History - 1989

Chanhassen Medical Center was formed in 1989 from Dr. David McCollum's Chanhassen Family Medical Clinic which predated them from 1980.  Fairview Southdale Wound Care Center was founded by Fairview Southdale Hospital in 1989.

Cash balance on January 1, 1989 was $37,250.

Leadership for the Minnesota association included:  President Marge Canning, Vice President James Wilkus, Secretary David Rothschiller, Treasurer William Amery, Legislative Liaison Curtis Nielsen, Third Party Liaison HECAPP Bonnie Porte, MMA Liaisons Brad Stoneking and Suzette Biskey, Education, Allen Tank, Exhibits, Timothy Wieben, and Membership, Dan Grosskopf and Bob Bergstrom.  The MMA relationship includes a number of subject areas to which various MMGMA members are assigned annually.  These included:  MMA Medical Practices Committee Lee Hect (Mayo); MMA Task Force on the Uninsured William Amery; MMSC Endorsement Committee Pat Taillefer and William Brouwer; MMSC Insurance Committee Paul Wilkus; MMA Legislative Committee Curt Nielsen and Brad Stoneking; MMA Communications Bonnie Porte; MMA Ad Hoc Committee on Mandatory Assignment Jerry Knuesel; MMA Long-range Planning and Membership Committee Peter Bartling and Suzette Biskey; MMA Professional Liability Committee Alice Negratti; MMA MINNPAC Marge Canning.

The Winter Conference for the Association was held February 15-17, 1989, at the St. Paul Radisson.  At this conference ACMGA first offered the self-assessment exam for $50.00. The fraud and abuse statutes were discussed extensively.  Registration for members totaled 170.  The Summer Meeting was held at Scanticon.  Bonnie Porte served as Chair of this conference and Tim Wieben handled the exhibits of which there were 43.  Registration was 195 members.

Membership in August was 381 people.

Association administrative activities for the year included

• Service Award to Stan Salzman (Summer Meeting) and Tom Lietzke (Winter Meeting);

• EPA issued rules on handling of medical waste;

• David Adams working on universal physician identification number (UPIN) -- a common physician provider number and physician license number;

• Third Party Payer Liaison -- BC/BS will be implementing the Rand Corporation's "Value of Health Sciences" program placing Blues between the physician and the patient; Gramm Rudman legislation is being followed;

• Membership:  406 on February 15, 1989, may shake out to 350 dues paying members later in the year; "life members can attend a function and have the registration waived"; Life Membership for Bill Costello;

• Education:  30 registrants for ACMGA's self-assessment exam; Bill Amery reported to Board on ACMGA's new scholarship development program and MMGMA's dialogue regarding it;

• MGMA Government Relations Committee becoming more interested in greater involvement of state associations;

• Association administration:  "The Board also discussed the possibility of hiring an individual to perform many of the more time consuming responsibilities of its current directors, i.e., membership, maintaining data base, newsletter, assisting with meetings, etc.  At this point in time this issue was tabled";

• MGMA legal counsel advises that all state organizations should be incorporated;

• Legislative Committee:  Brad Stoneking and Curt Nielsen reported on a February meeting in which the main issues were Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement disparity issues and mandatory assignment; Marge Canning, Jim Wilkus and Curt Nielsen attended another meeting in which the proposed new RVS was discussed -- will be at least partially implementation in 1990 or 1991; a Minnesota State Health Plan is being proposed by Representative Paul Ogren; and

• Exhibitors/sponsors:  Tim Wilkus reports gross revenues of $20,500 with expense of about $4,000; agreed on a formalized process for recognizing contributions of vendors.
   

One hundred fifty-eight Minnesota groups are identified in the MGMA Membership Directory.

The 63rd Annual Conference of MGMA was held October 29-November 1 at the Hilton hotel in Las Vegas, under the direction of President John R. Johnson, FACMGA, Administrator of the Palo Alto Clinic, Palo Alto, California.  Members registered numbered 1,871 with 349 guests, the total registration would equal 2,220.

The 1989 President of the Midwest Section of MGMA for this year was Douglas F. Ravnholdt of the Pathology Center in Omaha, Nebraska.  The Section conference was held on July 9-12 at the Americana Resort in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.  A registration of 202 people was reported.  Midwest membership had grown to 2,408 out of a total MGMA population of 9,732, keeping the Midwest in second place among the sections.

ACMGA is headed this year by W. Robert Wright, FACMGA, of the University of West Virginia.

Gerald F. Moran became a Life Fellow in the College in 1989.