After leading the Medical Group Management Association for more than a decade, President and CEO William F. Jessee, MD, announced today that he will retire in the fall of 2011.
"I've been blessed to have the opportunity to spend the last 11 years working with a marvelous staff and dynamic boards of directors, during an incredibly exciting period for our nation's healthcare system," Jessee said in a media release.
The 21,500-member association for professional administrators and medical group practice leaders expects the successor search to take nine to 12 months when it is formally launched.
"MGMA was a successful association before Bill's arrival, but his leadership and vision have taken us to new heights," said Forrest D. Danner Jr., MGMA board chair and vice president and COO, Aspirus Clinics Inc., in Wausau, WI. "He elevated the visibility and credibility of MGMA and the profession of medical practice management and has become the face of MGMA."
Before joining Englewood, CO-based MGMA in 1999, Jessee was vice president for quality and managed care standards at the AMA. He also holds academic appointments as clinical professor of preventive medicine and biometrics at the University of Colorado Health Sciences, and as adjunct professor of health policy and administration at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health.
Established in 1926, MGMA's 21,500 members lead 13,700 organizations nationwide in which some 275,000 physicians provide more than 40% of the healthcare services delivered in the United States. MGMA's mission is to improve the performance of medical group practice professionals and the organizations they represent. MGMA promotes the group practice model as the optimal framework for healthcare delivery, assisting group practices in providing efficient, safe, patient-focused, and affordable care.