Washington/Alaska Chapter

Strategic Plan For Service, Quality & Growth

2006 - 2008

Developed by the Chapter Officers and Board

Executive Summary

The Washington-Alaska Chapter of the Healthcare Financial Management Association has successfully developed its strategic plan for 2006 - 2008 as outlined in this document entitled the Strategic Plan for Service, Quality and Growth. 

 The Chapter's vision is to continue to be the leading professional resource for individuals seeking excellence in the financial management for all health service organizations.  The Chapter will accomplish this by providing its members with quality educational programs, networking and mentoring opportunities, opportunities for leadership, and promoting the highest standards of professional conduct.  In a continuing effort to meet this challenge, the Chapter has identified a number of goals for service to members, quality of services and Chapter growth.

 Goals for service to members start with providing quality educational programs to meet the needs of a diverse membership.  The Chapter has identified topics that the membership would like to see more programs devoted to and will try to feature these in the upcoming year.  The Chapter is expanding its use of concurrent sessions and joint meetings with other organizations to broaden the appeal to more of the membership.  The Chapter will also provide educational opportunities in Alaska to build on the success of the prior year’s meeting.

 The Chapter has set high standards for goals relative to quality of services to members.  Quality will continue to be measured by critical review of meeting and program evaluations, by maintaining high evaluation scoring and by monitoring the attendance levels at meetings.  The Chapter Leaders will encourage use of National HFMA’s web based resources to help the committees find excellent speakers with a history of good presentations.  Increased emphasis will also be placed on accountability in monitoring progress toward, and achievement of, established goals throughout the year.

 The Chapter is focusing its growth initiatives on providing a valuable experience for its membership by increasing membership participation, facilitating continuity of participation, creating new networking opportunities, and fostering a welcoming environment.  The Chapter has a solid core of members volunteering their time, but needs to continue expanding the number of members in the Councils and Committees.  More emphasis will be placed on personally inviting members to attend meetings and participate in the planning activities.  Rewards will be provided to recognize active members.

Strategic Plan

 Vision

 As adopted from the national organization:

 Our vision is "To be an indispensable resource for healthcare finance." 

 Mission Statement

 The Washington/Alaska chapter of the Healthcare Financial Management Association is the professional membership organization for individuals involved in the financial management of health care in Washington and Alaska.

 As adopted from the national organization:

 Our mission is “To help members and other finance related healthcare professionals excel thereby improving the business performance of organizations operating in or serving the healthcare industry.

 Our chapter serves and represents members by:

 Providing professional development through education, information, certification, peer interaction, and leadership training;

• Delivering services and tools that help members and customers in their jobs and careers; and
• Establishing and promoting the highest standards of professional and ethical conduct.

 Quality Statement

 Quality is the foundation of the association and the keystone of its efforts to ensure member and customer satisfaction. Our chapter’s objective is to:

 Consistently provide services and products that meet the quality expectations of its members, customers, and employees.

• Actively pursue a program of continuous quality improvement that enables employees and volunteers to do their jobs right the first time.
• Quality is a major, strategic association goal. It lies at the heart of everything done for members and customers. Our chapter strives continually to improve the quality of services and products offered, the processes and procedures used to produce them, and the manner in which they are delivered.

 Values Statement

•  We believe that service to members is our highest priority.
•  We believe in excellence in all that we do. 
•  We believe that teamwork is essential in meeting the objectives of HFMA. 
•  We believe in the importance of individuals. 
•  We believe in encouraging innovation and creativity. 
•  We believe in conducting HFMA with financial responsibility and a prudent approach to business.  
• We believe in continually developing new leaders in the chapter.

 External Assessment

 1. Assessment of Member and Customer Needs

 The vast majority of members surveyed continue to find information and value from Chapter programs and services. Despite significant work pressures that interfere with Chapter participation, members still want the same amount of educational offerings, if not more.  Topics, location and speakers were cited as the three most important factors in determining whether to attend a meeting.  The reasons for non-participation were spread over a number of factors including timing, work obligations, program locations, program costs and irrelevant programs. Suggested areas of emphasis for future educational programs in ranked order from the 2006 Member Survey include:

Trends and outlook for local healthcare industry

Regulatory/legislative update

Medicare reimbursement policies

Compliance and legal issues

Medicaid payment and/or policies

Accounting and financial reporting

Fiscal intermediary (audits, interpretation,Q&A)

Cost analysis and control

Leadership skills

Chargemaster

Billing and collections

Consumer directed healthcare

Pay for Performance

Uninsured policies and procedures

Trends in managed care contracting

Trends in managed care rules including prompt payment

Denial management

Auditing managed care contracts

Supply chain

Disaster preparedness

2. Environmental Assessment

 The following opportunities and threats have been identified during the strategic planning process.

 a. Opportunities:

• Develop linkages with

HCCA (Healthcare Compliance Association)

AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association)

IDAHO HFMA Chapter

• Assist healthcare finance professionals to understand important federal and state healthcare issues and the financial implications of legislation.
• Expand the number of members actively participating in LCC and the continuity of attendance.
• Assist members in sharing problems and experiences in light of the changing competitive environment.
• Promote additional membership of healthcare professionals from under-represented organizations.
• Identify a key member at large organizations to encourage HFMA participation.
• Promote attendance using a committee to personally invite members to attend upcoming meetings.
• Increase certification among membership.
• Develop and implement long distance learning
• Promote soft skills and specific skills such as negotiation, software and presentations.
• Communication of role that can be understood by non-financial staff.

