2nd Quarter - Colorado HFMA

The Bottom Line Second Quarter 2008-2009
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October 2008
Second Quarter 2008-2009
President’s Message
by Larry Dupper, FHFMA
We are living in interesting and challenging times. How is
your courage level? The next few years may be even
more challenging than the past. Your Colorado Chapter
of HFMA will continue to be an asset to you and the
healthcare services that you work hard to provide.
The Great Fall Conference in September was a success
with over 90 attendees. The weather was fabulous, and
the camaraderie even better. The Certification Coaching
Class was well attended with 10 participants. I’m thrilled
to report that interest and commitment to becoming certified is high! And we plan to hold another coaching class
on April 22, 2009 as part of the Annual Meeting. HFMA
certification is a distinguishing accomplishment—nice to
have on your resume when times are tough.
Inside this Issue
President’s Message
Golf Tournament
Great Fall Conference
Market Corrections
Chapter Leadership
Member Profile
New Members
Calendar of Events
RAC Rollout
Annual Sponsors
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2
4
6
8
9
10
11
12
13
The speakers at the Great Fall Rural Conference were
outstanding. Attendance at the final sessions on Friday
was impressive at which time participants heard about the
RAC experience in California as well as updates and discussion with Colorado Insurance Commissioner Marci
Morrison. Special thanks to Stephanie Warth, Shauna
Wardrop and the Program Committee for an informative
educational session.
One of the grand benefits of HFMA is the opportunity to
meet people and learn from their experience. The 20th
Annual Golf Tournament was exactly one of those experiences. Tim Brainerd organized a great tournament and
the opportunity to network. In the process of making new
friends, I also gained new ideas to help our hospital become even better. On behalf of all, a huge thanks to Tim
(Continued on page 3)
The Bottom Line Second Quarter 2008-2009
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Jeff Prink, Hal Prink and Scott
Gunter await a well-deserved meal
after the tournament.
Harold Dupper holds the flag to
make sure the ball goes in.
Larry Dupper checks his team’s score.
Chapter holds Annual Golf Tournament
Our annual golf tournament was held on September 22nd at The Pinery Golf Course in Parker where 44 golfers
participated on a typical Colorado Fall day with wind, sun and threatening storms (which thankfully failed to
occur). The good news is everyone had fun and the bad news is no one got a hole in one to claim the Chevy
Malibu which was provided by Burt Chevrolet.
The winners of the other contests were as follows:
First Place – Low score 63 – scramble format
Nathan Ingram, Jim Fallon, Paul Webster and Mike Donner
Second Place – score 63 (lost in the tie breaker for first)
Chris DeBoer, Aaron DeBoer, Ron Kubit and Mark Newman
Third place – score 68
Tom McDowell
Mike Yont
Brad O’Neill
Joey Kellum
Longest Drive – woman – Kay Hide
Longest Drive – man – John Gardner
Closest to the Hole – Mike Donner
Longest Putt – Jay Behringer
A Special Thanks to our Golf Tournament Sponsors!
Commerce Bank
EKS&H
Healthcare Outsourcing Network, LLC
Revenue Enterprises, LLC
Water Bottles provided by VanGilder Insurance Services
Next year’s tournament will be held prior to the Annual Meeting at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort on April 22,
2009. Mark your calendar now for this event as well as the Annual Meeting on April 23-24, 2009
The Bottom Line Second Quarter 2008-2009
(Continued from page 1)
and the sponsors of the tournament.
Wow, the December 11th Uninsured
Conference sold out within a couple days
of its announcement! Hopefully you are
one of the lucky ones who signed up in
time. This is another example of the fantastic job our Program Committee is doing to provide quality education at an affordable price.
You will also want to make plans now to
attend the January 22-23 Compliance
and Legal Conference in Denver.
It is truly a challenge to manage the finances of healthcare, particularly during
these uncertain times. It is great to be
associated with professionals working
together to educate, inform, and support
each other as we meet our challenges.
With that, I look forward to seeing you at
the Uninsured Conference in December!
