Synergy - January/February 2015 - 8

president's column

There's No Better Time to
Embrace Change

I

t is a new year and new beginning for all
of us. I love a fresh start at improving and
being better than I was last year. Our theme
for 2015 is "Embracing Change: A Journey
of Leadership." The NAMSS Board has
committed time and resources to helping us
become better leaders in our roles as MSPs.

Linda M. Waldorf, BS,
CPMSM, CPCS
Director, UNC OMSS and CCO
UNC Health Care System
CB 7600
101 Manning Drive
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Phone: 919/966-1660
Fax: 919/843-0055
Linda.Waldorf@unch.unc.edu

Stories that touch
our hearts and
minds are great
forces to help us
embrace changes
that we need
to make.

I am reading a book by the editor, Linda R.
Larin titled, "Inspired to Change." It shares
the message that stories help us accept and
embrace change. The book focuses primarily
on improving patient care one story at a
time, but it also brings home the idea that
knowledge alone does not motivate us to
change. Stories that touch our hearts and
minds are great forces to help us embrace
changes we need to make.
At the most recent NAMSS conference, I met
Dale from Maui Memorial Medical Center in
Wailuku, HI. We talked about the significant
number of hospitals in Hawaii using NAMSS
PASS™, and I asked her to share her story
with all of us. Here is Dale's story, and I
hope it will help you consider adding your
practitioner information to NAMSS PASS.
"Living on a remote Hawaiian island in
paradise has many benefits - one of which
is NAMSS PASS. NAMSS PASS reduces the risk
of negligent credentialing and streamlines the
affiliation verification process.
Maui Memorial Medical Center is located
on the island of Maui. It serves as the
Maui regional center, which includes Kula

Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital.
Our medical staff is comprised of more
than 400 practitioners. In deciding to use
NAMSS PASS, there was no need to reinvent
the wheel or involve our IT department.
We quickly realized our responsibility of
providing quality data. We went through
the process of analyzing and updating our
material before uploading the information.
NAMSS PASS has decreased time spent in
researching and creating letters of good
standing. It has given us peace of mind in
knowing that Medical Services Professionals
across the country have access to the most
current information in real time.
NAMSS PASS is the best online collaboration
service to house primary source affiliation
history and, most importantly, uploading
data is free.
Mahalo,
Dale M. Mole-Blaisdell, Medical Staff
Services, Maui Memorial Medical Center,
Wailuku, HI."
This year, I would love for us to tell our
stories of embracing change that helped us
and/or our organization. If you have a story
that you would like to share, please email it
to me at linda.waldorf@unchealth.unc.edu.
Wishing you great success as you embrace
the changes you want to make in 2015.
Linda M. Waldorf, BS, CPMSM, CPCS

More Accolades for NAMSS PASS
"After attending an informational session in 2012 on
NAMSS PASS and understanding that it will take all of
us to make the database robust and meaningful, I went
back to my office at St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Northern
Kentucky and discussed participation with my techy
Cactus Administrator Jane Graves. Jane loves challenges
and did a number of audits to ensure our database was
'pure.' We met and discussed some reclassification of our
resigned providers and strived for consistency. Once we
were satisfied with the integrity of our data, we submitted

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SYNERGY JANUARY/FEBR UARY 2015

our first download and have been doing so monthly ever
since. Our format was liked so well by NAMSS' Andy
Lock, he asked permission to use Jane as a resource, and
she has fielded a few calls from others out there in the
medical services world to provide some guidance.
I encourage you to submit your data. It is relatively
painless and has such potential to streamline affiliation
verification for all of us in the very near future!"
- Joanne Rigsbee
Synergy - January/February 2015

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