2024 Owners & Managers Meeting

The Hotel Ivy
Minneapolis, MN

June 18th-20th, 2024

HBMA Member Registration: $1,295
*Note: Members who register more than one attendee from their company receive a $200 discount for each additional registration after the first attendee.
Non Member Registration: $1,695
 

HBMA's hotel block is $259 a night and is available until May 28th, 2024!

 

Day 1 - Tuesday, June 18th
7:00am-8:00am - Breakfast

8:00am-9:30am
Opening Session - Presented by Dave Jakielo & Bob Burleigh
This opening session begins with a review of what we will be covering throughout the conference. Every attendee will have the opportunity to share their goals for attending the conference as well as introductions of the faculty and each attendee.

9:30am-10:00am - Break

10:00am-11:30am
Industry Overview - Presented by Dave Jakielo & Bob Burleigh
2024 and beyond pose new and unique challenges for the U.S. health care industry.  Consequently, owning and growing a medical billing company must include understanding and adapting to the tidal wave of changes that are occurring in real time.  We will explore the latest and most important trends in the medical billing industry that may have a positive or negative effect on your company.  We’ll cover active and emerging trends in hospitals, practices, insurers, regulations, billing companies, technology and much more.

• Learn about the current trends and opportunities in the Medical Billing Industry.
• What are the most significant challenges and opportunities the industry is facing.

11:30am-12:30pm
Federal and State Regulations: What You Don’t Know Will Hurt You - Presented by Bob Burleigh
Growing companies must know about and understand how to comply with federal AND state laws, regulations and rules in order to grow with confidence.  Some billing companies operate in one state throughout their entire existence.  More often, company growth leads to clients in other states, many with unusual or unique legal requirements that can become expensive “tuition” for those ignorant of those laws, rules and regulations.  This session will cover some less-well-known federal regulations – and some mythologies, as well as a compendium of laws, rules, and regulations from states that apply to billing companies and their services.

12:30pm-1:30pm - Lunch

1:30pm-3:00pm
Common Billing Company Mistakes - Presented by Rebecca Light
The medical billing industry has been around since the 1940s.  Over almost 80 years, there have been many successes and failures, and significant growing pains for almost everyone.  There is no “How To” manual for starting and growing a medical billing company, but there are hundreds of examples where a little insight could have helped avoid costly – even terminal – mistakes, because intuition is seldom enough.

This session will outline the mistakes Medical Billing Companies make when it comes to:

• Compliance
• Contracts
• Expenses
• Hiring
• Management
• Marketing
• Pricing
• Software 

Avoiding operational, personnel, systems, marketing, implantation, legal, financial, management and technical mistakes can make your growth and success smoother and more profitable.  This is a “lessons learned” (the hard way) discussion, based on actual experiences.

3:00pm-3:30pm - Break

3:30pm-5:00pm
The Medical Billing Industry from a Mergers and Acquisitions Perspective - Presented by Don Wanner
Every business is part of a larger universe of competitors and companions providing identical services.  Some billing companies are intended to perpetuate themselves, mostly as family businesses, but many more have a finite beginning and end.  Understanding how your company fits into the larger universe and how financial markets view billing companies has to be a vital part of your business strategy, whether you are acquiring or being acquired, financing growth, exiting decades from now – or next year.

5:00pm-6:00pm
Harnessing ChatGPT - Presented by Dave Jakielo & Bob Burleigh
ChatGPT is one of the hottest current news topics.  It seems to be everywhere, especially in science, journalism, academics, and . . . healthcare.  This session will be an interactive class discussion of in-the-moment news stories about this dramatically evolving Artificial Intelligence software and how it is being deployed by hospitals, EMR companies, practices, medical schools and others.  Bring your examples, experiences, questions and ideas as we discuss a subject that will in our industry and our lives for everyone’s future.

• Understand what ChatGPT is, how it works and its limitations;
• Hear how early adopters are utilizing and integrating ChatGPT into operations, products, medical documentation and other innovative applications. 

6:00pm-7:30pm - Opening Reception

Day 2 - Wednesday, June 19th
7:00am-8:00am - Breakfast

8:00am-9:00am
Billing Company Staffing Models - Presented by Dave Jakielo & Bob Burleigh
How you structure your company can make a huge difference in your ability to grow, as well as your effectiveness and profitability.  This session will describe the most popular models: Teams/Client Model, Functional Model or Hybrid Models, and the pluses and minuses of each.  There are hallmarks for when to transition from one model to another that will serve your goals of maintaining and improving client results, efficient staffing, staff development, effective use of remote and offshore staff, and profitability.  

Staffing models will be indexed to Revenue and Cost Per FTE, Revenue and Cost Per Claim, Claims Per FTE, variances by specialty, variances by billing system(s) and other factors.  This session will invite attendees to participate in a debate about each alternative.

9:00am-10:00am
Mastering Remote Management: Leading High-Performing Teams from Anywhere - Presented by Dave Jakielo
Are you struggling to adapt your management style for a remote workforce? This session equips you with the tools and techniques to effectively lead and motivate your team, even when miles apart.

In this interactive session, you'll learn:

• The key differences in managing remote vs. in-office teams. Discover how to adjust your communication, goal setting, and performance evaluation strategies for a virtual environment.
• Building trust and fostering collaboration across distances. Learn practical tips to keep your team connected, engaged, and working seamlessly together.
• Strategies for maximizing productivity and accountability with a remote workforce. Explore tools and techniques to ensure your team is on track and delivering results.

Leave this session with actionable strategies to:

• Strengthen communication and build a positive remote work culture.
• Set clear expectations and empower your team for success.
• Measure performance and provide effective feedback in a virtual setting.

