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Cash Flow For The Medical Practice

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cash flow

Mr. Cash Flow

Cash Flow For The Medical Practice

I sat down with David Wiener, aka “Mr. Cash Flow” on this week’s episode.  I connected with David first on LinkedIn a few weeks ago.  After learning more about the various ways he is able to help a medical or dental practice recapture revenue that is currently being lost, I knew I needed to have him on the show.

David spent numerous years as a practice manager for a doctor’s office, so he knows very well the challenges these practices face trying to maximize the revenue they get to keep for the care they provide.  With patient out-of-pocket obligations significantly on the rise, physicians are experiencing a corresponding increase in the number of patient balance bills they must collect upon to be paid for their services.

David provides access to a service that for only $12 per claim (instead of a typical % of the amount to be collected), that dramatically increases the success rate for bills collected to over 80% in the first 30-45 days from date of bill.

We also talked about other ways Cash Flow Strategies, Inc., is able to help their medical and dental practice clients drop more revenue to the bottom line.  One such way is to enroll their staff into a wellness program as provided for by the ACA.  Businesses that do so can save as much as $500 per employee per year on the Federal income tax they must pay for each of them.  Additionally, as employees take advantage of these wellness benefits, they tend toward better levels of health, decreasing the company’s expenditure for health benefits.

David also talked about a company he’s partnered with that can help a business change all the lights within the building to LED lights, saving enormous amounts of money on utility bills.  They offer a plan through which the business can pay for the lights over time, with the payments + new utility bills amounting to less than previous utility bills were, providing savings from the first month.

There are several other ways David is likely able to reduce amounts being spent by the business, such as procurement costs for necessary supplies through a competitive group purchasing organization and others.  It is clear that any medical or dental practice can benefit from taking a few minutes to talk with David to determine just how much additional revenue they can capture—all without having to work longer or harder.

Special Guest:

David Wiener, “Mr. Cash Flow”, of Cash Flow Strategies, Inc.

cash flow

Representative Sharon Cooper

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Sharon Cooper

Georgia State Representative, Dist. 43, Sharon Cooper

Representative Sharon Cooper

I hosted MAG CEO/Executive Director, Donald Palmisano, Jr., and Georgia State Representative, Sharon Cooper.  We talked about 2016 legislative priorities affecting healthcare in the state.  More information soon!

Special Guests:

Sharon Cooper, Rep. Dist 43, Georgia State House of Representatives (R) 

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Representative Sharon Cooper

  • MA Education
  • MSN, Nursing
  • Authored 2 books on psychiatric nursing
  • Chair, Georgia Health and Human Services Committee

Donald Palmisano, CEO, Executive Director of Medical Association of Georgia  twitter_logo_small  linkedin_small1  facebook_logo_small3

Medical Association of Georgia

  • JD Law, Loyola School of Law
  • Board of Directors, Physician Advocacy Institute
  • Medical Payment Subcommitte Member, State Board of Workers’ Compensation
  • Treasurer, Board of Directors, Physicians’ Institute for Excellence in Medicine
  • Former Director, Government Relations/General Counsel/Director, GAMPAC

 

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia

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Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia

Blue Cross Blue Shield of GA CEO, Jeff Fusile

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia

On this week’s episode with our partner, Medical Association of Georgia, MAG CEO, Donald Palmisano, Jr., joined me in studio.  We hosted Jeff Fusile, the recently-appointed President for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia.  Jeff joined the company in the lead role, coming over from Anthem in November of 2015.

Jeff Fusile is president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia (BCBSGa), the state’s oldest and largest health insurance company. He oversees sales, account service, marketing, underwriting, and customer relationships. Jeff is involved in corporate strategy planning and execution, and he serves as the primary contact for state regulators to ensure compliance and manage any state-related matters.

Jeff previously served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for the Commercial & Specialty Business Division of Anthem, Inc., which is Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s parent company. He joined Anthem in 2011 after spending 22 years as a strategic management consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers. Jeff is a licensed CPA. He has qualified as an expert witness in insurance and the broader health care industry. He is widely recognized as an industry leader in health care strategy, corporate governance, compliance, enterprise risk management, HIPAA, and ICD-10.

