NJ Medical Group Management Assn. Head to AC for Conference
Laws and regulations in the medical industry are in a constant state of evolution, and medical practices that fail to stay abreast of these changes are destined to be left behind.
That’s the focus of the New Jersey Medical Group Management Association’s (NJMGMA) annual conference. Promising “critical information that you can use today,” this year hundreds of medical practice managers, exhibitors, speakers, and guests will meet April 17-19 at the Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, for three days of education, networking, and a view toward the future of the medical group management industry. All media are invited to attend.*
“The nationally recognized speakers we have booked will give attendees unprecedented access to experts in the field,” said Bruce Kramer, president of the NJMGMA. “Changes in Washington are forcing our industry to change the way we practice medicine, too. These panelists will share their unique perspective on pressing topics that are changing the way we manage healthcare.”
The conference will open with an educational workshop and a Welcome Reception and networking event. On Thursday, after a day of seminars, workshops, and informational sessions, attendees are invited to a Cabaret celebration, including magicians, singers, fortune tellers, massage therapists, and plenty of food and drink.
“One of the highlights of our Practice Management Conference is our entertainment-filled networking galas,” Kramer said. “This year we’re pulling out all the stops. It’s going to be the conference’s best event yet.”
While networking and fun will span all three days, the real draw will be the many workshops, sessions, and guest speakers who will be on hand. This year’s keynote speaker is Dr. Jeffrey Bauer, an internationally recognized health futurist and medical economist who has written extensively on creating a more effective, efficient healthcare delivery system.
Sessions include Preventing Employee Dishonesty and Dealing with the Aftermath; “After the Storm” Disaster Preparedness, Recovery and Continuity; Compensation Strategies for Today’s Medical Practice; Social Media for the Medical Practice: Snake Oil or a Cure?; among many others. Most sessions will be held multiple times to ensure all guests have a chance to attend.
“We’ve listened to feedback from previous conferences and expanded our breakout sessions, giving attendees more opportunities to take advantage of these great programs,” Kramer said.
Other well-known speakers at the opening general session include William Jessee, MD FACMPE, immediate past president and CEO of Medical Group Management Associaton (MGMA); Alfred F. Tallia, MD, MPH, Professor and Chair of Family Medicine and Community Health at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; David A. de Simone, ESP, Vice President and General Counsel of AtlantiCare Health System; and Michelle Koury, MD, COO of Crystal Run Healthcare.
For more information or to register, visit www.njmgma.com/PMC-2013/. For questions or interviews, contact Lee Ann Potter, Executive Director of the Medical Group Management Association’s New Jersey Chapter, at 609-208-3279, or by email at info@njmgma.com.
ATTENTION EDITORS: All members of the media will receive free admission to the conference and an exclusive extended access to a wide array of medical professionals. Upon request, NJMGMA will provide room for an overnight stay and an opportunity to gather more information.
Leslie Nolan’s Work among Women Featured at U.N.
Leslie Nolan, Wall, is among 42 women world-wide whose paintings are currently being shown at the United Nations. Nolan contributed three of 126 acrylic paintings in an exhibit called The Soul Fire Collection, which depicts the process of waking up to one’s life and one’s calling, and expressing a healing journey and transformation through painting.**
Nolan became involved in this project after her father’s death. She says, “Painting has always been my therapy; and after his illness, I became involved in taking an online class. It was what I knew I needed to heal. That class was called, Leading a Legendary Life, a six-month journey in making a painting and writing a novella about your Legendary Self. I was so thrilled with the class and my teacher Shiloh McCloud that I continued to take classes one after another.”
Nolan, who now has a line of more than 30 spiritual paintings, travelled to California to become certified in McCloud’s method of teaching, the Color of Women, a way of using art, poetry and writing to heal suffering and offer hope.
“Now I am assisting McCloud, helping with the websites, answering questions, writing blogs, and creating content for the “ning” site, a website designed for online teaching purposes. It has been quite a journey. In my new venture, The Venus Transits, I am planning a trip to Russia so that American and Russian women can paint Our Lady of Kazan.”
Nolan, the creative principal of Nolan Design, offers classes and art workshops at her Wall Township and Belmar studios. As a result of her experiences with the Color of Women, Nolan started the women’s group, The Venus Transits, which focuses on transition of one’s self through art and writing. She has taught at Brookdale Community College, Wall Township Municipal Center, and holistic conferences.
When she is not teaching, Nolan uses her artistic skills to problem solve, trouble-shoot and brainstorm challenging design projects in web and print as an art director and designer. She collaborates with clients, in-house art directors, editors, and publishers; and hires and supervises illustrators, photographers, copywriters.