 b. Threats:

• Work and professional responsibilities are the principal barriers preventing members from more actively participating in Chapter activities.
• The Chapter's geographic and demographic diversity make it difficult and/or irrelevant for some members to attend functions.
• Members' interests are diverse because of differing levels of integration.
• Employers can be reluctant to pay for or allow time for education.
• New members can find it hard to break into chapter business

 Internal Assessment

 1. Chapter Strengths and Weaknesses

 a. Strengths:

• The Chapter maintains a large membership of professionals with diverse expertise.
• Board leadership and focus is viewed as a strength in the Leadership Council and Committee (LCC) structure.
• All members have the opportunity to become involved in Chapter activities through the LCC participation.
• The Chapter historically maintains an ending equity position of nearly one year's program operating costs.
• The quality of educational programs is strong.  Formal evaluations of programs, speakers and facilities were good.
• Concurrent sessions are conducted to meet the needs of a diversified membership.
• The cost of educational programs is competitive with other regional organizations.
• The sponsorship program has matured and is a reliable source of income.
• The annual vendor fair has been sold out each year plus a short waiting list.
• Our formal job referral service is valued and used by the health professionals to their benefit.
• The long tenure of many members provides continuity in the evolution of our organization.
• National HFMA publications, programs and structure help support local chapters.
• The newsletter program is considered to be going well and is an effective communication tool.

 b. Weaknesses:

• Participation by CFO's falls short of expectations.
• Chapter operational procedures are in need of updating.
• Continuity of member participation in LCC.  Members of each Committee and Council often change dramatically from meeting to meeting.
• Committee Chairs need to practice more delegation.

Multi-Year Chapter Goals and Objectives

 The Washington/Alaska chapter of HFMA has developed goals and objectives for service to members, quality of service, and chapter growth and seeks to implement this plan over the next three years.

 1.  Goals for Service To Members

 The chapters seeks to consistently provide a broad range of educational opportunities such that education hours per member is at least equal to level set by National HFMA to earn a bronze award for education.  The chapter will also provide services to the members that are seen as value added.  This will be accomplished through the following objectives:

 Provide four or more educational events for the entire chapter each year.

• Provide one or more educational event in Alaska each year.
• Promote attendance at the Region 11 Symposium, ANI and other National sponsored events.
• Co-sponsor a meeting with another group, possibly Idaho HFMA Chapter.
• Explore distance learning technologies to provide access for more members.

 2.  Goals for Quality of Service

 The chapter seeks to improve the quality and value of all educational programs by attracting quality speakers who will speak on current and relevant topics and be able to reach out and meet the educational needs of a diverse group of healthcare financial managers.  The quality of the educational programs will be measured based on the program evaluation ratings of the subject matter and speaker.    This will be accomplished through the following objectives:

 Conduct regular evaluations of all chapter educational events and provide timely feedback to program committees, the Chapter leadership, as well as to the speakers.

• Solicit ideas for speakers on the evaluations.
• Use the annual surveys to determine suggested topics.
• Ensure that the top five requested subjects are addressed in at least two meetings each year.

 3.  Goals for Chapter Growth

The chapter seeks to enhance membership participation at all levels (including meeting attendance and participation in the Leadership councils and committees) while enhancing the satisfaction of all those who participate in HFMA activities.  The chapter has set annual goals for membership growth that matches National HFMA’s averages.  This will be accomplished through the following objectives:

 Increase CFO involvement and/or support of their staff involvement in the Chapter through personal invitation and discussions with Officers and Board members.

• Encourage current members to support a new member buddy program.
• Increase attendance at meetings by offering diverse and topical programs and distance learning opportunities.
• Provide networking opportunities for members with common specialties.
• Increase participation in the leadership councils and committees to 6% of membership.
• Provide those who join the LCC with meaningful projects to complete
• Reinstitute some form of new member orientation.
• Continue to provide recognition to all members who contribute to the LCC and the programs
• Develop leaders for the Board of Directors and the Officers
• Send members to the National Leadership Training Conference as determined by the Board
• Training of Committee Chairs and Co-Chairs.
• Purchase study guides and offer certification testing at the meetings.

 Planning and Data Gathering Process

 The Chapter leadership strives to maintain an excellent relationship with its membership.  This relationship is due largely to a continuity of involved members who have a clear desire to see the Chapter succeed.  The leadership has learned the importance of participation and commitment.  Every Chapter leader, from Committee members to the President, must have the sense of responsibility and devotion to ensure the services that the Chapter "can" provide its members are offered in a way that "will" provide the services members actually need. Maintaining awareness of member needs is an evolving process and identifying these needs is achieved formally and informally.  A review of Chapter performance trends indicates relative success in meeting needs.  Other mechanisms involve meeting evaluations and member surveys regarding their needs.  Through these assessments, Chapter strengths and weaknesses become clear. As part of its self evaluation, the Chapter requested feedback from its leadership.