as ama, mgma, and hfma, whose members number in the thousands. over the years hbma has survived and delivered. Dave Purvis President: 2002–2003 as i came into office as president of hbma, the association was in the process of recovering from some difficult financial issues. as a result, we did a lot of soul searching about our core competencies and the directions that we needed to take to keep us on a path toward a solid future for both our finances and leadership. What we determined was that our government relations and compliance activities were the most relevant and compelling reasons for our members to belong to hbma. they were the activities that would solidify our future in the healthcare industry. We had been providing education to our members, but we needed to make a larger scale education program to get us on a solid financial footing. so, we expanded our educational offerings with webcasts and regional educational conferences on top of our annual conferences, with a focus on compliance and regulatory hurdles. at the same time, we worked to align our leadership, expand the board, and focus on recruiting the future leaders of hbma. We must have been successful, because look at how far we have come. thank you to all the past and current leaders. We should all be proud of what we have built together! Bob Burleigh President: 2003–2004 in september 2003, i had the honor and privilege of succeeding dave Purvis to become hbma’s eighth president in our ten-year history. our 2003 annual fall conference was held in Philadelphia – my hometown – and, in addition to a solid program, attendees were treated to a visit from ben franklin and to close access to many of america’s most historic sites. during our board meeting in Philadelphia, i established the first regularly scheduled monthly board meetings and redistributed committee leadership and oversight duties amongst the board. in 2003 – 2004, hbma still operated regional chapters and i personally attended all but one meeting. the 2004 spring 16 hbma billing • march.aPril.2013 conference was held in san francisco and was enjoyed by a growing number of hbma members and exhibitors. our finances were still recovering from the theft of hbma funds by our former management company a few years earlier. unfortunately in early 2004, despite much more rigorous controls and the use of an outside cPa firm to handle our bookkeeping and payables, we were once again victims of a dishonest employee, this time of the accounting firm. fortunately, our prior precautions served us well, as did the special audit committee i appointed to conduct an independent review of these events. in the end, hbma was “whole;” our treasurer was able to reestablish financial controls, and our newly selected cPa firm has served us well ever since. the 2004 annual fall conference brought many logistical challenges. our choice of a south florida venue during hurricane season was ill-considered, despite over a decade of storm-free autumns. 2004 brought a series of back-to-back september hurricanes. hbma had to “thread the needle” between these storms in order to hold our conference in boca raton. before, during, and after our meeting, the local area and many other parts of florida were without power, water, and passable roads. in the weeks following our conference, these storms caused many of our florida member companies to shut down for three to ten days. as with many, if not all, hbma presidents, what was accomplished during my year as president was the result of a team effort, notably by my fellow board members. Without their dedicated, steadfast work and commitment to the industry and our association, we would not have been able to move hbma forward and position it for further growth and the additional improvements that came in the decade that followed. at the end of my term, i passed the president’s gavel to tim maher, a charter member and good friend. Tim Maher President: 2004–2005 (may he rest in peace) By Bing Herald tim maher’s hbma presidency from 2004 to 2005 was marked by both adventure and success. during this time, the association saw changes to its regional roadshows, which went nationwide. in response to the (A Chronology of HBMA continued) HBMA President Don Rodden poses with past presidents at the HBMA 2012 Fall Annual Conference.
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