Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) is one of America’s principal membership organizations for managers and executives working in the field of healthcare financial management. In excess of 35,000 affiliates comprising of a range of leaders, from CFOs to managers to accountants, hold HFMA as a much appreciated thought leader with regards to contemporary trends and concerns in the healthcare business. HFMA associates are in all spheres of the healthcare system, consisting of medical establishments such as nursing homes and hospitals, care providing organizations, physician practices, accounting and insurance firms (Cleverley & Cameron, 2006).
The organization operates at various levels. It classifies its mode of operations in chapter, regional, and national level. HFMA assists people working with healthcare finance in facing the challenges of the contemporary healthcare industry in various ways. It provides learning, analysis, and direction to its affiliates on the subjects relating to healthcare finance. It helps to institute and support alliances with various other healthcare organizations to ensure correct representation of the healthcare finance business. It educates wide-ranging major industry managers and executives on the particulars and actualities of preserving economically sound healthcare establishments. It also works with a broad ranging spectrum of involved parties to enhance the healthcare industry by recognizing and sorting out the shortcomings experienced in knowledge, abilities, and standards (Gross & Warshauer, 2007).
HFMA helps finance executives build up and sustain an economically healthy healthcare establishment with the intention of providing first-rate patient care. HFMA members gain direct accession to the biggest network of professionals in the field of healthcare finance and thus find a means of communicating with them. They also get various benefits and services in the likes of :
- hfm Magazine and up-to-date news and event reports which informs them of the latest happenings in the healthcare market;
- Buyer’s Resource Guide enabling them to view and analyze healthcare related products and service giving them the advantage of previewing useful industry offerings for them; (Gross & Warshauer, 2007).
- Access to the Resource Library which helps them to find out standard practices and vital information on future financing aspects, the PATIENT FRIENDLY BILLING project, revenue cycle management, corporate accountability, cost management, concerns for the uninsured individuals and other critical healthcare issues;
- Affiliation to the Local Chapter Membership which enables them to obtain information about local issues and take part in various local knowledge imparting initiatives; (Cleverley & Cameron, 2006).
- Easily access Professional and Career Development Resources wherein members benefit from Revenue Cycle Strategies Conference, auditory Webcasts, e-Learning, on-site initiatives along with self-evaluations, countrywide job listings and classified resume recommendation services.
- Various beneficial services such as HFMA Wants You To Know, HFMA Special Interest Forums, HFMA’s Patient Friendly Billing newsletter, Professional Designations and Public Policy Initiatives (Berger, 2008).
Another appreciative aspect of the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) is that it appreciates and encourages diversity in its member base. Characteristic variations are seen as resources that foster the ideological enhancement and operational accomplishment of HFMA and its affiliates. In theory and in actuality, HFMA promotes and endorses a broad spectrum of individual perspectives and involvements. The organization holds that an assortment of varied affiliation enhances the eminence and worth of membership (Gross & Warshauer, 2007).
The organization inherently brings various professionals in the field of healthcare finance together. It provides a common platform for various individuals, irrespective of their ranks in the industry, to communicate, interact and learn from each other. It helps increase the knowledge base of its members by providing various useful services. In addition, the abilities of affiliates are also enhanced as they avail services like career and professional development. Overall, the organization is potent enough to improve the knowledge of its members and in the process enhance the ability of the healthcare finance industry as a whole (Cleverley & Cameron, 2006).
References:
- Berger, Steven. (2008). Fundamentals of Health Care Financial Management: A Practical Guide to Fiscal Issues and Activities. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
- Cleverley, W. O., & Cameron, A. E. (2006). Essentials of health care finance. New York: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
- Gross, M. J., & Warshauer, W. (2007). Financial and accounting guide for not-for-profit organizations. Michigan: University of Michigan.