About

Mission

Association serves as a resource for information, education, networking, and advocacy opportunities for all medical group management professionals.

Goals & Objectives

• Provide opportunities for members to enhance their skills and abilities in medical group management practice.
• Engage in advocacy initiatives that will help influence issues affecting medical practice management.
• Expand member connections through networking, mentoring, education and more.

History

The Birth of a State Organization
In 1946, a small group of Wisconsin clinic managers returning from an annual conference of the National association of Clinic Managers (now the Medical Group Management Association) determined that a state organization would be beneficial as many areas of clinic management are influenced by state laws and geographic location. Thus, the Wisconsin Clinic Managers Association was conceived. It was the first group in the United States organized on a state level.

Building Unique Relationships
The new group decided to meet on weekends in the spring and fall of each year. The first meeting was in Milwaukee on Sunday, December 8, 1946 followed by a meeting hosted by Matt Leinenkugel at the Midelfort Clinic in Eau Claire. CH Crownhart, secretary of the State Medical Society, and two of his associates were in attendance. Crownhart asked the clinic managers to have their spring meeting in conjunction with the annual meeting of the State Medical Society. For many years, the two groups met together. This unique relationship was unheard of elsewhere in the United States.

Contributing on a National Scale
In the early 1950s, the Wisconsin clinic managers were instrumental in developing a uniform health insurance reporting form. Twenty years later the form was adopted on a national level. Other contributions made by the Wisconsin clinic managers included the standard billing system (now known as the "superbill") and the passing of the Wisconsin Service Corporation Act which allowed medical partnerships to be classified as service corporations under the Internal Revenue Service.

Preparing for Tomorrow
In 1972, it was decided to incorporate and formalize the state organization to present an organized and unified body to the State Medical Society and legislative groups. In 1998, the Wisconsin Clinic Managers Association was reorganized, and renamed the Wisconsin Medical Group Management Association.

Constant exchange of information among Wisconsin managers remains valuable to all members. Over the years, HLAW has built resources to answer the changing needs of group practice.