the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program as a part of that law. Many hospitals in particular have expressed deep concern over the administrative burdens being placed on them by Medicare audit contractors. This bill would reinstate and make statutory a hard cap on additional document requests (ADRs) on the part of Medicare auditors to two percent of hospital claims with a maximum of 500 ADRs per 45 days. This bill also seeks to improve auditor performance with penalties for auditors that do not comply with basic program requirements such as deadlines and issuances of demand letters. The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and the American Hospital Association (AHA) support the legislation, which was originally introduced last Congress in October 2012.
Nancy, Ellen and I were tasked with rallying up support from your Senators and Representatives in Washington on these important issues. I was personally privileged to have met with Senator Elizabeth Warren’s personal Aid and discuss this bill. I know that these issues are tremendously important to our MaHIMA members!
As I mentioned in my January message, the 2013 MaHIMA Annual Conference in Hyannis is well under way and registrations will open up on April 19, 2013. The Board of Directors is paying close attention to all projected expenses, anticipated attendance and expected goals. We are pleased with the initial results of vendor registrations thus far having met our budgeted projections for this point in time. This meeting is a sound step in the journey to right the ship while continuing to provide our membership with valuable educational workshops and seminars. The Board expects to sustain a fiscally sound enterprise beyond 2013. A few other dates to remember:
• May 2, 2013 LTC/PAC Forum
• May 9, 2013 Strategic Planning Session
• May 20, 2013 MaHIMA’ 9th Annual Beacon Hill Day & Legislative Seminar with NeHIMSS
• June 19-20, 2013 MaHIMA Annual Conference
CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS!!!!! Also, the position of Legislative Director/Delegate will be opening up for the 2013-2014 term. We can always use volunteers as there are several different committees that need help and the work they do is interesting and rewarding, and it is a good way to network with your peers in the HIM profession. Please feel free to contact me a 781-272-8001, or by email at lyoung@aboutams.com.
Have a wonderful spring season!
Linda