A Message From Your Executive Director

I often wonder who has the harder task: the physicians who see patients or the office managers who make everything work up to, but excluding, seeing the patients. This, our third-annual issue of San Diego Physician, is focused exclusively on physicians' office managers because we at the San Diego County Medical Society (SDCMS) recognize that absent effective support from office managers and the office staff, physicians cannot do their job of healing patients.

When asked what exactly it is we do as a medical society, my answer is, "We do good for those who do good" — we help physicians so that they can help their patients. Likewise, your office staff does good so you can do good, and our mission is to support them in that endeavor. A good office manager can improve your practice's efficiency and increase its productivity. And that's where your SDCMS can help.

Your office manager's responsibilities run the gamut from administrative duties such as handling the mail, filing, assisting staff, establishing office policies, leading staff meetings, ordering supplies, managing office IT and office equipment, managing contracts, and OSHA training, to accounting duties such as reviewing daily deposits, managing payroll, preparing budgets, running monthly reports, and to human resources duties like hiring, firing, and evaluating staff, managing employee benefits, managing health plan contracts, ensuring regulatory compliance, billing, coding, oh, and finally ... ensuring you're happy.

Which is where we come in. Along with assembling a robust portfolio of member physician benefits (see bottom), we have for the past several years been working toward developing an equally robust set of benefits for your office manager, which begins with Lauren Wendler, your full-time, SDCMS office manager advocate. Lauren is here specifically to assist your office manager with his or her job. If she doesn't know the answer, she'll get it. Along with the assistance of Lauren, we offer our member office managers:

• A discounted certified medical coder (CMC) course (see page 26 for more information and to sign up).
• A discounted certified medical office manager (CMOM) course (our next CMOM course will be held in the spring of 2010).
• Networking with other San Diego County medical office managers at our regular office manager forums and via our SDCMS medical office manager listserv.
• Professional development by attending, free of charge, SDCMS' seminars and webinars, covering topics such as:
  • HIPAA
  • OSHA
  • contract management
  • contract negotiations
  • risk management
  • legal issues
  • revenue cycle management
  • legal notices
  • dealing with problem employees
  • coding to optimize compliance and reimbursement
  • marketing the medical practice
  • Medicare updates
  • e-prescribing
  • collections
  • electronic medical records
  • sexual harassment
  • Palmetto GBA transition issues
  • disciplinary procedures and terminations
  • billing
• Free, annual San Diego County physician mailing lists to market your practice.
• Free, annual SDCMS pictorial membership directory to help you make referrals.
• A free coding hotline.
• A free subscription to San Diego Physician with its great practice management articles and resources.
• Free classified advertising in San Diego Physician and on SDCMS.org.
• Discounted display advertising in San Diego Physician.
• A free subscription to San Diego Magazine for your waiting room.
• Discounts on magazine subscription services.
• Free access for both member physicians and their office managers to valuable, members-only content at SDCMS.org.
• A discounted, do-it-yourself HIPAA privacy and security compliance toolkit.
• Free access to thousands of pages of medical-legal, regulatory, and reimbursement information through CMA's online library, CMA ON-CALL.
• Deep discounts on everyday office supplies from Staples.

Please pass this issue of San Diego Physician along to your office manager and let him or her know that we're here to help! Contact Lauren Wendler at (858) 300-2782 or at LWendler@SDCMS.org with any questions or if you think we should be providing a certain benefit you don't see listed here. And, as always, thank you for your membership in SDCMS and CMA!

SDCMS Endorsed Partner Benefits

SDCMS member physicians save thousands of dollars in free and discounted products and services from our many endorsed partners. Contact Janet Lockett, your SDCMS director of membership development, at (858) 300-2778 or at JLockett@SDCMS.org for details on our endorsed partner benefits or to suggest an additional benefit:

Member Benefit Category • Endorsed Partner

• Accounting Services • AKT CPAs and Business Consultants
• Banking Products and Services • Torrey Pines Bank
• Billing solutions • CHMB Solutions
• Collections Services • TSC Accounts Receivable Solutions
• Contract Analysis • Coastal Healthcare Consulting Group, Inc.
• Legal Services • Alexander & Alexander
• Merchant Services, i.e., Credit and Debit Card Processing • Chase Paymentech
• Practice Management Consulting • Practice Performance Group
• Professional Liability Insurance • The Doctors Company
• Tamper-resistant Prescription Pads • American Security Rx
• Technology Solutions • Soundoff Computing Corporation