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The Bottom Line Second Quarter 2008-2009
Tom Murphy presented “Utilizing Scorecards and Benchmarks Successfully” at the Great Fall Conference in GWS.
Page 4
Stephanie Warth, Program Co-chair, introduces a speaker
at the Great Fall Conference.
the AHA in Washington, D.C., provided insight on the latest political and regulatory activities affecting rural hospitals and health
th
systems. Mark Gilbert, CMS Regional AdThe HFMA Colorado Chapter 7 Annual
Great Fall Rural Conference was held at the ministrator in Denver, gave an overview of
Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs on Sep- current and upcoming CMS initiatives. Mitch
tember 25th and September 26th. The theme Patridge, CEO of CSI Financial Services, discussed the differences between recourse and
of this year’s conference was “Connecting
non-recourse patient loan programs and how
with Leadership: Federal and State Trends
in Healthcare.” There were ninety attendees a loan program might benefit a hospital’s patient population.
representing providers, health insurance
companies, and vendors.
The CFO tract hosted John Dowling, Senior,
and
Tammy Rivera, CPA, from BKD LLP of
The meeting kicked-off with an HFMA CertifiColorado Springs, provided updates on the
cation Coaching session on Wednesday
morning. Larry Dupper, CFO, and Jim Mar- latest accounting and auditing guidelines.
Brad O’Neill, VP, Van Gilder Insurance highkuson, Managed Care Director, from Valley
lighted the recent insurance benchmarking
View Hospital presented an overview of the
trends from the Van Gilder/Milliman Colorado
certification process followed by questions
Employee Benefits survey for liability limits
and answers. Eleven people attended the
coaching session and two people sat for the and premiums. Luke Zarecor, Owner, and
Shar Sheaffer, CPA Senior Manager, from
Core Exam in the afternoon.
Dingus, Zarecor, and Associates, PLLC covered the new critical access relocation guideAbout 50 attendees gathered at the Glenwood Canyon Brewing Company Wednesday lines and the new rules for providers looking
evening for a Member Appreciation Network- to acquire an off-campus provider-based
clinic or department.
ing Reception. Everyone enjoyed hors
d’oeurves and cocktails.
The Revenue Cycle tract began with Tanya
For Thursday’s general sessions, Joanna
(Continued on page 5)
Hiatt, Senior Associate Director of Policy at
CO HFMA’s Great Fall Conference
The Bottom Line Second Quarter 2008-2009
Page 5
(Continued from page 4)
Hoagland, Outreach Analyst, WPS Medicare,
who reviewed their top ten Medicare claim
submission errors. Terri Boettcher, VP, BC
Services Collection Agency, examined some
of the federal and state FTC, FDCPA, and
FCC updates affecting the collection industry.
Chris Cruise, VP of Quality Assurance and
Training for Cardon Healthcare detailed the
numerous public assistance programs and
other resources available to patients.
The conference concluded on Friday with a
general session by Tanya Twist, Director of
PFS, Methodist Hospital in Arcadia, CA, who
gave a first-hand account of the RAC audit
process and its impact on her hospital. Marci
Morrison, Insurance Commissioner for the
State of Colorado, discussed the new legislation that was approved in the 2008 session
and the affect on the Division of Insurance
and citizens of Colorado.
Conference attendees dance to the music of The Altitones.
The Altitones provided the entertainment during the
Thursday evening dinner.
Who is that Dancing Queen?
The Bottom Line Second Quarter 2008-2009
What You Should Know About
Market Corrections
Page 6
the additional time would help curb panic selling.
Although the securities industry is committed
to doing everything in its power to protect inThere is no way around it – markets generally vestors, it cannot prevent market corrections.
move in cycles!
