Oregon’s Delegation to the AAMA National Conference in Houston, TX included the President, President-elect, Sylvia Aldrich, CMA (AAMA), elected delegates Kathy Puckett, CMA (AAMA) and Jocelyn Willis, CMA (AAMA), COHC. Several other members of Oregon Society were present at the Conference, including AAMA Trustees Johnny Adamson, CMA-AC (AAMA) and Paula Purdy, CMA (AAMA). Most exciting news was the election of Jocelyn Willis, CMA (AAMA), COHC, to the position of AAMA Trustee. Oregon Society (and website coordinator Jocelyn Willis, CMA (AAMA), COHC) received the Excel award for Website Development for the OSMA website www.onlineosma.org (the second year in a row!). Oregon also received Achievement Recognition for Membership Retention and for Student Membership Recruitment.

Board and Task Force appointments were announced. Sylvia Aldrich, CMA (AAMA) was named to the Task Force for National Conference Continuing Education and Candy Miller, CMA (AAMA) remains a member of the Continuing Education Board; Kathy Puckett, CMA (AAMA) and Jerri Adler, CMA (AAMA) remain members of the Task Force for Test Construction, and Joyce Garibay, CMA (AAMA) remains a member of the Practice Managers Task Force.

The several OSMA teams are returning to work (after a brief summer hiatus) on their respective assignments. The OSMA Board will meet again on Saturday, October 17 in Bend, following the OSMA Fall Quarterly education at Bend Memorial Clinic, hosted by Central Oregon Chapter.

It is an honor to serve as President of Oregon Society . . . especially when the OSMA and individual members of OSMA are so highly recognized at the national meetings.

Joyce Garibay, CMA (AAMA)
OSMA President 2009-2010

One of the duties as President-Elect is to attend the AAMA National Conference which was held in September in Houston, Texas. The conference had a lot of great education and we renewed old acquaintances and made new friends. We had a very busy schedule attending education, the House of Delegates, voted on new officers, the President’s Banquet, Market Place and leadership classes.

Congratulations to the new incoming AAMA officers that were voted into office.
Congratulations to Jocelyn Willis, CMA(AAMA) COHC for her new position as National Trustee. Congratulations to Paula Purdy, CMA(AAMA) for being elected to her second year as National Trustee. Ladies I know you will do a fantastic job this upcoming year. And a big “thank you” to Johnny Adamson CMA-AC(AAMA) for a fantastic job that you did as National Trustee.

Oregon came away with some awards at National Conference. Oregon received the Excel Award for “Website Development” and our Web Chair is Jocelyn Willis CMA (AAMA), COHC. Jocelyn you are doing a wonderful job and congratulations on the award.

Oregon also received Achievement Awards for “Membership Recruitment” and “Student Membership Recruitment”. These two awards can be shared by the whole State of Oregon by doing your best to bring in these new members and making them feel welcome. Keep up the great work and pat yourselves on the back for a job well done.

Please remember to Celebrate “Medical Assistants Recognition Week” October 19-23. You received a flyer in your CMA Today Magazine. Ask to display the flyer in your office and be proud to show that you are a CMA(AAMA). I display mine every year and it opens the door for questions about the organization which I am very happy to answer.

Sylvia Aldrich, CMA(AAMA)
OSMA President-Elect

The Past Presidents Council was responsible for submission of award applications to AAMA for AAMA Excel Awards. This year, the OSMA website, www.onlineosma.org was submitted for the AAMA Excel Award for Website Design. It is my pleasure to announce that the OSMA website received the AAMA Excel Award for Website Design at the 2009 AAMA Annual Conference Awards Ceremony. President Joyce Garibay, CMA (AAMA) and OSMA Website Coordinator, Jocelyn Willis, CMA (AAMA), COHC were present to accept the award. It was quite an honor for OSMA to receive this award two years in a row and many thanks and appreciation need to be given to the website coordinator, Jocelyn Willis, CMA (AAMA), COHC for her hard work and dedication she provided to make this website an award winning website. Jocelyn has worked tirelessly with her website team to create a brand new website, that is always changing and being constantly improved. It has become the key method of communication between OSMA and its members, as well as people outside of the organization.
The Immediate Past President and the Past Presidents Council continue to be available to President Joyce Garibay, CMA (AAMA) and the OSMA BOT for advice and assistance in the daily work of the organization. If any member of OSMA has a questions or suggestion that they wish to present to the OSMA BOT or the Past Presidents Council, please feel free to contact myself or one of the members of the Past Presidents Council. We are here to serve the members of OSMA.

