WEDI, AMA And MGMA Meeting Explores New Opportunities To Improve Healthcare Efficiency

Full Day of Sessions for Medical Practices and Vendors Recorded and Posted Online

The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), the leading authority on the use of Health IT to improve the exchange of healthcare information, announced the successful conclusion of a Practice Management Simplification Workshop: Improving Physician Practice Performance through Automation.  Presented in collaboration with American Medical Association (AMA) and Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), the workshop brought together physician practices and practice management system vendors to explore how new federal mandates will improve workflow processes and increase physician practice performance and profitability. 

The entire workshop was recorded and is now available on the WEDI website. 

“Leveraging the new federal standards and the existing Health IT transactions are critical to reaching the true promise of administrative simplification,” said Devin Jopp, Ed.D., WEDI President & CEO “It’s only through an effective partnership between physicians and their practice management vendors that we can truly reduce the cost of our healthcare system and provide systems that enhance the quality of care.” 

“The need for physicians to adopt the use of electronic healthcare transactions is growing every day,” said AMA President Jeremy A. Lazarus, M.D. “It is important to encourage vendors to enhance their software product functionality to promote efficiency, electronic usability, and compliance throughout the physician practice.” 

“In a difficult economic environment, achieving administrative simplification is critical for physician practices to be able to continue providing high-quality care to their patients. MGMA is pleased to partner with the AMA and WEDI in enlisting critical trading partners in our efforts to improve efficiency and drive out administrative waste,” said Susan Turney, M.D., MS, FACP, FACMPE, president and CEO of MGMA-ACMPE. 

The AMA and MGMA’s “Selecting a practice management system toolkit,” and companion vendor directory are also available to help physician practices select the most appropriate software for their practices and take advantage of recent improvements in automation.

 About WEDI
The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) is the leading authority on the use of Health IT to improve healthcare information exchange in order to enhance the quality of care, improve efficiency and to reduce costs of our nation’s healthcare system.  WEDI was formed in 1991 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) and was designated in the 1996 HIPAA legislation as an advisor to HHS. WEDI’s membership includes a broad coalition of organizations, including: hospitals, providers, health plans, vendors, government agencies, consumers, not-for-profit organizations and standards bodies.  Please visit www.wedi.org.  

About the American Medical Association (AMA)
The American Medical Association helps doctors help patients by uniting physicians nationwide to work on the most important professional, public health and health policy issues. The nation’s largest physician organization plays a leading role in shaping the future of medicine. For more information on the AMA, please visit www.ama-assn.org.

About MGMA-ACMPE
MGMA-ACMPE is the premier association for professional administrators and leaders of medical group practices. In 2011, members of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), and its standard-setting division, the American College of Medical Practice Executives (ACMPE), voted to merge to form a new association. Since 1926, the Association has delivered networking, professional education and resources, political advocacy and certification for medical practice professionals. The Association represents 22,500 members who lead 13,200 organizations nationwide in which some 280,000 physicians provide more than 40 percent of the healthcare services delivered in the United States. MGMA-ACMPE is headquartered in Englewood, Colo., and maintains a government affairs office in Washington, D.C. Please visit www.mgma.com.