It is essential for investors to take responsibility for their own investment activity and to
While, historically, the stock market has
arm themselves with as much knowledge as
spent more time on bullish advances than on possible about the risks and potential rebearish retreats – which is why stocks have
wards of investing.
been considered a good investment over the
years – the market also tends to retrench
In the 1930s, the Cowles Commission,
more than the average investor would like to formed to guide investors through the afterthink about. The traditional definition of a
math of the 1929 crash, came up with five
bear market is a 20 percent or greater decline essential rules for successful investing, which
in stock prices as measured by the Dow
are still applicable today:
Jones Industrial Average or other relevant
index. A full-fledged bear market can persist Invest for the long term. While the stock
for many months or, in rare cases, years.
market can be risky over the short term, risk
Some corrections, on the other hand, are
sharp, but brief, lasting only a day or two –
such as the Dow’s 500-point drop in October
1987 – or for a few weeks. Sometimes a
short, dramatic decline serves as a prelude to
a lengthier downturn. The 1929 crash and
subsequent three-year bear market, which
saw the Dow lose almost 90 percent of its
value, illustrates this latter possibility.
decreases as your investment time horizon
lengthens. A good rule of thumb is that stock
and bond investments should be funded with
money you won’t need for at least five years.
Some investors hope to improve their returns
by selling a portion of their holdings just before a correction. Such “market timing” is
something that even professional investors
find difficult to do well with any consistency
and is not recommended for the average inGovernment and securities-industry officials vestor. Aside from the very real difficulty of
are constantly learning from their experiences identifying the end of one market phase and
with previous declines. Regulations estabthe beginning of a new one, the basic emolished in the wake of the 1929-1932 bear
tions of greed and fear work strongly against
market have helped prevent another decline those who attempt market timing, constantly
of similar magnitude. For example, margin
tempting them to overstay their positions in a
requirements were raised from 10 percent to bull market and to remain on the sidelines for
50 percent to prevent investors from becom- too long in a bear market.
ing excessively leveraged (indebted) the way
many were in the months leading up to the
Invest systematically. One way to avoid the
1929 crash.
timing dilemma is to use a simple strategy
More refinements were introduced after the
1987 correction, including our current system
of circuit-breakers. In theory, these circuitbreakers would stretch out a decline over
several days rather than allow it to gain momentum immediately. The assumption is that
called dollar-cost averaging – the practice of
investing a fixed amount of money in a particular investment at regular intervals. Because the amount invested remains constant,
the investor buys more shares when the price
is low and fewer shares when the price is
(Continued on page 7)
The Bottom Line Second Quarter 2008-2009
Page 7
high. This means that the average cost per
approach this arena with extreme caution
share tends to be lower than the average mar- and commit no more than a small percentket value of the investment over the same pe- age of investment capital to it.
riod.
At the other end of the spectrum are the
many companies with histories of consisDollar-cost averaging cannot eliminate the
tent sales and earnings growth. Although
risks of investing, guarantee a profit or protect
nothing is guaranteed in the investment
against a loss in declining markets. The sucmarkets, there is a lower probability that
cess of the program depends on making regusuch companies will drop off the investment
lar purchases through advancing and declining
map during a correction. Rather, a correcmarket periods – and on selling when your intion presents investors with the opportunity
vestment is worth more than the average price
to acquire more shares of historically seayou paid. Since such a plan involves continusoned, financially sound companies at reaous investment in securities, investors should
sonable prices.
consider their financial ability to continue purchases through periods of low price levels. But
Get professional advice. Each investor
dollar-cost averaging does offer a disciplined
brings a different outlook and level of somethod of investing in the securities markets
phistication to the markets. Most investors
and lowers the price you have to get to break
can benefit from some degree of profeseven.
sional input. Whether that means professional research on individual securities, adDiversify investments. When people think
vice on asset allocation, or entrusting
about investing their money, they probably enmoney to professional portfolio managers,
vision themselves comparing the merits of variinvestment professionals are great reous investments. But before they get to that
sources for helping investors achieve their
step, there is a more basic decision to make:
financial goals.
asset allocation. Asset allocation is the percentage of investment funds an investor alloParticularly during corrections, it helps to
cates among asset classes such as stocks,
have a coherent investment strategy
fixed income, cash equivalents, and tangiworked out in advance and to be able to
bles/real estate.
keep that strategy clearly in mind as events
unfold. A qualified investment professional
The decision is an important one. A study of
can help plan a sound investment strategy.
large pension funds determined that a pension
manager’s allocations among asset classes
* Gary P. Brinson, Brian D. Singer, and Gilbert L. Beebower, "Determinants of Portfolio Performance II: An Uphad a far greater long-term effect on returns
date," Financial Analysts Journal, May/June 1991.
than the individual securities selected.* Of
course, asset allocation or investment timing
This article was written by Wachovia Securities and provided to you by:
cannot eliminate the risk of fluctuating prices
Patty DeLucas, CPA, CFP®, Financial Advisor, Wachovia
and uncertain returns.
