Following 16 others, an Oregon association for medical managers is disaffiliating from the Medical Group Management Association and rebranding as a Healthcare Leaders Association.
Across the U.S., thousands of medical managers are members of the national MGMA, state MGMA affiliates and/or HLAs. The associations offer education and networking opportunities for leaders in medical practices.
In September, the Oregon Medical Group Management Association voted to end a 35-year affiliation with the national MGMA and rebrand the week of Dec. 16, according to Deb Bartel. Ms. Bartel is president of the state association and administrator of Woodburn (Ore.) Pediatric Clinic.
This summer, 16 associations representing 18 states disaffiliated from MGMA after the national organization changed its affiliation agreement offerings. Ms. Bartel told Becker's the Oregon association was not ready to decide on a disaffiliation when the exodus happened.
"We had to make decisions very quickly, and as a member-driven organization, we didn't feel comfortable pushing something out there when we didn't truly understand it ourselves," she said, adding that the 234-member association had 90 days before it signed another affiliation agreement. "We wanted to make sure we had time to get information out to our members, give them a lot of opportunity to ask questions so that they could feel confident in whatever the decision was."
Sixty-two percent voted to disaffiliate, and 38% voted against. By ending the relationship with MGMA, certain hours of continuing education from Oregon HLA webinars and conferences will count differently toward certification. Ms. Bartel said this was a leading reason why the decision was not unanimous.
She underlined two reasons for the disaffiliation: MGMA would not allow Oregon to work with former affiliates — particularly Washington, a longtime partner — and "there were a lot of questions that just didn't seem to get answered."
Andrew Swanson, chief revenue officer of MGMA, told Becker's the national organization has created a chapter in Oregon and the other states with former affiliates.
"There will be stronger partnership with Washington MGMA moving forward under these new circumstances so the whole of the Pacific Northwest can be best served by MGMA," he said. "The existing group's disaffiliation was motivated by their management company, who swayed the board to move in that direction. While disappointing, we will continue to serve medical practices and their teams as we have before, with the same commitment to excellence."