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If you have trouble viewing this Email, click here. Associate Instructor of the Year Announced
Congratulations to Marti Geron of the University of Texas at Arlington. Marti received PMI's Associate Instructor of the Year award last week at the conference. She was commended for her commitment to education of coding professionals in her area. Through Marti's efforts, the Arlington area has grown threefold in the last year. Bob Wright received the “Network PMI Founder” award for excellence promoting networking and training among medical office professionals in the Rio Grande Valle. Sherita Eastmon won “Client of the Year” for her efforts in the Fayetteville area.
Looking Back at PMI's 2007 National Conference for Medical Office Professionals
This year's National Conference in San Antonio was a huge success! Many thanks go out to our distinguished faculty, outstanding guest presenters, the excellent staff at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, and most importantly, YOU, our PMI family. It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces and meet new members from near and far. Your enthusiasm for PMI and continuing education is commendable. We are proud to work with so many accomplished professionals in the medical practice field. Click here to view some photo highlights of the conference. And be sure to stay tuned for PMI to announce the dates of the 2008 National Conference.
First Regional Conference in Greenville, SC to be held Aug. 2-3
The Crowne Plaza Hotel will be the site of PMI's first Regional Conference for Medical Office Professionals. Hosted by Greenville Technical College, this conference will feature three popular presenters and seven informative sessions in a two-day conference format. Learn how to improve your supervision skills, audit charts like a pro, weave through the latest ICD-9 coding guidelines and submit error-free claims.
To learn more about the presenters, view course descriptions and schedule, click here.
PQRI: Is it for you?
PMI was fortunate to have David Nilasena, MD, MSPH, MS, talk with our group at last week's conference on the eligibility requirements, measures, and reporting standards of the new Physician Quality Reporting Inistiative (PQRI). Dr. Nilasena is the Chief Medical Officer of the CMS Dallas Regional Office and the regional lead for the PQRI efforts. He has also been the CMS lead for national quality improvement efforts in AMI, Heart Failure, and Stroke.
CMS offers a wealth of information for those interested in learning more about this new program. If you would like to take a crash course in PQRI, visit www.cms.hhs.gov/PQRI for a number of downloadable information pieces.
Would somebody please give me a break!
A commentary by Ione Broussard, CMC, CMIS, CMOM
 Stress is a fact of life. I know that, you know that. But why is it that there are days when nothing and I mean nothing seems to go right? And then, we are the ones left standing (barely) at the end of the day scratching our heads thinking would somebody – please just give me a break!
I also know that managed stress can become useful and healthy (viewing events as challenges). And unmanaged stress can become distressful and unhealthy (viewing events as threats). Well let me be the first to admit that if I am hanging on by a thread and you come along and pull my string or as they say, “get on my last nerve”, or you just look at me the wrong way, you better duck and I mean fast. I have witnessed people having this out-of-body kind of experience. Their unfiltered thoughts expressed on their face, enough to make you blush.
Recently I was talking about stress with some behavioral health professionals. They were explaining some causes of stress, and of course, my mind was off and running with my own thoughts and translations for each explanation.
1) Expectations we place on ourselves: Blame my parents!
2) Expectations of other: I should have a bumper stick attached to my back that says – warning stay back 500 feet! Or “I did it my way”!
3) Our physical environment – noise, movement, weather, season changes: Let's blame Bush. Everyone else does!
4) Our internal environment – professional pressure, frustration, not enough time, decisions, social life: Now on this one I had to give pause and think a bit about my categories:
a. Professional pressure = it's called work
b. Frustration = it's called hormonal
c. Not enough time = it's called work and family
d. Decisions = it's called being an adult
e. And for social life = um, what social life?
By the time I finish my work day I rush to a soccer game or worse, the grocery store and faced with the dinner decision: Hamburger Helper or chicken (again). So I cave in and end up at to go through the drive-through this time.
You may have a similar experience. Driving home in congested traffic, running through you mind what all needs to be done before you can think about soaking in the tub for 10:00 pm, you get tensed then frustrated. So you try to do the adult thing and talk about it. And guess what, you have just been given the proper diagnosis of some Nonpsychotic Mental Disorder which you'll find in the ICD-9 - 300-316 code series. AND THEN you are referred to your GYN doc for a check on your hormone level. NO KIDDING – let's just call it V62.1 and go home to your non-social life.
The good news is that there is a way out. The bad news you'll have to wait until next month for Part II of this article. I'm on a roll here…so stay with me and in the meantime, try and stay healthy. Laugh a little, dance a little, laugh a lot. It will make people stop and think – what's with her/him…. (Of course we know, it's THEM)! |
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