Kathy Puckett, CMA (AAMA)
OSMA Immediate Past President
Chair – Past Presidents Council
Members:
Paula Purdy, CMA (AAMA)
Candy Miller, CMA (AAMA)

OREGON SOCIETY OF MEDICAL ASSISTANTS

Report of the Nominations Team
For the Period Ending October 2009

The Nominating Team is pleased to report the following candidates have been confirmed for 2010-2011:

President Elect: Molly Bilyeu, CMA (AAMA) River Cities

Secretary:

Speaker of the House: Candy Miller, CMA (AAMA) Lane Chapter
Kim Rutherford, CMA (AAMA) Central Oregon

Vice Speaker of the House: Kathy Puckett, CMA (AAMA) Marion-Polk

National Delegates (2): Kathy Puckett, CMA (AAMA) Marion-Polk
Joyce Garibay, BA, CMA (AAMA) Lane Chapter

It is the responsibility of the Nominating Team to screen and verify credentials for each nominee for office. This must be accomplished prior to the Winter Leadership Retreat. Nominees wishing to run for office after this date may be subject to nomination from the floor.

This chair and team members have tended to all duties assigned to this team.

Paula Purdy, CMA (AAMA)
Team Leader

Members:
Kathy Puckett, CMA (AAMA) Marion-Polk
Misty Duncan, CMA (AAMA) Linn-Benton
Kim Rutherford, CMA (AAMA) Central Oregon
Sandy Wilson, CMA (AAMA) Lane

The Membership Team is comprised of the Membership, Speaker’s Bureau, and Certification Teams.

The duties of the Membership Team are as follows:
• Serve as a contact to members and medical assistants who wish to become members
• Serve as a contact and presenter to employers, and medical assisting institutions regarding the CMA credential and certification
• Serve as the first contact to newly CMA (AAMA) providing information about membership and CEU opportunities
• Keep chapter presidents apprized of new members joining AAMA

STATS:
To date Oregon has 861 members. OSMA membership has increased by 16 since June 2009. The break out is as follows:

Members at Large: 65
Members at Large (CMA): 49
Lane Chapter: 152
Linn-Benton Chapter: 92
Marion-Polk Chapter: 76
Central Oregon Chapter: 55
Klamath Falls Chapter: 10
River Cities Chapter: 421

Active Members: 505
Associate Members: 49
Sustaining: 5
Student 302
861

TEAM ASSIGNMENT:

The Membership Team was charged with sending out a survey asking previous members and non-members why he/she had not joined the AAMA. There were 664 letters sent and 45 people returned the form, which is about a .067 percent response. We offered a prize to complete the form. The prize was one free AAMA membership, and one free registration to the Fall Quarterly. Both winners have been contacted regarding their prize.

The questionnaire asked: “why have you chosen not to join or rejoin AAMA?

Over 90 percent indicated that cost is the number 1 factor. The top three reasons are as follows:
Membership Team Report Continued
October 2009

• Employer doe not pay dues
• Not necessary for employment
• Not necessary to maintain certification

OTHER NEWS:

OSMA received an achievement mention at the Friday night dessert and awards ceremony. OSMA received “achievements” from AAMA Excel Awards team. The achievements were in Membership Recruitment, and Student Membership Recruitment. Congratulations chapter presidents!

The Chair continues to monitor the list of new members for abnormalities. An abnormality may be a member who has been placed as a “member at large” when in fact the member belongs to a chapter.

SPEAKERS BUREAU:

The duties of the Speaker’s Bureau are as follows:

• Serve as a contact and presenter to employers, and medical assisting institutions regarding the CMA credential and certification.
• Presentation to Clackamas Community College October 5, 2009
• Presentation to Portland Community College October 13, 2009

The Speaker’s Bureau has been on hiatus since June. The Team is gearing up to send a notice to program directors offering someone to come speak to the students.

CERTIFICATION:

The duties of this team are to congratulate and acknowledge those medical assistants who have taken and passed the CMA (AAMA) examination.

Respectfully submitted by:

Paula Purdy, CMA (AAMA)
Chair

Members:
Lisa Allen, CMA (AAMA)
Johnny Adamson, CMA-AC (AAMA) – Speaker’s Bureau
Candy Miller, CMA (AAMA) - Certification

We won again folks! Second year in a row for the AAMA EXCEL Award for Website Development! Way to go! Thank you, Kathy Puckett for your input to the judges. This time my name is on it! Hooray!

