Applications now accepted for Helen M. Yerger award

Healthcare Financial Management, March, 2007

Chapter leaders: Now is the time to prepare your entries for the Helen M. Yerger Special Recognition Award! The award honors outstanding performance achieved through excellence in chapter programs, services, and administration. The deadline for submit ring entries is April 2, 2007.

The award is named for Helen M. Yerger, who has been called the "founding mother" of the Association. Yerger served as secretary/treasurer in 1949, when HFMA was known as the American Association of Hospital Accountants. Last year, 54 chapters earned Yerger awards, with 87 single-chapter awards and 14 multichapter awards presented.

Chapters may submit a total of four single-chapter entries. There is no limit to the number of single-chapter entries that can be submitted in each category, as long as the total for all categories combined is no greater than four. There is also no limit to the number of multi-chapter submissions.

The award categories are:

* Collaboration (recognizes a collaborative effort with another organization outside of HFMA)

* Education

* Improvement

* Innovation

* Member communications

* Member service

* Membership recruitment and retention

Award submissions are judged based on five criteria: needs identification, 20 points; goals and objectives, 20 points; methodology, 15 points; evaluation, 15 points; and results, 30 points. Chapters that receive at least 75 points earn the award. Chapter awards will be presented at HFMA's Annual National Institute on June 25, 2007, in San Diego.

Chapter leaders can access the application in the Chapter Leader Resources area of HFMA's web site, www.hfma.org. For more information, contact Hike McCarthy, chapter relations manager, at (800) 252-HFMA, ext. 363, or via e-mail at mmccarthy@hfma.org.