The 2011-2012 Fiscal Year is in the books and the 2012-2013 year is now underway. It was a fabulous year as we celebrated our 40th Birthday under the leadership and guidance of Mr. Lance Spindler who did an excellent job of continuing with the vision of HFMA, "To be the indispensable resource for healthcare finance".

This past year we increased the programs offered to our members as well as the educational hours provided and taken advantage of. We experienced a 5.7% increase in our membership, and we met or exceeded all other Davis Chapter Management System (DCMS) goals.  In addition to meeting the professional and educational needs of our members, we realized that life is all about balance so we also brought some fun new social activities to the chapter this year.  This by far may have been one of our greatest successes. With the joint efforts of other professional medical associations in our community such as ACHE, HIMSS, and MGMA we offered the first ever Holiday Mixer in December and our First Annual Golf Tournament in May. I am proud to announce that our very first philanthropic efforts not only brought cash and toys to our local Children’s Hospitals during the holidays, but also allowed us to present the Cleveland Clinics Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health with a $10,000 check that will go toward funding additional research in the fields of ALS, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s. We should all be very proud of our contributions.

As we move forward, my primary goal for this year is to carry on the philosophy and inertia that’s been created by HFMA and the leadership before me, and to take our chapter to the next level for all our very important members without whom we wouldn’t exist. Your input regarding your satisfaction with the Chapter and the service, education, and socials we offer is invaluable to how strong or weak we are. We listened to what you had to say through the annual satisfaction surveys you provided and have designed the next year with you, the members, in mind.

We have a great calendar of educational events scheduled for the year. The year kicked off in June as the host Chapter for ANI once again here in Las Vegas. We are very fortunate to have a past president, Joel Aas, who headed up the coordination for this effort and made us proud by doing an excellent job. ANI will is followed in August by 4 hours of education regarding the impact of the Affordable Care Act and what we should all expect to come out of this legislation.  The presenters of this education include Dwight Hansen from the Nevada Hospital Association who will speak to the local impact and by Chad Mulvaney from HFMA National who will speak to the national impact of the ACA. This was the number one request for education on our last satisfaction survey (78% of the membership asked for this). You don’t want to miss this session.

September brings us once again to the Nevada Hospital Association’s Annual Meeting in beautiful Lake Tahoe, followed shortly thereafter by the Nevada Healthcare Forum in October. This annual event is always well attended and has grown in size and importance each year. It speaks directly to those issues that affect us in our home state. In October we will also be hosting the annual UNLV vs. UNR football game and tailgate party held at UNLV's Sam Boyd Stadium this year.

In January the Region 11 Symposium will be here in Las Vegas once again. This is the last year it will be in Las Vegas for some time as it is moving to San Diego for the next three years. If you have not experienced Region 11, please don’t miss it because it is the largest educational event each year for HFMA, second only to ANI. The year will then end once again in May with our 2nd Annual Golf Tournament and Annual Members Meeting. Our first golf tournament was a huge success and looks to be even bigger and better this next year.

As always, peppered throughout the year we will be bringing you a many other fun and exciting education and social events. The Third Thursday Social Networking opportunities will continue throughout the year in Las Vegas and Reno. We will be coordinating with our other Regional Chapters such as Northern California and Southern California to co-sponsor their Fall and Spring Seminars respectively. We are coordinating with the Northern California Chapter to bring PFS Road Shows directly to your facilities. If you are interested in having a road show visit your facility, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Finally we will be scheduling webinars this year as we know that it is difficult for many to pull away from their desks during the day. We hope that these webinars give you the opportunity to gain some valuable education while minimizing the interruptions to your daily activities. As you can see we are working hard for you. We have listened to your concerns and requests and are doing everything possible to make this a Chapter we can all be proud of. My goals for the year are big. I plan on increasing the education we bring to you, increasing the membership, and providing the education and opportunities necessary to increase the number of members we have certified in our Chapter. If there is anything I can do for you personally or professionally, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at president@hfma-nv.org. Please visit our website at www.hfma-nv.org; we have put a lot of effort into increasing the flow and efficiency of the website. All of our information regarding the chapter, the education, and the social events are posted on the site.

Lastly,  we have also taken advantage of the latest technology in social and professional networking so please join us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter for up to date posts on current affairs, socials, news, and Chapter events. Thank you very much for being a member, and thank you for your support.