As the health care landscape undergoes an unprecedented transformation, the traditional relationships between providers and payers are also evolving. With the largest network of providers in the state, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia (BCBSGa) serves more than 3 million Georgians and is the only plan offered in all 159 counties.  BCBSGa President Jeff Fusile will discuss how BCBSGa is developing programs to facilitate better collaboration with providers, make health care more affordable for consumers and simplify the access to care. Reaching out to rural communities and the impact of technology on delivering innovative solutions was also discussed.

Special Guest:

Jeff Fusile, CEO, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia  linkedin_small1  twitter_logo_small-e1403698475314  facebook_logo_small3  youtube logo

Cryotherapy

  • BS, Accounting & Finance, Florida State University College of Business
  • Certified Public Accountant
  • Previous Managing Partner, PriceWaterhouseCoopers
  • Former Senior VP/CFO, Commercial & Specialty Business, Anthem

Insurance Reimbursement

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John Oxendine PC

John Oxendine talks insurance reimbursement.

Insurance Reimbursement

This week’s show was part of our monthly series with MAG and we focused our conversation on legal issues around commercial insurance reimbursement for physicians.  Former insurance commissioner for the state of GA, attorney, and expert on the subject, John Oxendine, joined me in the studio to talk about some important things physicians need to know relating to commercial insurance reimbursement.
There are laws that lay out requirements for timeliness of payment and/or communications regarding submitted claims that must be adhered to by insurance companies.  Additionally, there are also rules around documentation of assignment of representation that can be the difference between losing five or six figures to insurance company claw back or being able to deny those requests to return payment for previously-delivered care.
John Oxendine is uniquely qualified to provide advice and information to physicians on the subject of health insurance reimbursement.  He spent over 15 years as Georgia’s State Insurance Commissioner.  He has worked closely with MAG, the Georgia Association of Physicians of Indian Heritage, AMA, and numerous other health care provider organizations.
While Insurance Commissioner, John created a division at the Department of Insurance to help physicians with claims payment issues.  Additionally, he was the first commissioner in the country to levy large fines against insurance companies not in compliance with the state’s prompt pay law.
Special Guest:
John Oxendine, Attorney, John Oxendine PC
John Oxendine PC
  • Doctor of Law, Mercer University, Walter F. George School of Law
  • Former Commissioner, Georgia Department of Insurance, 1995-2011

Health Insurance Mergers

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Medical Association of Georgia

Donald Palmisano Jr.

Medical Association of Georgia

Dr. John Rogers of Coliseum Northside Hospital

Health Insurance Mergers

On this week’s episode I continued my monthly series with Medical Association of Georgia. MAG CEO, Donald Palmisano, Jr., and MAG delegate from Bibb County, Dr. John Rogers joined me in studio to talk about the challenges and concerns arising from recently-proposed mergers between large health insurance companies that will significantly reduce amount of competition in the space for Georgians to choose from.

Aetna/Humana and Anthem/Cigna are in the process of merging. At the same time, health insurers are offering insurance policies to the public that do not have adequate coverage resulting in more out of network charges by physicians.

Aetna/Humana and Wellpoint/Cigna have proposed mergers in the health insurance market. If these inadequate policies are being offered in the current environment, MAG is concerned about how patients will be negatively impacted with a further narrowing of the networks and increased physician reliance on out of network charges.

MAG recently sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice to call for it to scrutinize the mergers for antitrust violations.

MAG believes the mergers would reduce competition and place physicians and their patients at an even greater disadvantage as a shrinking number of health insurance companies gain increasingly-dominant positions in the marketplace.

The new Aetna (58 percent) and Anthem (30 percent) entities would control nearly 90 percent of the individual market in Georgia. In the small group market, Aetna would control more than 49 percent, while Anthem would control more than 33 percent. Each new company would control about 26 percent of the Medicare Title XVIII marketplace. And for large group market, Aetna would control more than 12 percent while Anthem would control nearly 55 percent.

Physicians have little-to-no leverage to negotiate contract terms with these multi-billion dollar conglomerates – which are imposing take-it-or-leave it agreements and unilateral, mid-term amendments with growing impunity.

Gone unchecked, a few insurers will be in a position to manipulate the marketplace to institute policies that will exacerbate the physician shortage and undermine the economic viability of the practice environment in the state and limit the accessibility of care and individual patient choice.

Georgia Department of Insurance has expressed concerns that the Aetna/Humana merger would violate Georgia’s standards for competition. Specifically, DOI has shared that the Aetna/Humana merger may violate Georgia’s competitive standard in the individual, small group, and Medicare Title XVIII markets while raising concerns of substantially reduced competition in the large group market.

