Leadership insights: Finding ROI by paying it forward as a healthcare leader

For healthcare leaders interested in pursuing the ACMPE Certification, a first-person story about the value of that educational exercise – and industry mentoring – may provide some helpful inspiration.
 
Debbie Hudson, business development and account executive at SVMIC, says her certification training helped provide a sense of professional fellowship that has helped as she’s faced challenges in her career, just as mentoring has been invaluable to her personal growth.
 
Hudson will be appearing at MGMA’s Medical Practice Excellence: Leaders Conference in Boston, held Oct. 9-12, where she will be co-hosting the ACMPE Certification Bootcamp. MGMA recently spoke with Hudson about the opportunities provided through certification.

Editor’s note: The following Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.
 
Q: What can somebody expect to learn in the workshop’s three hours?
 
A: The ACMPE Certification Bootcamp is an extensive three-hour review of the Body of Knowledge (BOK), the framework of the certification exams. We’re going to go through every one of the six domains … it’s going to be a gallop. But we have three hours. We’re going to answer questions, we have sample questions from all the domains, and the attendees will go back home with a bank of questions, sort of a sample test, if you will, that they can go home and test their own knowledge against what they have learned. And then we’re going to give some test-taking tips … kind of how to calm yourself down during the test-taking process.
 
Q: Tell us about how you got the mentoring bug, so to speak. Did you have great mentors on the way?
 
A: I’m a product of mentoring. I’ve worked in several industries – fashion, merchandising, banking, lending. And I have never seen an industry that had such a camaraderie of people who wanted to see other succeed. So specifically, within MGMA, I want to be a lifetime learner. And I encourage other people to do the same. I feel that the BOK is a roadmap for success – it was for me. And if you study the BOK, whether you ever take the test or not, you’re going to be a better practice executive.
 
Q: When you think about some of the places where either you’ve gotten promoted or found a solution within a medical practice or within your job, what has that lifelong learning and education through MGMA done for you in those situations?
 
A: It has given me exposure to people who are experts in the field, who have done the work, who have the credentials, who are respected by their peers. It’s given me access to knowledge, it’s given me access to data, and then a kind of network of people that I can always draw from, and that still invest in me today. It gives me a chance to be part of a network of people who want to give back.
 
Q: Where did you get that “giving back” attitude?
 
A: In every job that I’ve had, in everything that I have done, I have found a network of people who cared enough. You know, the world is very competitive in a lot of different industries. And to find people who want me to succeed, makes me want to be a person who wants to see others succeed. … But when you watch someone else that you’ve helped along the way fill in their gaps or kind of clear a roadblock … if you see them succeed with their goals, it’s hundreds of times better than actually doing it myself.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU 

We'd love to hear from you. Tell us what you think. Let us know if there's a topic you want us to cover or an expert you would like us to interview. Email us at podcasts@mgma.com

The MGMA Insights podcasts are produced by Daniel Williams, Rob Ketcham and Decklan McGee. 

Sponsor:

SocialClimb — Are you still asking your patients, “How did you hear about us?” Your great reputation, fantastic website, and amazing advertising campaigns don’t matter if they don’t bring in new patients. If you’re not collecting data on your marketing efforts, you’re wasting your marketing spend. Learn how Social Climb's platform helps you get more patients with data-backed marketing that tracks patients from first touch to a scheduled visit and beyond.