As the Certified Medical Office Manager (CMOM) program celebrates its 25th anniversary, we delve into conversations with two seasoned professionals, Kiva Lenzy, CMOM, and Judelin Bonares, CMOM, to understand the significance of certification in their careers.  

Elevating Your Staff Through Education

By David Womack, President of Practice Management Institute (PMI)

David Womack, the President of Practice Management Institute (PMI), recently wrote an insightful article for Oncology Practice Management on the importance of continuous education in the healthcare sector. In this article, David shares valuable strategies for elevating your staff through education, emphasizing the role of tailored training, technology, certification, and a culture of continuous learning. Below is a summary of the key points from his original article.

Practice Management Institute Forges New Partnership with Lamar State College to Bring Affordable Medical Practice Specific Training to Port Arthur and Jefferson County, TX

Practice Management Institute and Lamar State College Port Arthur have forged a partnership that will result in localized continuing educational courses for the region’s medical practice staff. Areas of concentration will be in patient experience, coding, billing, reimbursement, compliance, and the nationally recognized PMI certification tracks.

PMI is thrilled to announce that we have partnered with Foothills Medical Society (FMS) in a joint effort to provide affordable medical practice specific training and certification opportunities to its membership. This partnership supports the strong commitment of FMS to enhance the knowledge base of medical practice staff through education.

So often, providers and practice leadership are hard-pressed to find quality, localized, in-person or web-based educational opportunities for their team. As in many industries, the rules and regulations safeguarding the business of medicine are numerous and oft changing, especially those relating to and directly affecting reimbursement.

PMI is pleased to announce that we are expanding our partnership with Midland College.   Working closely to offer PMI continuing educational programming covering front desk operations, patient experience, coding, billing, compliance, and reimbursement, as well as the nationally recognized PMI certifications, this new phase in our partnership will focus exclusively on the success of the local and regional healthcare industry, providers, and practice staff.

An Interview with Rachel Bomar, MHR, SPHR, SHRM-SPC Tidal Health and Jan Hailey, MHL, CMOM, CMC, CMIS, CMCA E/M

David: Welcome everyone, thank you for joining me. Today is a little bit different for Jan and I. First of all Jan, I believe this is now the PMI shorts number three and today is a little bit different because I'm typically talking and asking Jan questions today Jan and I are asking the questions. We are joined by Rachel Bomar. Rachel is with Tidal Health, a Health Care system in Salisbury, Maryland and Tidal Health has just recently made the decision to bring CMOM on board in house however we want to phrase that for some of their personnel and we wanted to visit about that today, so having said that Jan welcome Rachel thanks for being here!

Jan: Thanks David, good to be here with you today, and welcome Rachel.

Rachel: Well thank you both for having me!

David: Absolutely. Rachel, I wanted to start off by having you just give a kind of a brief overview of Tidal Health and then also your role within the company.

PMI Shorts - Episode #2: a conversation with David T. Womack, Jan Hailey, MHL, CMOM, CMC, CMIS, CMCA E/M & Kem Tolliver, CMOM, FACMPE, CPC

David: My name is David Womack, and I am the President and CEO of Practice Management Institute. And today I am joined by Kem Tolliver and Jan Hailey. Kem and Jan are both trainers with PMI, both teach the CMOM curriculum. Today we are going to dive into not-really the CMOM class as much as Kem and Jan's CMOM journey, and how it all began with CMOM. Welcome Kem, welcome Jan.

Kem and Jan: Thanks for having us, David.

David: So initially for those who are not aware, I want to kind of share the CMOM story - how CMOM came about. This year, 2024, we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of CMOM. So, (yeah, exactly), so we're trying to give CMOM its props, tell the story, and to interact with a lot of people that have become CMOM graduates, and low and behold, here's two of our own. So in the early 90's - late 80's early '90s, PMI had our curriculum "How to be the Best receptionist", "how to be the best collector", "office management basics" class, and ICD-9 classes in-the-day, and a variety of things. And a certain segment of our audience reached out and asked, "What's next?" Being in the proverbial "ivory tower," we sat and looked at each other and thought, we really don't have anything for that. So we thought about it, went to the drawing board and created the CMOM curriculum to be kind of an overarching, almost like the last class you take as a college senior it's not gateway,... Is it a capstone? Capstone, that's exactly it, kind of ties all the pieces together, and that's what CMOM was for. We joked internally that CMOM course was going to be for "the person that missed the meeting" that showed up at work one day and said, guess who's the new office manager. That's who this class was designed for. Anyway, Jan and Kem, like I said, we had some fun putting this together - certainly a lot of memories.

Certainly without dating anybody here, you all received your CMOM certification many moons ago.

Practice Management Institute®, the New Mexico Medical Society, and the Greater Albuquerque Medical
Association Announce Sweeping State-wide Training Initiative for Affiliated Medical Practice Staff
Practice Management Institute is pleased to announce that it has partnered with the New Mexico Medical
Society (NMMS) and the Greater Albuquerque Medical Association (GAMA) in a joint effort to provide affordable
medical practice specific training and certification opportunities to its state-wide membership. This partnership
supports the strong commitment of NMMS and GAMA to enhance the knowledge base of medical practice staff
through education. The goal of the collaboration is to advance the educational opportunities of affiliated practice
staff by providing easily accessible resources from the industry experts.

So often, providers and practice leadership are hard-pressed to find quality, localized, in-person or web-based
educational opportunities for their team. As in many industries, the rules and regulations safeguarding the
business of medicine are numerous and oft changing, especially those relating to and directly affecting
reimbursement. In this venture, New Mexico practices will now be able to choose from a well-rounded selection
of courses that will go far to elevate staff and solidify the bottom-line success of the medical practice.