Securities, LLC
Buy quality. Periodically, investors become
enamored with initial public offerings (IPOs).
For those who know how to invest in them and
understand the risks, IPOs can be an appropriate investment. By definition, however, IPOs
involve companies whose stocks are untested
in public trading. The average investor should
Patty.delucas@wachoviasec.com
Please visit my website:
www.home.wachoviasecurities.com/patty.delucas
Wachovia Securities is the trade name used by
two separate, registered broker-dealers and nonbank affiliates of Wachovia Corporation providing certain retail securities brokerage services: Wachovia Securities, LLC Member, NYSE/SIPC, and Wachovia Securities Financial Network, LLC (WSFN), Member FINRA/SIPC.
The Bottom Line Second Quarter 2008-2009
Page 8
Chapter Leadership
Officers
President
President-Elect
Treasurer
Assistant Treasurer
Secretary
Immediate Past President
Larry Dupper, FHFMA
Judy Griffith
Kate McRae
Ken Kolb
C. Newgren, FHFMA
Ann King, CHFP
ldupper@vvh.org
revenuesolutions@msn.com
McRaeK@exempla.org
kkolb@hsacolorado.com
christinenewgren@centura.org
aking@bkd.com
970-384-6605
303-916-9785
303-467-4393
303-996-3397
303-804-8173
303-861-4545
Board of Directors
Patti DeLucas
Harold Dupper
Colleen Faddick
Lesley Fagerberg
Kay Hide
Julie Keegan
Tom Nash (CHA)
Randy Safady
J. Verne Singleton
Stephanie Warth
Cathy Wolff
pattydelucas@wachoviasec.com303-670-9122
hdupper@pvmc.org
303-637-1001
cfaddick@faegre.com
303-607-3682
lesleyf@hrrmc.net
719-530-8294
hidek@exempla.org
303-813-5114
jkeegan@craighospital.org
303-789-8443
tom.nash@cha.com
720-489-1630
randysafady@centura.org
303-804-8135
vernesingleton@ecdenver.com 303-771-0861
swarth@vvh.org
970-384-6881
cwolff@yumahospital.org
970-848-4611
Office Manager
Hal Prink, FHFMA
halprink@comcast.net
720-277-7813
For a complete listing of Committees and Committee Chairs and Co-chairs, please visit our website at
www.co-hfma.org
The Bottom Line Second Quarter 2008-2009
Page 9
Getting to Know Our Members:
Ryan Sells
Living in Colorado gives us so many choices:
Where will we spend a week off in the summer?
Do we watch football on a perfect fall afternoon,
or record the game and go for a hike? Which ski
resort will we visit after a big snowfall? Finding
answers to these questions is what keeps life exciting for Ryan and his family. When his two
boys were very young, Ryan and his wife Susan
bought a pop-up camper, knowing that it would
pay huge dividends in life-long memories and
quality family time. The boys are now 5 and 7,
and the family cherishes every trip, knowing that
sports and other activities demand more and
more time which will reduce the number of weekend getaways in the future. One of their favorite
trips is the annual ‘Peach Trek’. Over five years
the trip has grown to eight families who spend a
long weekend camping, fishing, hiking and relaxing on the western slope. The highlight of the
weekend is the day in Palisade, visiting familyowned orchards to buy boxes of peaches and
stopping for wine tastings at the local vineyards.