Keep up the good work! I have reports from all the chapters this time! That is great! We still need to work on deadlines, but, all in all, it seems to be coming along much more smoothly when everything is here on time.

Remember to mark your calendars for the first of December for the next deadline. It is earlier due to the Holidays.

Thanks!!

Joce Willis, CMA(AAMA)

OSMA Website Coordinator

Publicity Team

It was with great pleasure that this member was honored to serve as OSMA National Delegate to the AAMA Annual Conference in Houston, Texas this year. The AAMA House of Delegates was conducted on Sunday, 9-13-09. President Joyce Garibay, CMA (AAMA) assigned this delegate the task of reporting on the House of Delegates sessions this year. The following are highlights of the 2009 House of Delegates sessions:
Session I
➢ Colors were presented by the Buffalo Soldiers, followed the pledge of allegiance.
➢ 563 members were registered for the conference as of 9-13-09.
➢ Announcement was made that the 2012 AAMA Annual Conference will be held in Scottsdale, Arizona.
➢ Nominating Committee report was given with the list of candidates presented. The members running for AAMA Trustee will be filling vacancies for 3 – 2 year terms and 2 – 1 year terms. There were 5 candidates running. Eleven members were nominated for the nominating committee, representing 11 states, with 4 members to be elected.
➢ Reference committees were announced with meetings to begin at 1:30 p.m.
➢ AAMA Executive Director, Don Balasa, JD, MBA, presented “How the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Movement Can Help CMAs (AAMA)”.
Session II
➢ Reference Committee on reports presented their report. All reports of the AAMA BOT were accepted and filed as presented.
➢ Reference Committee on Bylaws presented their report. All proposed amendments 09-1, 09-2, 09-3, 09-4 and 09-5 failed.
➢ The Tellers report was presented. Newly elected BOT members are as follows:
o V. President – Betty Springer, CMA-C (AAMA)
o Secretary/Treasurer – Ann Naegele, CMA (AAMA)
o V. Speaker of the House – Nina Watson, CMA-C (AAMA)
o Trustee (2 year term) – Charlene Couch, CMA (AAMA)
Julie Flaaten, CMA (AAMA), LPN
Lisa Lee, CMA (AAMA)
o Trustee (1 year term) – Jocelyn Willis, CMA (AAMA), COHC
Crissy Taylor, CMA (AAMA)
o Nominating Team – Patricia Licurs, CMA (AAMA)
Darcy Atwood, CMA (AAMA)
Ruth Durham, CMA (AAMA)
Jenny McGuire, CMA (AAMA)
➢ Good and welfare statements were given by several members.
This member wants to thank the OSMA BOT and all members for allowing me to
attend this conference and represent OSMA as a National Delegate.

Kathy Puckett, CMA (AAMA)
OSMA National Delegate to AAMA Annual Conference 2009

Marion-Polk Chapter of Medical Assistants is getting back to the business of medical assisting. The September meeting was a guided tour of Diagnostic Imaging of Salem. It was well presented and enjoyed by all members in attendance. Education is being planned for October and November, with December off for the holidays. Marion-Polk Chapter of Medical Assistants meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month, except July, August and December. Meetings are held at Salem Hospital in the basement of building B, meeting rooms B & C at 6:00 p.m., with a business meeting to follow at 7:00 p.m. In the case of a tour or other type of education, the meeting location will be announced well in advance of the meeting.

Marion-Polk Chapter is always looking for new members and would love to see some of the more seasoned members return to meetings. As is the case with most chapters, Marion-Polk struggles to keep the chapter alive, recruit “new blood” and continue to provide the quality of education our members have grown to enjoy and expect. If you or anyone else is interested in attending a meeting of Marion-Polk Chapter of Medical Assistants, please feel welcome to attend. The education and networking Marion-Polk Chapter provides to its members can be appreciated by anyone in the medical field, irregardless of the job title or credential a person holds. Feel free to be our guest at the next meeting on Tuesday, October 27, 2009. For questions, contact Kathy Puckett at boyd.kathy@wvi.com or call me at 503-931-4775. I will get back to you as soon as possible.

See you at the next meeting!

Kathy Puckett, CMA (AAMA)

MPCMA President