More than 30 percent of the physicians in Georgia who participated in a survey that MAG conducted in the last several months said that they believe that the Aetna/Humana merger would threaten the long-term viability of their practice.

Special Guests:

Donald Palmisano, CEO, Executive Director of Medical Association of Georgia  twitter_logo_small  linkedin_small1  facebook_logo_small3

Medical Association of Georgia

  • JD Law, Loyola School of Law
  • Board of Directors, Physician Advocacy Institute
  • Medical Payment Subcommitte Member, State Board of Workers’ Compensation
  • Treasurer, Board of Directors, Physicians’ Institute for Excellence in Medicine
  • Former Director, Government Relations/General Counsel/Director, GAMPAC

Dr. John Rogers, Co-Medical Director, Coliseum Northside Hospital

Coliseum Northside Hospital

  • Member, Board of Directors, Bibb County Medical Society
  • Vice President, American College of Emergency Physicians
  • Doctor of Medicine, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
  • Residency, Medical Center of Central Georgia

ICD-10

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ICD-10

CW Hall and Dr. James Dunnick

ICD-10

This week I continued my monthly series featuring experts from Medical Association of Georgia.  Our conversation focused on the upcoming implementation of ICD-10 codes, which will significantly change how we document and are reimbursed for care provided to our patients.

I sat down with Dr. James Dunnick, a former practicing cardiologist of over 25 years who began to enhance his level of understanding of coding, compliance, and quality review later in his career.  He now provides consulting services to healthcare practices and hospitals on these important components of their businesses.

Within the healthcare industry, providers, coders, IT professionals, insurance carriers, government agencies, and others use ICD codes to properly note diseases on health records, track epidemiological trends and assist in medical reimbursement decisions.

The World Health Organization (WHO) owns, develops, and publishes ICD codes, and national governments and other regulating bodies adopt the system.

The differences between ICD-9 and ICD-10 are significant and physicians and practice management staff need to start educating themselves now about this major change so that they will be able to meet the ICD-10 compliance deadline of October 1 – in less than one month.

ICD-10-CM codes are the ones designated for use in documenting diagnoses. They are 3-7 characters in length and total 68,000, while ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes are 3-5 digits in length and number over 14,000. The ICD-10-PCS are the procedure codes and they are alphanumeric, 7 characters in length, and total approximately 87,000, while ICD-9-CM procedure codes are only 3-4 numbers in length and total approximately 4,000 codes. ICD-10-PCS is only used for coding hospital inpatient procedures. CPT remains the code set for reporting procedures and services in offices and outpatient settings.

Moving to ICD-10 is expected to impact all physicians. Due to the increased number of codes, the change in the number of characters per code, and increased code specificity, this transition will require significant planning, training, software/system upgrades/replacements, as well as other necessary investments.

WHO is expected to release ICD-11 in 2017.

Special Guest:

Dr. James Kennedy, MD, of

Within the healthcare industry, providers, coders, IT professionals, insurance carriers, government agencies, and others use ICD codes to properly note diseases on health records, track epidemiological trends and assist in medical reimbursement decisions.

The World Health Organization (WHO) owns, develops, and publishes ICD codes, and national governments and other regulating bodies adopt the system.

The differences between ICD-9 and ICD-10 are significant and physicians and practice management staff need to start educating themselves now about this major change so that they will be able to meet the ICD-10 compliance deadline of October 1 – in less than one month.

ICD-10-CM codes are the ones designated for use in documenting diagnoses. They are 3-7 characters in length and total 68,000, while ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes are 3-5 digits in length and number over 14,000. The ICD-10-PCS are the procedure codes and they are alphanumeric, 7 characters in length, and total approximately 87,000, while ICD-9-CM procedure codes are only 3-4 numbers in length and total approximately 4,000 codes. ICD-10-PCS is only used for coding hospital inpatient procedures. CPT remains the code set for reporting procedures and services in offices and outpatient settings.

Moving to ICD-10 is expected to impact all physicians. Due to the increased number of codes, the change in the number of characters per code, and increased code specificity, this transition will require significant planning, training, software/system upgrades/replacements, as well as other necessary investments.

WHO is expected to release ICD-11 in 2017.

