Other Articles of Interest
A Letter from the Secretary
Kathy DeMent, CMAS®, AAMAS Secretary
I have been approached numerous times by individuals asking how I became a Certified Medical Audit Specialist®. My story is probably different from the majority of medical auditors. First, I do not hold any type of nursing degree. Yet I am the Manager of Auditing for 20 Adventist Health System hospitals totaling over 4000 beds in the state of Florida.
In college, I thought I would get into the field of education. But coming from a small town in Illinois, there were limited job opportunities. When a position opened up at the local hospital, I applied and was hired. My first job was in the pathology lab. I was trained in the Pathologist’s office and became a histological technician. I learned medical terminology and also assisted with various bedside procedures.
When the pathology lab was moved to another city, my employer gave me the opportunity to replace the purchasing agent when she retired. During my training for the purchasing position, I worked in various departments, including pharmacy, radiology, respiratory, cardiology, physical therapy and central supply.
When my husband and I moved to Florida, I was hired by Florida Hospital/Adventist Health System in the business office and worked in billing and registration. I also worked in the Managed Care Department as a contract manager, reviewing contract language and making sure our contracts were being implemented correctly. While I worked in Managed Care, the company decided to centralize the insurance defense audits for all of the AHS Florida facilities. I was asked to head up this project. This is the position I currently hold.
Looking back, I now see how all my previous experiences played an integral part in becoming a medical auditor. I am proud to say that I was the first auditor in the entire Adventist Health System to become a Certified Medical Audit Specialist®. I hope to continue auditing until the day I retire.
President Elect’s Letter
Alex Sanchez, RN, MBA, CCM, CMAS® President Elect
Is it almost the end of the year already? It feels like we were line dancing at our annual conference in Dallas just a couple of weeks ago! The AAMAS board has been diligently working on providing additional resources and making next year’s conference a success. Pat Berryessa and the Education committee have masterfully organized the seminars for the 2012 conference. In response to your survey comments, we are launching online educational resources, including webinars, with the possibility of earning credits. Next year’s board voting is quickly approaching, so now is a great time to get involved with the AAMAS board or a committee and help make a difference in our profession. As always, I welcome your suggestions and encourage you to contact me with your thoughts and feedback. Finally, I want to wish everyone a joyous holiday season and a happy new year!
Congratulations to our Newest Certified Medical Specialists
The following candidates successfully passed the certification examination given in Rome, Georgia, in October 2011:
Mickey Brittingham
Linda Keene
Karen Leach
Joni McKnight
Denise Wallace
2012 Testing Dates:
April 14 – Phoenix, Arizona (AAMAS Annual Conference)
October 20 – Rome, Georgia
Are you interested in being more involved in AAMAS?
AAMAS has two Board positions coming available in 2012, Vice President and the newly combined Secretary/Treasurer position. Just a few of the benefits are:
- The opportunity to be directly involved in the growth and future development of AAMAS
- A chance to learn more about Medical Auditing from your professional colleagues around the country
- The chance to work with a group of energetic and dynamic individuals
- Guidance and mentoring from past and current Board members
- Discounted Conference costs and registration including hotel and travel
INTERESTED in joining the AAMAS Leadership Team? Want more Information?
Please contact the Nominating Committee:
Elizabeth Sinderman at
esinderman@srhs.com or emcmath@gmail.com
Linda Morehouse at
Linda_Morehouse@carlsbadmedicalcenter.com
Dawn Ainsworth at dainsworth@rchsd.org
Hope to hear from you soon!
2012 Recertification Reminder
If your CMAS® certification expires on June 1, 2012, the Resource Center will send you a reminder in mid-December, 2011.
Please note that the Certification Council has increased the fee for Recertification to $125.00.
The deadline for receipt of your application at the Resource Center is May 31st, 2012.
Please send:
- Completed application,
- Documentation of continuing education:
a) Copies of attendance records and Certificates of Completion for 2010-2012 AAMAS conferences, or
b) Proof of completion of 36 hours of continuing education between June 1st, 2009 and May 31st, 2012: eighteen (18) hours in Core Domain 02: Medical Audit Process and Methodology and eighteen hours for all other domains.
- Check for $125.00
The Resource Center will perform the initial screening. RC has been authorized to approve recertification with proof of attending the 2010-2012 AAMAS conferences and the related Certificates of Completion. Other applications will be forwarded to a Certification Council member for review.
For those members whose Certification expires in September 2012, notices will be provided in mid-April, 2012.
New AAMAS ByLaws
Sharon Hockett, JD, Bylaws Committee Chair
Thanks to the hard work of our Board and membership, our organization has significantly amended our Bylaws. The changes reconfigured our Board as follows: Secretary/Treasurer is now one committee and Chair, reduced from two; there is now one joint Communications/Marketing committee and Chair; the Bylaws/Standards committee has been eliminated and will be reactivated as needed. Additionally, we have moved the Certification Council into a more autonomous role.
Members may question the importance of organizational documents, bylaws and vision and mission statements. I see them as tools used to well-position AAMAS as the organization leading the medical audit profession.
To see the new Bylaws, please go to http://www.aamas.org/about/aamas-bylaws.html.
Letter from the Education Chairperson
Pat Berryessa, RN, BSN, CMAS®, AAMAS Education Chairperson
If the speed with which November came is any indication, the holidays are going to whiz by and we’ll
all be in Phoenix at the AAMAS conference soaking up
the sun before we know it.
Thanks to all your feedback from evaluations, ListServ postings and individual questions, the Education committee believes we have put together a conference that has something for everyone. Based on your comments and feedback, we invited Jugna Shah to speak for us again in 2012. She requested some specific information on what our membership is asking and wanting to know. We went to the ListServ for that information and sent information along to her so that she can speak directly to your needs. As a result, she will be discussing Injections/Infusions in OBS, ER and Surgery.
As you may have noticed, our keynote speaker information is now up on the website under the Education/Annual conference link. We will be adding information about topics and speakers along the way, so please be sure to check the website frequently.
We are very excited about the 2012 conference and hope you will be also.
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