North Dakota Chapter
Healhcare Financial Management Assosication
Greetings!
The North Dakota HFMA Communication December 2018
President's Message
Brianna Engeseth
It’s crazy to think the holidays are already upon us! With the hustle and bustle of the season and all that the close of the year brings with it whether at work or at home, it often feels like you blink and a month has flown by. Hopefully we can all pause in the midst of the craziness and recognize the true gift of today. One of my favorite sayings is, “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.”

As we close 2018 and move to 2019, we have a lot to look forward to. Our Vice President and Education Chair, Ashley Brandt-Duda, along with the Member Education Committee, has been hard at work planning 2019 events. Aside from our Region 8 monthly webinars, we will also have our North Dakota Annual Institute in February and the Concordia Spring Healthcare Institute in March. Our annual conference will once again take place in Bismarck, ND beginning at noon on Wednesday, February 27 and concluding at noon on Friday, March 1. Look for an email with final details, registration, and agenda in January. You should have received a Save the Date email for the Spring Healthcare Institute, hosted by the North Dakota and Minnesota chapters of HFMA and Concordia College. This event will take place March 28-29 in Moorhead, MN. Both events provide a wonderful opportunity to not only get great education but also network with your peers. I’d strongly encourage you to attend both!

Another thing to look forward to in 2019 is the return of the membership directory. Past NDHFMA Presidents Cindy Fischer and Tim Blasl, along with sponsorship chair Tom Kloster, have been busy compiling information for the directory and we expect it to be finalized and sent out by the end of December. The directory will be a great resource for connecting with your NDHFMA peers and staying informed on our conference dates.

Finally, I want to update you on a change coming from National HFMA regarding your individual membership renewal and billing. Membership terms will now be one year beginning on the day you join HFMA (previously all terms ended May 31). Individual members will have individual renewal dates. This means when a member joins HFMA, they will pay the full yearly dues rather than a prorated amount like what was done historically. Additionally, HFMA is now offering auto renewal billing. Automatic renewal is available when you join or renew your HFMA membership online. As a member you can update your automatic renewal preferences at any time by visiting your membership profile online. If you have questions about auto-renewal you can contact HFMA Member Services directly at 800-252-4362.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss the opportunities available through HFMA, please feel free to reach out to me at brianna.engeseth@bcbsnd.com.
Thank you for your continued support of NDHFMA!

Brianna Engeseth
President, 2018-2019 North Dakota Chapter of HFMA
Sandra Bohrer
Northland Health Partners, CHC
CFO
Turtle Lake
(701) 448-2054

Patrick Butler
Northland Health Partners, CHC
CEO
Turtle Lake
(701) 448-2054

Nick Chaput
Essentia Health
Business Partnering Manager
(701) 265-2480

Derek Schaff
Linton Hospital
CFO
Linton
(701) 254-3112
NDHFMA Annual Institute
     February 27 –March 1, 2019
   Bismarck

Concordia Spring Institute
    March 28 – 29, 2019
   Moorhead, MN

Region 8 Webinars
    3rd Tuesday of each month
    11:30am - 12:30pm
   Watch for emails!

See www.hfma.org for additional educational opportunities such as webinars and virtual conferences.
For more information or if you have suggestions for conference topics, please email Ashley J. Brandt-Duda at abrandtduda@eidebailly.com
Price Transparency and Posting of Standard Prices

Beginning January 1, 2019, hospitals must post their standard charges for all items and services in a machine readable format via the internet.

CMS has issued a FAQ on this issue. It can be found at:

The FAQ indicates that a machine readable format includes CSV or XML types. It also indicates that PDF files are not easily imported into a computer system and not sufficient.

These rules apply to all hospitals operating in the United States (including CAHs).

Come join the fun of learning and networking at the next HFMA conference in February!
*Participants at the NDHA Meeting in October!
HFMA Region 8 Update

Hello HFMA Region 8 Members! It’s hard to believe that it is almost 2019! The year has flown by, and HFMA has accomplished a lot. The holidays are upon us, and it is my favorite time of the year. It is the time of year where I often pause and reflect over the last year and think about what is coming up over the next year. It is the time of year that is full of tradition, family, and giving. 

Over the last year we have continued to work as a national association, a region, and local chapter level to provide timely, accurate, and appropriate healthcare information and networking to our members. You have seen some of this with our Region 8 webinar series, and a successful Mid-America Summer Institute in Kansas City that we held this year. Our next Mid-America Summer Institute will be held at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown on August 5-7, 2019 . The location is perfect for us and located near the bustling Power & Light District. We decided to sign a two-year agreement with the Kansas City Marriott Downtown to lock us in for the 2020 year as well to take advantage of pricing discounts. Your MidAmerica Summer Institute team is already hard at work engaging fantastic speakers and planning for this great event. Additional information on MASI 2019 is coming soon! 