Join us and unlock the full potential of your remote team!

10:00am-10:30am - Break

10:00am-11:30am
Compliance Update & the Endless Surprises Act - Presented by Holly LouieThe “No Surprises Act”, has become the Endless Surprises Act. It appears that CMS may never be able to develop and implement regulations that withstand legal challenges - at least so far. Although all the litigation and focus to date has been centered around the IDR process and QPA arguments, the complete lack of enforcement on commercial payers has not been seriously addressed by CMS. And what’s next for the office based issues and looming additional rules?  Do state laws matter?

Part 2 of this session will focus on a variety of compliance hot topics that affect our members and our clients.

12:00pm-1:00pm - Lunch

1:00pm-2:30pm
Medical Billing Agreements to Protect You and Your Clients - Presented by Mark Cunningham 
“An oral contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on,” is an old cliché, but one that is highly relevant for medical billing contracts.  We will cover the legal and business components of what a billing agreement should address, protecting the company and the customer, while minimizing the prospects of compliance problems and litigation.  A sample agreement will be included, along with discussion of specialized clauses that address services such as: coding, provider enrollment, data ownership and return, termination procedures, and others.

2:30pm-3:00pm - Break

3:00pm-4:30pm
Exploring New Markets - Presented by Dave Jakielo & Bob Burleigh
Growing your business may require selecting and adding additional services and/or specialties.  Or narrowing your list of specialties, based on careful assessments of opportunities, costs and risks.  This session will provide checklists, analysis templates and guidance on what to consider as you design your company’s future, rather than just react to the whims of chance and random events.  

1. What are the hallmarks of a good opportunity?  
2. What are the signs of risk and doom?
3. Where are the opportunities in your area, specialty(s), software, or interests?
4. Are there new skills required, or new software?
5. What will success look like, and how long could it take? 

Attendees will learn about:

• The most promising new markets for medical billing services
• How to identify and target new customer segments
• The unique challenges and opportunities of each market
• Strategies for developing and marketing new services
• Case studies of successful medical billing companies that have expanded into new markets

This session is ideal for medical billing company owners, managers, and sales professionals who are looking to grow their business by exploring new markets.

4:30pm-5:30pm
Effective Management of Offshore Services - Presented by Rebecca LightOffshore support services for medical billing companies are now almost three decades old.  There are many operating models and now world-wide choices in Asia, Central America, Africa, Europe and “near-shore.”  Managing these resources – whether by a vendor, a subsidiary, direct employment or other models, requires thoughtful planning, careful selection and, most of all, well-planned and implemented management and reporting in order to get the full value of your choice.  In addition, risk management is equally, if not more important!

You will get insights and “lessons learned” about the many options, as well as the benefits, risks and challenges of each. In addition, you’ll learn about assessing: implementation, growth,  scale, skills inventories, worker experience, system knowledge, company depth and leadership of the many available choices.

5:30pm-7:00pm - Opening Reception

Day 3 - Thursday, June 20th
7:00am-8:00am - Breakfast

8:00am-10:00am
Benchmarks and KPIs - Presented by Bob Burleigh & Rebecca Light
This ever-popular session covers WHAT to measure, HOW to measure it, WHEN to measure, WHY to measure it and the importance of each.  You’ll get all of the formulae, methods for gathering the data and how to deduce what cannot be obtained.  Operating a successful, profitable company demands knowing your operation, as well as how you are performing for your clients.  Sample reports will be provided.

• Are you providing excellent service to your clients based on industry KPI’s?
• Learn what you need to expect and inspect.
• Are you optimizing your operation, based on productivity and operating metrics?

10:00am-10:15am - Break

10:15am-11:45am
Developing a Winning Proposal - Presented by Dave Jakielo & Bob Burleigh
Some opportunities are direct referrals without any competition.  More often, new opportunities require a written proposal that will be compared with proposals from other billing companies.  What are the characteristics of a winning proposal?  This session will cover how to structure your proposal, what to include – and what to leave out, how to customize each proposal for a specific opportunity, and, how to use the KISS Principle, without leaving out important content.

Handshakes and verbal “proposals” are common causes of misunderstandings, and often lead to litigation arising from misunderstood expectation (on both sides), making a written proposal as important as a strong billing agreement.  This session will provide an outline of what should be in your “standard” proposal, as well as a discussion of the key contents.  “Winning” is not just having your proposal accepted, it’s having a proposal that assures there are well-aligned expectations that will sustain long-term relationships.

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Disclosures:

Health & Safety 
HBMA is committed to your health and safety. COVID-19 protocols will be implemented and followed based on federal and state requirements. If any attendee is exhibiting symptoms, they will be asked to leave the conference area. 

Photography
During the HBMA Annual Conference, HBMA and/or its designated representatives may take photographs or video recordings of conference attendees, and HBMA may use these materials for its editorial or marketing purposes. Conference attendees acknowledge that their image, likeness or voice may appear in these materials. By attending the HBMA Annual Conference, attendees’ consent to HBMA’s use of their image, likeness or voice for HBMA’s editorial or marketing purposes in connection with any materials in which attendees appear. 

Terms of Payment & Cancelation
Mailed registrations must be accompanied by check made payable to HBMA in the full registration amount. HBMA will provide for a full refund of registration fees, less an administrative processing fee of $150, for any cancelations received in writing more than thirty (30) days prior to the event. No refund for cancelation will be made for requests after this time.

Changes in Registration
Registrations that require changes, such as attendee substitutions, will incur a $50 fee per change. Please contact the national office at info@hbma.org for any updates to registration.

Terms are subject to change at any time without notice.