Bi-monthly programming will begin in May, and 2024 topics will cover all facets of practice operations such as
front desk excellence, patient experience, coding, billing, reimbursement, and compliance sessions, as well as
the nationally recognized Certified Medical Office Manager (CMOM®) legacy certification and other certification
programs offered by PMI.

Practice Management Institute® Partners with Escambia County Medical Society- Pensacola, FL In Exciting New Training Initiative for Affiliated Medical Practice Staff

Practice Management Institute is pleased to announce that it has partnered with the Escambia County Medical Society (ECMS) in a joint effort to provide affordable medical practice specific training and certification opportunities to its membership. This partnership supports the strong commitment of ECMS to enhance the knowledge base of medical practice staff through education. The goal of the collaboration is to advance the educational opportunities of affiliated practice staff by providing easily accessible resources from the industry experts.

So often, providers and practice leadership are hard-pressed to find quality, localized, in-person or web-based educational opportunities for their team. As in many industries, the rules and regulations safeguarding the business of medicine are numerous and oft changing, especially those relating to and directly affecting reimbursement. In this venture, ECMS-affiliated practices will now be able to choose from a well-rounded selection of courses that will go far to elevate staff and solidify the bottom-line success of the medical practice.

PMI is elated to announce the addition of Michelle Mauldin, BA, CMIS, to our brilliant team of Associate Instructors! The addition of Michelle to our super talented faculty pool marks another exceptional score for PMI, and for our partners and students in west Texas and beyond, all of whom will benefit from her superb skillset,  and her passion for keeping medical practice staff in the know.

A long-time member of the PMI family,  Michelle Mauldin has spent her entire professional life in the healthcare industry and has worked for longtime PMI partner Hendrick Health for 15 years. Initially, as the Employee Development Manager, Michelle was responsible for enhancing the skills of the employees within the health system by analyzing the training needs of the clinics, modifying existing training programs, and creating new ones.  

PMI’s New Medical Coding Bundle – a conversation with PMI President/CEO David T. Womack and PMI PMI’s Medical Coding Bundle Instructor and Lead Creator Jan Hailey, MHL, CMC, CMCO, CMIS, CMOM, CMCA E/M

David: Jan, first of all, thank you for doing this and second talk to us about the medical coding bundle and why it exists.  

Jan: Thank you for having me David! I have taught Practice Management Institute’s Certified Medical Coder course for many years. Recently, we have seen more people enrolling in this course that have a desire to learn and get certified, but they do not have the years of experience it takes to be successful. This is why I am especially excited about the new Medical Coding Bundle! Enrolled students have access to a progressive series of basic to intermediate-level courses. Once they are done with that training, they are ready to enroll in the top-level training: the Certified Medical Coder course. 

This series is an excellent choice because it is an inclusive program for beginners who may not have any coding experience. It was designed to meet today’s needs and bring them up to the level that it takes to be successful in the certification course and gives them a better foundation to pass the exam. 

Each of these classes is comprehensive; there are five different classes, plus a self-paced medical terminology course that the student can take. This series begins with the basics: introduction to medical coding, and then ICD-10, CPT, and HCPCS coding. Then the CMC course itself. It is a progressive series that will prepare the student to pass the CMC exam. 

Leading a busy medical practice comes with an incredible amount of responsibility. There's no time to stop and take a breath when everywhere you turn something or someone needs your attention. Whether it's hiring and supervising office staff, managing the practice cash flow, maintaining compliance, or ensuring patients are seen within a reasonable timeframe, each day presents new challenges. Studying to become a Certified Medical Office Manager (CMOM) can boost your knowledge and help you become a more effective and efficient practice manager.

Here are a few more reasons why you should get a CMOM certification:

A career as a medical coder can be very rewarding as it offers numerous benefits, all of which contribute to a fulfilling and prosperous professional path. From job security in an industry characterized by high demand to flexible work arrangements, a career in medical coding provides several opportunities for professionals seeking growth, stability, and personal fulfillment. 

If you are interested in a proven new revenue stream while at the same time being able to provide access to courses that will lift up your providers and staff, we’d love to speak with you. We’d love to explain how a training partnership with Practice Management Institute can positively affect not only your bottom line, but enhance your role as a steward of the success of the providers and practices you serve. Here’s a testimonial from one of your peers:
 
“The Medical Society of Delaware is delighted to underscore the exceptional value and numerous benefits that our educational partnership has brought to our esteemed members and their medical practices. Since the inception of this collaboration, we have witnessed transformative outcomes that have significantly contributed to their professional growth and success.

Healthcare administrationcan be a fulfilling and stable professional path for new career-climbersthat are attracted to the business side of medicine – patient administration, medical coding, billing, auditing, office management, and compliance. Beyond the front desk there’s a whole team of professionals that support the clinicians by protecting patient privacy and enforcing compliance guidelines, reviewing medical documentation, processing insurance claims, billing, and posting payments. All these roles are vital to the health of a medical office and can be a pivotal step into a career in medical office administration. 

Obtaining a certification as a medical coder can be a pivotal step in accessing lucrative job opportunities and establishing yourself as a legitimate medical coding professional.

What does a medical coder do?

Before diving right into the requirements to obtaining a medical coding certification, it’s important to understand what medical coders do. Medical Coders translate healthcare visits, diagnoses, and procedures into universally standardized codes for billing and data analysis. The primary role of a medical coder is to ensure the consistency and accuracy of medical records and the reimbursement processes.