By Steve Spencer
When Lisa Beard, fresh out of college in 1994, was asked to help manage the Alabama Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) conference, she had no idea that it turn into a 30-year engagement.
“I started with Market Potential, an advertising agency in 1994. Alabama MGMA was their client,” Beard said. “We managed their conference until 1998 when the owner of Market Potential became the Marketing Director at Brookwood Hospital. The Alabama MGMA approached me to manage the association on my own at that point.”
Since then, the group has grown from around 200 members to over 700, and at the end of 2023, was re-branded as the Healthcare Leaders Association of Alabama (HLAA). The association just held their winter conference from Wednesday, March 5th through Friday the 7th at the Riverchase Galleria Hyatt Regency with nearly 200 medical practice executives in attendance, including 27 first-time attendees, along with 70 vendors manning exhibition booths.
The opening speaker was Joe Mull, whose latest book was named a top business book of the year by Publisher’s Weekly. Mull, who previously led training at one of the largest healthcare systems in the U.S., talked about building staff commitment and keeping top talent in this new age of work. That night, the entire group took buses to Top Golf for dinner and networking.
On Thursday, after breakfast, Cameron Cox, III, MHA, FACMPE, President and CEO of MSOC Health, spoke to the group about strategies to navigate burnout, while adapting to evolving challenges. In a breakout session later that morning, Cox gave a presentation on recent healthcare transparency acts have ushered in a new era of data accessibility.
“Data transparency is a concept that started four years ago with the No Surprises Act,” Cox said. “The value for physicians and administrators is that the information is available to understand what everyone’s allowables are. This gives us an opportunity to work off a position of knowledge and information when we do contract negotiations or when we’re considering joining an accountable care organization. There are numerous situations that this is applicable to.”
Other breakout speakers included Katie Tanner, PHR, a human resources professional from Gainesville, Florida; Jackie Boswell, MBA and Stephen Dickens, JD with State Volunteer Mutual Insurance in Nashville; Zack Bennett, CPA, Wes Brown, CPA and Margaret Cook, MBA from Kassouf & Co.; Mary Beth Meadows with PR Employer, a human resource outsourcing firm; and Howard Bogard with Burr Forman.
“We had an excellent panel on private equity,” Bogard said. “It included Lisa Warren, the CEO at Andrews Sports Medicine, along with Michael White and Thomas Dixon with Founders Advisors, an investment banking firm that focuses on private equity with physician practices. They brought a lot of knowledge and nuance to a discussion of the pros and cons of selling to private equity.”
All in all, the conference was a success.
“The HLA Alabama Winter Conference continues to be an excellent source of continuing education, great speakers and networking with all the healthcare leaders from around the State,” said Thalia Baker, FACMPE, the Vice President of Community Health Services at UAB Medicine, who also serves as President of HLAA. “Our vendor/affiliate members also overflowed the space and provided great opportunities for us to vet new products and services for our groups. Personally, I love the primary care break-out on the first morning. We had outstanding participation and I left that session with a list of positive to dos.”
