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New Name for the Healthcare Leader Association of Alabama Doesn’t Change its Objectives By anSley franCO
After partnering with the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) for nearly 50 years, the Alabama chapter has decided to move away from the organization. Through an affiliation agreement, Alabama has operated as an independent chapter of MGMA, a national healthcare professionals’ conglomerate, since 1976. The state chapters organize and host distinct conferences, maintain separate membership and do not share finances with the national chapter. In July 2023, the 43 state chapters under MGMA received a letter notifying them of a change in this affiliation arrangement. Three months later, Lisa
Lisa Beard
Attendees at last year’s conference in a breakout session.
Beard, executive director of the Healthcare Leaders Association of Alabama (HLAA), formerly MGMA of Alabama, met with National MGMA members during their conference in Nashville and was told there would be no alterations to
the agreement. “That wasn’t what we really wanted,” Beard said. “I think in the end, our Alabama chapter knew that financially, support-wise, we would be fine either way, and after analyzing the situ-
ation, we were confident that making this move was the right decision for our members.” Following the national conference, Alabama’s MGMA Board of Directors felt it was best to move forward outside of the brand to maintain the autonomy of its association in the future. Alabama was one of 17 chapters to leave MGMA to begin a separate organization. Three state associations became subsidiaries after failing to pass a key performance indicator, and the 23 remaining organizations signed the affiliation agreement. “Alabama is probably one of the strongest, if not the strongest state association in the country. And so for us, there
New Technology at Grandview Helps Diagnose Deadliest Cancer By anSley franCO
Grandview Medical Center became the first hospital in Birmingham to begin using Intuitive’s Ion endoluminal system, a robotic bronchoscopy platform, that allows physicians to obtain samples from deep within the lung. They are among the few centers in the state to have this technology. Paired with shape sensing technology, real-time imaging, and fiber-like optics that make thousands of calculations a second, Tyler Wahl, MD, thoracic surgeon at Grandview, said the Ion helps
with navigating within millimeters. “That’s important because if you’re talking about the difference in millimeters, for me to hit a lung nodule, those millimeters in accuracy are pretty much what determines whether you’re getting an answer or getting a nondiagnostic result,” Wahl said. Since Grandview obtained the Ion in October 2023, Wahl and pulmonologist Russell Beaty, MD have performed 100 cases. Wahl said their biopsy accuracy has jumped from 60 to70 percent to 96 percent since using the Ion. “The accuracy for sub-centimeter (CONTINUED ON PAGE 3)
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