Ryan grew up in Colorado, and met his future
wife at Bear Creek High School. They both attended the University of Colorado in Boulder, and
both majored in accounting. They got married
after graduating from college, and celebrated
their 14th anniversary this summer. Besides
camping, the family enjoys skiing, biking, traveling, and cheering on the local sports teams. Two
years ago, Ryan became a certified Scuba diver,
and is always looking towards his next diving adventure. “I’m amazed every time I go below the
surface of the ocean; it’s a whole other world of
plant and animal life down there. There are colors that you just don’t see on land.” His dive trips
have included St. Lucia, Maui and Jamaica.
them get set up with all of the necessities – food,
clothing, social security numbers, driver’s licenses, medical appointments, registering for
school, etc. Immigration to the U.S. probably
saved their lives, and the experience had a big
impact on our lives as well. It certainly gave us
an appreciation for some of the privileges and
blessings that we might otherwise have taken for
granted.”
When he isn’t pursuing one of his outside interests, Ryan loves his work as a principal at the
CPA firm of EKS&H, working primarily with
healthcare providers and nonprofit organizations.
Although he had a brief taste of the private sector
right out of school, he thrives on the variety of
people, clients and challenges that public accounting offers. He became a member of HFMA
two years ago. “The Colorado healthcare community is a close community, and I really enjoy
the friendly atmosphere,” Ryan says. As far as
someone who’s had influence on him within the
healthcare community: “I’d have to say Nancy
Foster at University Physicians, Inc. She gave
me my first job out of school – I’ll always be
thankful for that first job opportunity.” It was
Ryan’s first experience in the healthcare industry,
which has grown to be a very satisfying career.
He also volunteers his time as a board member
and audit committee chair of the Girl Scouts of
Colorado, and as a member of the finance committee of the Colorado Nonprofit Association.
Ryan and his wife try hard to instill a spirit of giving and volunteerism in their boys. The Sells
family and a group of friends from their church
work together to find different opportunities to
reach out to people in the community. One of the
most interesting activities was adopting a family
of refugees from Ukraine in a year-long program
through Lutheran Family Services. “We literally Ryan looks forward to a future of working with
met them at the gate when they got off the plane. clients, helping people, and of course, enjoying
We showed them to their apartment, and helped the great Colorado outdoors.
The Bottom Line Second Quarter 2008-2009
Page 10
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS!
George Behringer, Strategic Relationship Manager, Deloitte
Rebecca Chance-Smith, Director Patient Access, Memorial Hospital
Kathy Cleator, Communications Manager, Valley View Hospital
Jeffrey Cole, Director HIM/Billing, Vail Valley Medical Center
Daniel Coleman, Administrator, USAF
Chris David, Manager, RGL, Inc.
Christopher Debeer, Managing Director, Percentix, Inc.
Shannon Doyle, President, Montane Group, Inc.
Jeff Elliot, Elliot Freelance
Stefany Friar, Director of Payer Relations, Kelson Physician Partners
Tijuana Gomez, Senior Manager PBS, Kaiser Permanente
Sherylynn Hoffman, Manager PFS, Poudre Valley Health System
Shirley Holt, Chief Financial Officer, Estes Park Medical Center
Kirk Kaynor, Vice President—Regional Director Business Development—Recondo Technology
Matthew Kelly, Revenue Reimbursement Supervisor, Poudre Valley Health System
Darrin Lee, Director, Healthcare, Echelon Marketing
Lisa Mack, Revenue Cycle Director, Valley View Hospital
Brian McCarthy, Sales Director, RelayHealth
James Mckee, President, United Resource Systems, Inc.