In September your Chapter Presidents and President-Elects met in Chicago for the Fall President’s meeting. This annual meeting is when your chapter leaders discuss the strategy of HFMA at a national, regional, and local level. One of the key areas the team decided to evaluate was the utilization of additional support at a regional level to assist the chapters with some of the administrative and management responsibilities. 

In my last letter, I mentioned bringing in DeMarse to help us manage and plan for our MidAmerica Summer Institute and the Regional webinars. We signed the agreement with DeMarse in July and have seen a positive impact with our planning and management of these events. Because of this, we are also looking at expanding their role to include increased management and oversight at the chapter level within the region to take advantage of economies of scale. You will see more on this as we continue to evaluate it. 

Our region (Region 8) made up of Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Sunflower (KS), Minnesota, and Greater Heartland continues to be one of the strongest regions in the country. Traditionally “strength” has been measured through how much education we are providing to members, member satisfaction, the amount of networking opportunities, and other metrics. Next year we are going to modify the way we look at measuring the strength of chapters and regions. This will include measuring membership growth , value to the member , and membership engagement . These will be measured at a total association level, as well as regional and local levels and will help us continue to ensure we are providing the highest level of service to the members possible. 

Speaking of membership growth! The enterprise membership focus, which works at bringing large employers as a whole into HFMA membership, has been working hard and has been successful. As an example, our Greater Heartland chapter has gone from 878 members last year to more than 4,200 as of December this year. This is significant growth that is very good for our chapters, and association. However, it also brings some challenges that need to be considered. How do we engage all these new members? What kind of education should we focus on with these new members? And what format? Greater Heartland has embraced this well and is working hard to ensure that the new members are receiving a warm welcome and realizing the benefits of HFMA. There are other chapters that are also going to experience similar growth due to the enterprise membership focus. As we continue to grow, your HFMA leadership teams will manage this growth effectively. 

I wish all of you a very safe and happy holiday season filled with family and fun. As always, please let your HFMA leadership team know if there is anything we can do to help. 

Sincerely,
Chris Vairo
HFMA Region 8 Regional Executive




 
New Medicare Card Project updates: Noridian offers two ways to obtain the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) if the beneficiary is unable to provide a copy of their new card. The two options are:

The MBI Look-Up Tool through the Noridian Medicare Portal (NMP). The new portal feature will only return the MBI if the patient's new Medicare card has been mailed. Learn more:

 
Remittance Advices generated after October 1, 2018 through December 31, 2019 will also provide the MBI. CMS will return both the new MBI and Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) when providers submit a claim with a valid and active HICN. The MBI will be reported in the same place as the "changed HICN" today.
 
Clinicians Corner: Do you order Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetic, Orthotics and Supplies (DMEPOS) for your patients? If so visit the Noridian Clinician Corner for helpful DMEPOS information including Resource Letters, Checklists and Hot Topics to help get your patients the items they need. Learn more: 


Thank you,
Provider Outreach & Education Team
Congrats and best wishes to Jodi Atkinson from your ND chapter of HFMA on your retirement!

Jodi earned the Frederick T. Muncie Gold merit award in 2006. She also went through NDHFMA officer chairs and represented the chapter as president in the 2008/2009 year.  Well done!!
SAVE THE DATE!!!
NDHFMA Concordia Spring Institute
The annual Spring Healthcare Institute, hosted by Concordia College and the Healthcare Financial Management Associations of N.D. and Minn., will be held in March at the Courtyard by Marriott in Moorhead, Minn. 
March 28-29, 2019
This is your chance to learn from leaders in the healthcare industry. Mark your calendar today and plan to attend.
 
Participate in the whole conference or one full day. (Schedule to be announced)
Why attend the Healthcare Institute?

  • In-person sessions discussing issues related to your healthcare career
  • Connections with other area healthcare professionals (think about the power of a group of advisors to help discuss items in real-time!)
  • The chance to interact with speakers and ask questions
  • Distraction-free learning with real-life application 

You're probably multitasking when you watch webinars. This in-person event allows you to concentrate on the education necessary to help you succeed in your career and grow your healthcare entity. Plus, you’ll meet speakers and connect with others in the profession. 
 
Make plans to join us in March!

For more information, contact Carol Hedberg at 218.299.3305.
2018-2019 North Dakota HFMA Chapter Sponsors
DIAMOND

PLATINUM

GOLD
Altran Health
DCI Credit Services
HSIsolutions
Independent Healthcare Consultants
Procollect Services
Xtend Healthcare

SILVER
Clear Balance
Commerce Bank
HCIS-Vaaler
I.C. System, Inc
Presort Plus
,