Special Guest:

Dr. James Dunnick, MD, of SESEDN, LLC and The Dunnick Group, LLC

Dr. James Dunnick

  • Board Certified Cardiologist with 25 years of clinical practice
  • Certified Professional Coder (CPC) through the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC)
  • Certified in Quality and Utilization (CHCQM) by the American Board of Quality Assurance, Utilization Review Physicians (ABQAURP)
  • Certified in Compliance (CMDP) by the American Institute of Healthcare

Health IT and Accelerating Innovation

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Healthcare technology

Harvey Shuster, Osama Hashmi

mPoweredIT

John Mamon talks mPowered IT

Health IT and Accelerating Innovation

This week I sat down with experts from the healthcare IT sector.  John Mamon is the CEO of mPoweredIT, an outsourced IT company that devotes expertise to the small to mid-sized medical practice, helping them manage their computer hardware, infrastructure, and software needs for far less than it typically costs to employ someone dedicated to these functions within the practice.

John talked about how often, in an effort to save money, small practices place responsibility for managing these facets on a practice manager, a clinician within the office, or even the doctors themselves.  Clearly this can take away from the core function of the office—taking care of more patients.

He shared a number of important concerns that can expose these offices to risk such as HIPAA requirements, downtime of equipment, ACA compliance, and others.  Each of these can create significant cost or loss of productivity when small offices attempt to handle things on their own.

mPoweredIT is able to scale their services to the needs of the practice, providing the full suite of IT management or taking over particular elements on behalf of the practice.  The company also partners with several other health experts who can provide additional support in areas such as billing/revenue cycle management, EMR selection, and others, to allow their clients to maximize productivity and profitability at the same time.

John introduced us to Harvey Shuster, of Emergence, a Georgia Medical Accelerator.  Harvey, a multiple-time entrepreneur, was one of the founders of Peachtree Software among others.  He and his team work with emerging healthcare technology companies, helping them to commercialize and bring to market their devices/technologies more quickly.

Harvey brought along Osama Hashmi, CEO/Founder of VitaminC.  This company adds an additional layer of automation and engagement to EMR systems.  Their software allows providers to contact patients and encourage follow-up visits where appropriate to facilitate care/outcomes while at the same time helping the practice to maximize its potential for seeing patients in need.

VitaminC integrates well with numerous EMR systems and has proven valuable to primary care doctors and specialists such as dermatologists, plastic surgeons, and others.

Special Guests:

John Mamon, CEO/Founder, mPoweredIT  linkedin_small1  google-plus-logo-red-265px

mPoweredIT

  • Associates Degree, Information Technology, Bryant and Stratton College
  • Previous VP, Professional Services, BMC Solutions
  • Former Executive VP, CDI Managed Services

Harvey Shuster, COO, of Emergence Georgia Medical Accelerator  twitter_logo_small-e1403698475314  facebook_logo_small3

Emergence

  • MBA, Finance, Drexell University LeBow College of Business
  • Bronze Star Recipient, US Army
  • Published Author
  • Co-founder, Southeast Medical Device Association

Osama Hashmi, CEO/Chief Product Officer, of VitaminC  github  linkedin_small1  twitter_logo_small-e1403698475314  facebook_logo_small3

VitaminC

  • Doctor of Medicine, College of Georgia, Georgia Regents University
  • Master of Public Health, University of Georgia
  • Previous Policy Director, Roosevelt Institute, University of Georgia
  • Former Research Assistant, Stanford University

 

GA SB 158

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GA SB 158

Cindy Zeldin and Donald Palmisano, Jr talk GA SB 158

GA SB 158

This week we continue our monthly series with Medical Association of Georgia.  I hosted MAG CEO/Executive Director, Donald J. Palmisano, Jr., and Cindy Zeldin, Executive Director for Georgians for a Healthy Future.  We talked about the challenges Georgians face regarding the lack of information available to them about how inclusive health plans are regarding what physicians, hospitals, etc., are included in the plans.

Donald talked about how on the healthcare exchanges, patients must review every plan one at a time, checking the physician directories for each one to see if the physician(s) they need are there.  In many cases, this means going through as many as 30-80 unique plans.

This is complicated by the fact that in many cases, the listed physician directories are incorrect, or change frequently, leading patients to make their choices based on outdated/inaccurate information.

In the Georgia legislature, the senate is considering SB 158, aimed at addressing the issue of transparency in the health insurance space so patients and physicians can make sense out of this important part of how we access healthcare today.