Sarah Miller, Manager of Contracting, Vail Valley Medical Center
Todd Mohr, Managing Director, Fti Consulting
Lori Nowitzki, Director PFS, Kaiser Permanente
Barbara Padgett, Training and Education Manager, Valley View Hospital
Daniel Petersen, VHA Performance Consulting
Rebecca Phelps, Director, McKesson Provider Technologies
Stephanie Quance, Assistant District Manager, Chamberlin Edmonds
Jim Rentz, Patient Access Supervisor, Poudre Valley Health System
Adam Romney, Attorney, Caplan & Earnest, LLC
Steven Sevcik, Vice President—Finance, Pronerve, LLC
Jill Smith, District Manager Chamberlin Edmonds
Doris Suposs, Staff Accountant, Poudre Valley Health System
Oralia Valadez, Manager, Billing/Collections, Valley View Hospital
Kimberly Wade, Business Applications Analyst, University of Colorado Hospital
Matthew Weber, Partner, Holland & Hart, LLP
Hirut Yitayew, Business Applications Analyst, University of Colorado Hospital
The Bottom Line Second Quarter 2008-2009
Page 11
2008 – 2009 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
December 11 …………………… ……
Annual Uninsured Conference
The Children’s Hospital, Aurora, CO
January 22-23 …………………………… Compliance/Law Conference
Sheraton Four Points, Denver
February 25-27 ………………………… Region 10 Conference,
Renaissance Hotel, Phoenix, AX
April 22…………………………………… Annual Golf Tournament
Cheyenne Mountain Resort, CO Springs, CO
April 22-24 ……………………………… Annual Meeting
Cheyenne Mountain Resort, CO Springs, CO
Watch for announcements about upcoming Webinars in Healthcare Finance Hot Topics!
The Bottom Line Second Quarter 2008-2009
CMS announces revised timeline for RAC rollout and contingency fees released
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Office of Financial Management Director
Tim Hill announced in September a revised timeline for the nationwide rollout of
the permanent recovery audit contractor
program or RACs. On October 6, the four
contractors were named:
Region A – Diversified Collection Services
Inc. – ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, NY
Region B – CGI Technologies and Solutions Inc. – MI, IN, MN
Region C – Connolly Consulting Associates Inc. – SC, FL, CO, NM
Region D – HealthDataInsight’s Inc. – MT,
WY, ND, SD, UT, AZ
Page 12
CMS announces revised
timeline for RAC rollout
and contingency fees released
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services Office of Financial Management Director Tim Hill announced in September a revised
timeline for the nationwide rollout of
the permanent recovery audit contractor program or RACs. On October 6, the four contractors were
named:
Region A – Diversified Collection
Services Inc. – ME, NH, VT, MA,
RI, NY
Region B – CGI Technologies and
Solutions Inc. – MI, IN, MN
Region C – Connolly Consulting Associates Inc. – SC, FL, CO, NM
Region D – HealthDataInsight’s Inc.
– MT, WY, ND, SD, UT, AZ
Recovery audit contractors will earn
contingency fees ranging from 9.0%
to 12.5% of the payments they collect from health care providers in the
permanent RAC program, Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services
The Bottom Line Second Quarter 2008-2009
Page 13
2008-2009 COLORADO HFMA ANNUAL
SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM MEMBERS
PLATINUM SPONSORS
BC Services ● Chase Bank ● EKS&H
Faegre & Benson ● Healthcare Outsourcing Network, LLC
GOLD SPONSORS
BKD, LLP ● Cleverly & Associates ● Holland & Hart
Holme, Roberts & Owen, LLP ● Kreg Information Systems
REDW The Rogoff Firm ● Revenue Enterprises, LLC ● The SSI Group
SILVER SPONSORS
Bank of America ● Caplan & Earnest ● Colorado Health Facilities Authority ● Commerce Bank
Data Systems Group ● Emdeon Business Services ● Ernst and Young, LLP
Integrated Health Management Services ● Key Bank ● Marsh and Company
RSM McGladney ● Wells Fargo
BRONZE SPONSOR
KPMG ● MedAssist ● MediRegs
Editors’ Note:
The Bottom Line is published quarterly and provides general information for the entire
Colorado HFMA Chapter. Opinions expressed in articles are those of the authors and
do not necessarily reflect the view of the Chapter and its members. It is not designed to
provide authoritative advice. Please consult with an appropriate expert if issues
confront your business.
Members are encouraged to submit articles or other information. Articles may be edited
for clarity, grammar, and length. The editors reserve the right to accept or reject any submission. Information to be considered for publication may be submitted to:
Scott Gunter: scottgunter@centura.org
Christine Newgren: christinenewgren@centura.org