ST. LOUIS – Electronic health records aren’t just for clinicians anymore.
That’s the thinking of the Healthcare Billing & Management Association, which will highlight the importance of EHRs to third-party medical billers and billing professionals during its 2010 Annual Conference, scheduled for Sept. 12-14 in St. Louis.
Brad Lund, executive director of the HBMA, said healthcare provider interest in EHRs is “reaching new heights,” thanks in part of incentives included in healthcare reform to promote healthcare IT. He said, medical billing professionals who embrace that technology – in effect, becoming the technical manager for providers looking to implement electronic medical records and practice management systems – stand to benefit.
“On the office-based side, there really is no choice. You have to be prepared,” he said.
Mark R. Anderson, FHIMSS, CPHIMS, CEO and healthcare IT futurist for the A.C. Group, Inc., will lead an education session at the conference titled “EHR Marketplace – Hype or Reality.” He’ll also host a post-conference workshop from 1-5 p.m. Sept. 14 on “Ten Steps for Creating and Implementing Your Own EHR Program.”
Lund said an HBMA-sponsored summit held last year on EHR systems drew several hundred people, showing the growing interest among billing professionals in EHRs.
Other issues expected to be discussed at length at the conference, Lund said, include ICD-10 and HIPAA 5010 conversions, social networking, credit card processing and other alternative forms of payment, and outsourcing.
The conference will kick off on Sunday, Sept. 12, with a luncheon. Bill Finerfrock, HBMA’s government representative and vice president of health policy for Capitol Associates in Washington, D.C., will update conference attendees on how current legislative and regulatory activity is affecting the billing community at 4 p.m. that day. Monday’s events include the HBMA Annual Business Meeting and Awards Luncheon, the Grand Opening Reception – wh9ich includes a wine and cheese reception, cash drawing and silent auction – and an offsite reception at the Gatway Arch hosted by Gateway EDI.
Bill Jessee, MD, FACMPE, FACPM, who has announced he will retire next year as president and chief executive officer of the Medical Group Management Association, will give the closing keynote address.
The non-profit, member-led HBMA, founded in 1993, represents more than 650 third-party medical billing firms.
The group held its first meeting in Chicago in 1992, and now hosts spring and fall meetings. Lund said this year’s conference should attract at least 300 billing companies – a number slightly smaller than officials had hoped.
“The economy is playing a part in this, he said. “They’re cutting back on travel a bit. We’re seeing revenues drop as much as 20 percent in some markets.”
“Our message to them is this: This is not the time to be cutting back on your access to information,” Lund added. “They really need the resources, and we’ve got them.”