Cindy joined Donald to talk about how Georgians for a Healthy Future has been advocating on behalf of the state’s citizens to help them get signed up for the newly-available health plans on the exchange.  She shared how last year, over 500,000 people gained access to new health plans.

We discussed the need for these patients to get educated about how to

Special Guestsplan for the financial obligations they will face regarding co-pays, co-insurance, deductibles, etc.  Folks need to learn what each of these are and have a plan for how to handle them.  One such strategy is having a health savings account, which allows them to pay for their healthcare costs with pre-tax dollars out of an account that will grow over time.

We also talked about how important it is for physicians and citizens to engage with their state legislators to talk about how these issues affect them in their daily lives.  SB 158 is still in the early stages, with decisions being made on it coming next spring.

Special Guests:

Donald Palmisano, CEO, Executive Director of Medical Association of Georgia  twitter_logo_small  linkedin_small1  facebook_logo_small3

Medical Association of Georgia

  • JD Law, Loyola School of Law
  • Board of Directors, Physician Advocacy Institute
  • Medical Payment Subcommitte Member, State Board of Workers’ Compensation
  • Treasurer, Board of Directors, Physicians’ Institute for Excellence in Medicine
  • Former Director, Government Relations/General Counsel/Director, GAMPAC

Cindy Zeldin, Executive Director, Georgians for a Healthy Future  linkedin_small1  twitter_logo_small-e1403698475314

Georgians for a Healthy Future

  • Master of Arts, Public Policy with focus on Women’s Studies, The George Washington University
  • Master of Public Health, Public Policy, Emory University
  • Previous Principal Management Analyst, Healthcare Div., Dept. of Audits, State of Georgia
  • Former Senior Program Associate, Health Policy Program, New America Foundation

Physicians Institute for Excellence in Medicine

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Physicians' Institute for Excellence In Medicine   MAG LOGO

Physicians Institute for Excellence in Medicine

This week I sat down with Bob Addleman, EVP of the Physicians’ Institute for Excellence in Medicine.  We talked about how the organization, a subsidiary of Medical Association of Georgia, got its genesis.  Bob shared how his passion for process improvement and healthcare ultimately led to him suggesting the development of an organization focused on improving the work environment as well as patient safety/outcomes.

The Physicians’ Institute for Excellence in Medicine (a nonprofit subsidiary of the Medical Association of Georgia) is a national leader in developing and managing collaborative educational projects, with a focus on outcomes-based and performance improvement activities. To date, the Physicians’ Institute has developed and managed 31 distinct initiatives representing work with over 400 organizations and more than 8000 participants located in 25 states focusing on an array of clinical areas. The Physicians’ Institute also provides leadership training and Patient-Centered Medical Home consulting to healthcare providers and organizations.

Physicians’ Institute is working with Georgia Academy of Family Physicians’ “Patient-Centered Medical Home University” (PCMHU). Now in fourth year, PCMHU has assisted more than 40 Georgia primary care practices achieve recognition from the National Council for Quality Assurance as a patient-centered medical home. Addleton is lead faculty member and practice advisor.

In June, Physicians’ Institute plans to launch new service called “Leadership in Practice,” which will provide leadership training and team development activities to medical associations, health systems, and physician organizations. Model has been adopted by thousands of organizations internationally and has over a 20-year history of application and research behind its design. Gives participants 360 degree feedback about their leadership behaviors. Addleton is a certified administrator and coach.

Physicians’ Institute is known for its collaborative grants system. For example, it awarded $1.2 million in grants to primary care organizations in five states for an ambitious project that is aimed at improving the care of patients experiencing chronic pain. Final report will be available in near future.

Physicians’ Institute has also been national leader in the FDA-mandated effort to promote Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) education for extended-release and long acting opioids as a member of CO*RE (Collaboration for REMS Education). Has worked with 15 state medical societies, including MAG, through a grant that was awarded to the MAG Foundation. To date, more than 3,000 physicians have participated in these efforts.

Addleton is the vice president (and president-elect) of the leading international organization is this field – the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions (ACEHP). He will become ACEHP’s president in January 2016.