Nolan’s clients have included Monmouth County Parks Service, Baker & Taylor Publishing, Inc.; Gold-N-Time Jewelers; Birdsall Engineering; Colgate Palmolive; Dow Jones; The Federal Reserve Bank of NY; Monmouth Health Care Foundation; McGraw Hill Publishing; NJ Natural Gas and Oxford University Press, among others.
Nolan was graduated from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N.Y., with a B.F.A. (Bachelor of Fine Arts) in Visual Communications Design, Graphic Design and Art Direction, with honors, in 1985. At Pratt she was listed on the President’s List and the Dean’s List. She also received the Keeper of the Gate Award for Outstanding Community Service. From 1995-2012, Nolan attended the Sandler Sales Institute, Iselin, N. J., taking sales training and client building courses. Nolan has attended online Rutgers, Camden, N.J., working towards certifications in web design and development.
Between 1993 and 2009, Nolan received awards from Jersey Shore Public Relations & Advertising Association (JSPRAA) in design, service and the President’s Choice Awards. Nolan is a member of BarterPays; Eastern Monmouth Area Chamber of Commerce, and Big Brother’s Big Sister’s of Monmouth and Middlesex counties. For more information, call 732-280-7989 or email leslie@leslienolandesign.com.
**The Background Leading to the U.N. Exhibit
Shiloh McCloud developed a method of teaching called the Color of Women. Because of her work during the past 17 years, McCloud became known to Lois A. Herman, the coordinator of WUNRN (Women’s UN Report Network). Herman, who reports about women, world-wide, and the violence against them, sent out an email blast with Shiloh’s poems and paintings, which were extremely well-received.
As a result, Herman invited Shiloh to speak at the UN Commission on the Status of Women 57th Panel: Arts & Film for Women’s Activism for Rights against Violence, Church Center, UN Chapel, New York. Shiloh put together her students’ paintings, including Nolan’s, which were exhibited at the U.N., as part of her presentation depicting how a person could heal through art and poetry. Some consider this method a palpable antidote for some of the pain women worldwide experience.
Nolan says, “It is Shiloh’s belief that if women are able to work from images that they are receiving from inside themselves, journeying inside of themselves to create images of hope and healing through art and journaling, instead of what the external culture is telling them they should be or how they should act in their life, it will help them realize their full healing potential, and assist in their life’s purpose and life calling.”
Shiloh has trained people, such as Nolan, to go into their own communities, using her method. Some people might use this method for those in recovery or, perhaps, for women affected by Hurricane Sandy, or for men and women who are vets. Each person has his or her own way to offer this method for different people in their community. For example, Nolan has created The Venus Transit, a group for women in transition.
Nolan says, “Besides just offering it to women who are going through a transition in their life, I can see that some methods can be used for women in business. Some classes work on the feminine business paradigm. There’s the potential of working with families of people who have been affected by hurricane sandy; one of my students was one of them. It can be used for teens and children—there are a lot of kids who are committing suicide in this area, in Manasquan and Belmar. This method can be used in many ways. It can be a form of expression, but it is also a place of healing.”
To see the entire exhibit, visit www.redthreadnation.com .
Helping Employees Manage Stress – April Meeting of HR Group
Stress in your life? Kids, work, money, relationships? The overwhelming amount of stress employees feel every day can affect business and lead to disengagement from work, clients, and families. Join Charlie Dolce, director of Advisor Solutions Group and the Jersey Shore Association for Human Resources (JSAHR), a Silver Excel award winner of SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management), to find out how HR professionals can help employees take care of the stress in their lives, Thursday, April 11, 2013, from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m., Jumping Brook Country Club, 210 Jumping Brook Road, Neptune, N.J.
With practice, employees can learn to use stress as an opportunity for growth, and HR can help them manage it. Participants will learn the definition of stress, understand the stress story, realize recovery strategies for stress, and discover some stress management techniques.
The registration fee, including a full buffet breakfast, is $30.00 for JSAHR members; $40.00 for nonmembers; $25.00 for those in-transition, and $10.00 for full-time students. This program is pending HRCI credits. To register, call Kathi Evans, JSAHR administrator, at 732-270-5204 email jsahr.shrm@gmail.com.
About Charlie Dolce
Charlie Dolce is the director of Advisor Solutions Group for New Jersey and Delaware. Prior to joining Janus in October 2004, he was with Navellier and Associates where he was a Director for the Eastern Division. During his 28-year career in financial services, Charlie has also held the positions of Senior Vice President at Northstar Funds and Regional Vice President at National Funds. He holds his CIMA certification and graduated cum laude from Duke University where he earned an B.A. in Economics. Charlie has four children, one grandchild and resides in Yardley, Pennsylvania, with his wife.
