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FBI National Citizens' Academy Alumni Association (FBINCAAA) Board Officer Election Results

Dr. Earl J. Motzer, Chief Executive Officer of The James B. Haggin Memorial Hospital, Nursing Home and Home Health Agency in Harrodsburg, Kentucky; Graduate School Professor at the University of Kentucky and Webster University; President of the FBI Louisville Citizens' Academy Alumni Association (FBILCAAA) Board; and an FBINCAAA board member has been elected President of the FBINCAAA Board.

Mark Mulcahy, Vice President, In-Theater Marketing, Motion Picture Domestic Distribution of Paramount Pictures, President of the FBI Los Angeles CAAA Board and Chairperson and Founder of the Family Safety Squad, and an FBINCAAA board member, has been elected Vice President of the FBINCAAA Board.

Bobbi Tinson-Mitchell, Case Management and Budget Administrator in the Market Surveillance Division of the New York Stock Exchange, Secretary of the FBI New York CAAA Board, and an FBINCAAA board member, has been elected Secretary of the FBINCAAA Board.

J. Meredith Wester, shareholder and managing partner for the litigation department in the law firm of Mechanik Nuccio Williams Hearne & Wester, P.A., Director of the FBI Tampa Bay CAAA, and Secretary of the FBINCAAA Board has been elected Treasurer of the FBINCAAA Board.

The two year terms of office for the newly elected officers commence July 1, 2008.

The FBINCAAA, distinct and separate from the FBI, is a network of 51 FBI Field Office Citizens' Academy Alumni Association Chapters and thousands of Citizens' Academy Alumni Association members who have successfully graduated from an FBI Citizens' Academy. The FBINCAAA Board serves as the official liaison between FBI Headquarters and the FBI CAAA Chapters.

FBI Citizens' Academies are designed to educate business, labor, media, medical, minority, religious, government, senior citizens, and other community leaders about law enforcement, with particular emphasis on the mission, resources, and limitations of the FBI.

Graduates receive specialized training in domestic and international terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, civil rights, foreign counter intelligence, Internet and white-collar crimes, public corruption, crime scene issues, crisis negotiation, firearms use and demonstration, and self defense techniques. They are expected to help improve relationships between law enforcement agencies and the community by sharing insights and information they gain in the Citizens' Academy. The goal is to improve the Bureau's ability to solve/detect crimes and to help citizens make their communities better and safer. Graduates, while not in any way official spokespersons for the FBI, may be called upon to share their understanding of the role of federal law enforcement as citizen ambassadors.

Article from www.fbi.gov

Big goals for small-town hospital - Facility bucking rural trend of downsizing with $41M project

More rural hospitals are reducing services or joining huge hospital companies, but a small hospital in northwestern North Carolina wants to stay independent and expand.

Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital in Elkin has asked state regulators' permission for a $41 million expansion of its emergency department. About 9 percent more patients a year are coming to the emergency room.

That's a long way from the hospital's roots, traced to 14 rooms above a local drug store in the town of about 4,000.

"You get a sense of pride here," said Tracy Byerly, assistant hospital administrator. "They are proud of the fact that this hospital has been well taken care of over the years and has been pretty responsible financially."

When other small hospitals aligned with larger hospitals, Hugh Chatham went a different direction -- two years ago spending $20 million to add surgical space and imaging equipment.

Now, patients are deciding to go to the local hospital rather than drive to cities.

"People realize you don't have to go to Winston-Salem or Statesville or Charlotte," Byerly said.

The hospital is seeking state permission to expand by applying for a certificate of need, a process that could take at least six months. If the certificate is approved, construction would start in February and continue into 2010.

Associated Press (Elkin)

Muhlenberg Coders win “Top 200 Coding Hospitals in US”

(Greenville, KY) Martha Roe and Beverly Adcock, coders from Muhlenberg Community Hospital, are the recipients as top performers of the "Top 200 Coding Hospitals in the US." Additionally, their award is for being in the top 50 hospitals.

This award is given to top performers in its peer group and is recognized for setting a high standard for effective coding and documentation practices. The award is a result of a study conducted by peer groups who analyze fair comparisons of hospital coding performance.

This study is important because the health care industry's increasing reliance on code-based prospective payment systems, such as diagnosis-related groups and ambulatory payment classifications, underscores the critical impact of clinical documentation and coding on hospital revenues.

This study highlights the increasingly important role medical records coding and health information management are playing at the revenue cycle management process and emphasizes the value of using quantitative HIM measures of coding performance. The top coding hospitals in the study have a clear understanding of how coding fits into revenue cycle management and should be considered models for the industry.

Martha and Beverly are coders in the HIM department at Muhlenberg Community Hospital in Greenville, Kentucky and work under the guidance of Clarice Guy, Director of Medical Records.