2003-2004 annual report

Healthcare Financial Management, Oct, 2004 by David P. Canfield, Richard L. Clarke

LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN AND PRESIDENT

"HFMA has helped me throughout my career by providing educational sessions thai met my needs The education has come at local, regional. and national platforms in an array of topics from the very basic to the very elite. For instance. years ago I attended a seminar about effective leadership and how to motivate employees. That knowledge has been instrumental in how I approach work on a daily basis Because of that presentation, I truly started to understand how having good people working with me made me more valuable to my organization The benefits I received from them have always far outweighed the cost."

Mark A. Hartman, FHFMA

Chief Finance Officer

Arkansas Heart Hospital

Little Rock. Arkansas

"As one of the many national HFMA benefits. the chapter level education is superb At a recent educationl meeting we discussed options to access capital and what a hospital can do to improve its financial attractiveness to potential lenders We took back several suggestions to our facility and implemented them right away."

Todd Nelson, MBA

Vice President and CFO

Grinnell Regional Medical Center

Grinnell Iowa

"The opportunity to network is priceless! If I have reimbursement, budget, process, or operational questions, I'm just a phone call away from getting answers from HFMA colleagues This has been invaluable to me and to the organization for which I work.

Teresa Strausbaugh

Controller

Hanover Hospital

Hanover, Pennsylvania

We're proud to report that HFMA's 2003-04 year was very successful. HFMA's success is apparent not only through the positive financial results reported in this annual report, but also through great member satisfaction scores, a growing membership base. and a high level of membership retention. HFMA attributes its success to listening to our members' needs and acting upon them. This emphasis resulted in a number of accomplishments detailed in this annual report, including a record-breaking attendance at our Annual National Institute (ANI) and strong member participation in HFMA's conferences, seminars, audio webcasts, and e-Learning.

Through initiatives such as the PATIENT FRIENDLY BILLING[R] and Financing the Future projects, HFMA produced products and services to help members understand and manage key industry issues.

Publications continue to be an important vehicle in helping our members excel in their jobs and careers. Our members consider hfm magazine a "must have" resource, and HFMA's newsletters are delivering timely and targeted information. E-mail publication subscription rates are at an all time high. And more members are finding great value in the HPMA Resource Center for the tools and technical documents it contains.

HFMA's 70 national chapters continued to effectively deliver valuable content. Through local meetings and educational opportunities. members gained critical information on the hot issues in our industry. Thanks to our very active chapters, we are able to help each other and the industry from coast to coast.

The growing number of HFMA-certified members shows the relevance of being credentialed in our field. Through our research, we've discovered that HFMA-certified members are the highest compensated and most sought after employees in our industry.

The chairman's theme in the previous fiscal year, "HFMA: It's Personal." underscored the importance of relationships in our professional and personal lives. Our Association is much more than a group of practitioners dedicated to healthcare finance. We're colleagues and friends. And through these bonds, we support and serve each other to realize greater success in our lives and careers. At their core, HFMA relationships often foster a spirit of cooperation to share healthcare finance best practices, lessons learned, and other essential information.

This annual report highlights some of the successes our Association attained during 2003-04. They were made possible through the diligent efforts and giving nature of our mere bets, volunteers, board members, and staff.

We're grateful to our members, volunteers, sponsors, staff, and others for their continued hard work that makes HFMA such a success.

With warmest regards.

David P. Canfield, FHFMA

2003-04 HFMA National Chairman

Richard L, Clarke, FHFMA

HFMA President and CEO

HHFMA is dedicated to providing value to members by delivering practical tools and ideas that generate results and increase performance.

Membership

The membership rolls for 2003-04 reached 33,0406, an increase of nearly 2 percent over last year. Two of HFMA's chapters went above and beyond in membership recruitment. Both the San Diego Imperial Chapter's and the Nevada Chapter's recruitment growth exceeded 13 percent. Member demographics for the previous fiscal year reveal a community of highly trained and experienced professionals. Nearly 80 percent contribute to their organizations at a managerial level. This is consistent with HFMA's goal of providing a reference group of peers able to network together to craft real-world solutions to our industry's most pressing problems. HFMA's continued high retention rate is a solid indicator of the value the Association provides its members.