Event Planning for Businesses – Jersey Shore Business Leaders Invite You
Jersey Shore Business Leaders is hosting “Event Planning for Businesses,” a business development seminar for businesses of all sizes, Tuesday, April 16, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., Woodlake Country Club, 25 New Hampshire Avenue, Lakewood, N.J. Registration is $20.00, open to the public; and includes light appetizers, a cash bar, and networking. Proceeds from this event will benefit the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation.
Kathi Evans, owner of the award-winning company, “All the Best Weddings and Celebrations,” will help attendees plan events whether they are for their own employees or customers. Evans will show how to define the purpose of an event, establish the right guest list, determine what items must be included in a budget and how to stay within that budget, among other topics.
To register, email JerseyShoreBusinessLeaders@gmail.com or call Arielle Bandes, Woodlake Country Club, at 732-278-4834. Find JSBL on Facebook.com/ JerseyShoreBusinessLeaders and on Twitter at twitter.com/JSBLNetworking.
OHI Participates in National Poison Prevention Week
National Poison Prevention Week, March 17-23, is a week dedicated to reminding people about the dangers of unintentional poisonings and how to prevent them as well as providing educational information.
Dr. Theresa Berger, the CEO, of Ocean Health Initiatives, Lakewood, wants everyone to know that that the HRSA-funded (Health Resources and Services Administration) toll-free Poison Help Line (1-800-222-1222) is NOT only for emergencies involving children. One important reminder is that this is a time to encourage patients and colleagues to program the Poison Help line (800-222-1222) into their phones for convenient access to poison experts.
The Poison Help line is also a valuable resource for healthcare professionals and should be used for non-urgent as well as urgent situations. For example, trained toxicologists, physicians, nurses, and pharmacists at a local poison center can offer continuing medical education and other training on a wide range of topics, including poison management, medication safety, disaster preparedness, and substance abuse. Poison center specialists can talk about emerging hazards.
Poison centers can provide locally relevant information, such as what drugs are most commonly abused in your community or where parents can buy children’s products free from certain toxins.
Despite the lifesaving services poison centers have provided for 60 years, public and professional awareness about the availability of poison control resources and the nationwide Poison Help line is essential.
Interpretation services are available in over 150 languages. For more information about the Poison Help line and the services that poison centers provide, visit www.PoisonHelp.hrsa.gov, available in English and Spanish. To order Poison Help magnets and stickers, visit http://www.ask.hrsa.gov or call 1-888-ASK-HRSA (275-4772), and indicate a bulk order request.
For more information, visit www.ohinj.org. For questions, contact Douglas Clark at 732-363-6655 or promotionsdept@ohinj.org.
About Ocean Health Initiatives : OHI, a federally qualified health center (FQHC), with locations at 101 Second Street, Lakewood; and 301 Lakehurst Road, Toms River; and 333 Haywood Road Manahawkin, provides comprehensive preventative and primary care, including pediatrics, maternal and child health, prenatal, WIC, universal immunizations, and dental health to the area’s uninsured, underinsured, and undocumented residents on a sliding-fee scale, based on an individual’s or family’s ability to pay.
OHI has a bilingual staff available to assist patients and callers. To become a patient of OHI, call a representative in the Call Center at either 732-552-0377, Toms River, or 732-363-6655, Lakewood. Visit www.ohinj.org. for further information.
Lakewood Industrial Commission Holds Business Seminar – More to Follow
The Lakewood Industrial Commission (LIC) recently held a seminar for small businesses at Eagle Ridge Golf Course, Lakewood, featuring Blackrock Global, a multinational investment management corporation, and Merrill Lynch, a financial management and advisory company.
Steven Reinman director, Office of Economic Development and deputy municipal manager, Lakewood Township, who arranged the seminar, said the topics included Tax Advantages to Business Owners of Employee Retirement Plans, Retirement Plan Designs and Features, Advances and Changes in Plans and Their Impact on Business Owners, and How to Manage the Plans Most Efficiently.
Reinman said, “The LIC is happy to have launched this business series and will be holding more seminars this year, focusing on compelling business topics. We encourage input from our Lakewood Industrial Park companies to help us plan seminars that will be of maximum value.”
To relay topics of interest or for more information, contact Steven Reinman at 732-364-2500 Ext. 5333.
10,00th Person Receives Care from Volunteer Group – Celebration Set
Lakewood resident Ellen Fetzko, 81, has become the 10,000th person to receive care from Caregiver Volunteers of Central Jersey (CVCJ), a milestone that this group will celebrate Wednesday, March 20, 11:00 a.m., House of Hope, 253 Chestnut Street, Toms River, N.J. This achievement coincides with the 20th anniversary of CVCJ.
Because medical issues prevent Fetzko from driving, she requested assistance with medical transportation and shopping. When Fetzko was younger, she, herself, was a volunteer for an Animal Shelter Thrift Store, an activity she loved.
