HFMA Chair Urges Teamwork, Better Patient Care

No one achieves success on his own – that's the message Healthcare Financial Management Association Board Chair Gregory Adams delivered at Monday's keynote at the 2011 ANI: The Healthcare Finance Conference in Orlando.

As day two of the annual conference opened, financial leaders listened to Adams recount a tale from his days as youth basketball coach. While working with an exceptional player who considered his skills as more important than those of others on the team, Adams brought the boy back to reality by asking him, "Who passed you the ball?"

"You have to have an appreciation for the talents that everyone on the team brings," he said.

Adams' tale served as an analogy for how roles in the healthcare team are broadening, and require everyone on the team to embrace the skill sets of each member and how they can be an asset.

"The days of the suits versus the white coats are over," he said.  "It's time to work toward the goal of better patient care."

Adams' statement on teamwork comes on the heals of an announcement by HFMA that it  will be working with Parallon Business Performance Group, and as a subsidiary of HCA Holdings Inc. The collaboration is designed to improve revenue cycle excellence for hospitals and system through the MAP initiative. Parallon will provide HFMA with key financial data from HCA's 164 hospitals.

MAP, launched in 2010, is an initiative to gather information financial leaders need to measure performance, apply evidence-based strategies for performance improvement and to help hospitals and health systems perform to the highest standards.

"We have to learn to thrive with the new rules. Keep trying … and don't be afraid to fail," said Adams in his conference keynote. "And be ready for when a teammate passes you the ball."