Special Guest:

Bob Addleton, EVP, Physicians’ Institute for Excellence in Medicine  linkedin_small1 twitter_logo_small-e1403698475314  facebook_logo_small3

Physicians' Institute for Excellence in Medicine

  • Doctorate in Educational Leadership, University of Alabama
  • Certified in Continuing Professional Development
  • Fellow and President-Elect, of the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions
  • Certified as a Quality Team Facilitator, Six Sigma Green Belt, and Lean Green Belt
  • Trainer for The Leadership Challenge©.
  • Faculty Member, Georgia Academy of Family Physicians’ “Patient Centered Medical Home University”, and is the Dean of the Georgia Physicians Leadership Academy.

MAG 2015 Legislative Update

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Medical Association of Georgia

MAG LOGO

MAG 2015 Legislative Update

This week we continued our ongoing series with Medical Association of Georgia to get the MAG 2015 legislative update.  MAG CEO, Donald Palmisano, Jr. and Director of Government Relations, Marcus Downs came by with Georgia Representative, Rick Jasperse.  We talked about several of the health-related issues Rick and his colleagues have been and continue to work on in the Georgia legislature to promote and protect the health outcomes, safety, and access to care for the citizens of our state.

Rep. Rick Jasperse represents Georgia’s 11th district, which includes all of Pickens and parts of Gordon and Bartow counties. He serves on a number of committees in the House of Representatives – and he is the vice chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee. Rep. Jasperse graduated from UGA with a degree in food science. He retired in 2009 after 29 years as a county agriculture agent.

H.B. 416 by Rep. Carl Rogers (R-Gainesville) will require licensed health care practitioners to wear an ID on their “lab coats or similar distinguishing clothing or uniforms” that states their name and license or educational degree. The only exceptions include optometrists, dentists and chiropractors – except those who practice in hospitals and nursing homes. This has been one of MAG’s legislative priorities for the last two years as voted on by MAG’s Board of Directors. A number of other groups also supported the bill, including speech language pathologists, audiologists, respiratory therapists, marriage and family therapists, ophthalmic technicians, registered dieticians, and APRNs.

The FY 2016 budget (H.B. 76) includes some $23 million in additional funds to increase the reimbursement rate for select Medicaid primary care and OB-GYN codes. This included $17.1 million for primary care physicians (i.e., 90 percent of the 2014 Medicare fee schedule for the applicable codes) and $5.9 million for OB/GYN physicians (90 percent of the 2014 Medicare fee schedule for the applicable codes).

The FY 2016 budget also includes $199,000 to maintain the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program in the state.

H.B. 504 by Rep. Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta) extends the flu vaccine protocol that is in place between physicians and pharmacists and nurses for adults to pneumococcal, shingles, and meningitis. MAG’s Board Directors voted to support this kind of measure given strict limits and notification requirements. MAG worked with Rep. Cooper to ensure that appropriate sanctions are in place for any violations.

S.B. 158 by Sen. Dean Burke, M.D. (R-Bainbridge) would have addressed rental networks, all-products clauses, and other key issues. MAG’s Board of Directors voted to support this measure. The bill evolved into S.R. 561, which is a “study bill” – which means that a group of legislators will develop a report for the General Assembly’s consideration in 2016.

Special Guests:

Donald Palmisano, CEO, Executive Director of Medical Association of Georgia  twitter_logo_small  linkedin_small1  facebook_logo_small3

Medical Association of Georgia

  • JD Law, Loyola School of Law
  • Board of Directors, Physician Advocacy Institute
  • Medical Payment Subcommitte Member, State Board of Workers’ Compensation
  • Treasurer, Board of Directors, Physicians’ Institute for Excellence in Medicine
  • Former Director, Government Relations/General Counsel/Director, GAMPAC

Marcus Downs, Director of Government Relations, MAG  linkedin_small1  

Medical Association of Georgia

  • Recipient, 2012, Outstanding Advocate Award, National Association of School Psychologists
  • National Institutes of Health Research Fellow, 2000
  • Former Director, Government Relations/External Coalitions/Research, Georgia Association of Educators

Representative Rick Jasperse, Georgia 11th District  facebook_logo_small3  twitter_logo_small-e1403698475314  youtube logo  flickr (2)

JasperseRick755

  • BS, Food Science, University of Georgia School of Agriculture
  • Member, House Committees: Agriculture & Consumer Affairs, Appropriations, Human Relations & Aging, Public Safety and Homeland Security
  • Vice Chair, Health & Human Services Committee
  • Served on numerous boards:  Mountain Conservation Trust Board, Chattahoochee Technical Collegeand Appalachian Cattlemen’s Association’s Board