Lynette Whiteman, the executive director of CVJC) says, “We are having a little celebration. (Think Reader’s Digest but without the $10,000.00 check) at our office with the Ellen who is very excited. She is a lovely woman who is a great sport and feels honored by all the attention she is getting as our 10,000th Care Receiver. Her daughter, Susan Hoffman, the Surrogate in Hunterdon County, is hoping to attend.”
Jane Maloney, Director of Senior Services, Ocean County, will be joining the celebration along with other dignitaries.
CVCJ is a non-profit interfaith agency whose mission is to assist the frail and homebound elderly with everyday tasks enabling them to remain independent in their own homes. All services provided are free.
More than 1000 volunteers assist over 2000 senior citizens each month with transportation to medical appointments, grocery shopping, relief for Alzheimer’s disease caregivers, reassuring telephone calls, and friendly pet visits.
CVCJ has two locations serving 23 municipalities in Ocean County. For more information and to learn about volunteer opportunities, call 732-505-2273; or visit www.caregivervolunteers.org
***Caregiver Canines Variety Show***
Join us for an afternoon of tail-wagging fun!
Sunday, April 7, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., Toms River Intermediate East
Contact Danielle for tickets and more information
daniellem@caregivervolunteers.org
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Brick CPA Firm Opens Office in Manchester
CPA Lynn Paslowski, Brick, recently opened an office in Manchester at 2136 Route 70 and Ridgeway Road. Paslowski, a Brick Township High School graduate (1994), focuses her practice on such areas as income taxes, bookkeeping, estate and trust tax, insurance, investments, and long term care insurance, among others.
Prior to opening her own office in 2001, Paslowski worked for local CPA firms, serving as a financial statement auditor and tax preparer. She was graduated from Georgian Court University with a B.S. in accounting in 1998 and an MBA in 2003.
Paslowski earned her CPA in 2001. She also holds licenses in N.J. Life & Health Insurance and Series 6, a securities license entitling the holder to register as a limited representative and sell mutual funds, variable annuities, and insurance.
In both 2010 and 2012, Paslowski was voted Best Accounting Firm in Ocean County in the Asbury Park Readers’ Choice Awards.
Paslowski serves as treasurer on the Executive Board of Jersey Shore Business Leaders. She is a member of the Southern Monmouth Chamber of Commerce, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the N.J. Society of Certified Public Accountants, and the Planned Giving Council at Georgian Court University.
For more information visit www.lynnpaslowski.com or call 732-604-9675.
Lakewood School Security Program in Place
The Lakewood Police Department has always taken school security seriously; however, in light of recent national events, Chief Robert Lawson has met with Lakewood Mayor Ackerman and Police Liaison Meir Lichtenstein to discuss how to improve school security even more within the Township.
Chief Lawson stated, “One part of our plan is to establish a relationship with students, parents, and teachers in an effort to keep our private and public schools safe.”
Chief Lawson’s plan also includes educating school staff and increasing police patrols in and around schools. The Police Department is instituting a program in which uniform patrol officers will randomly visit schools on a regular basis to create a more visible police presence if requested by a school administrator.
Two Lakewood police officers, who are receiving school security training approved by the New Jersey Department of Education and the New Jersey Department of Homeland Security, will be available to review “best practices” for school safety, teach current safety and emergency measures, and instruct administrators, staff and students about how to perform the four state-mandated security drills: lock down (active shooter), shelter in place, bomb threat and evacuation.
Administrators of Lakewood private and elementary schools who would like this special training for their schools or have a uniform police office make random school stops, should email Officer Robert DeSimone, Special Operations Division of the Lakewood Police Department at rdesimone@lakewoodpolicenj.com. Be sure to include the school name, address, contact person and phone number or contact Officer DeSimone at 732-363-0200 Ext. 5372.
Ocean County Business Association Hosts Annual Open House
The Ocean County Business Association (OCBA) is showing clips from a “Sandy” documentary and hosting a panel discussion on the effects super storm Sandy had on Ocean County businesses and how the affected businesses plan to move forward, at its annual open house at Clarion Hotel and Conference Center (formerly the Quality Inn), 815 Route 37 West, Toms River, Thursday, April 4, 2013, 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
The panel includes The Honorable Thomas Kelaher, Mayor, Toms River; Michael Mastronardy, chief of police, Toms River; Leslie Knox, Andrew K. Knox & Co., a public insurance adjuster and OCBA member; and Chuck Laing, construction consultant and OCBA member. OCBA Member Sandra Levine, Sandra Levine Productions, will show clips from her Super Storm Sandy documentary. A question and answer period will follow.
A luncheon and the meeting are open to members of OCBA, their employees and guests; prospective members, and members of the media. A buffet lunch will begin at 11:30; the panel discussion at noon.
The luncheon costs $20.00, but is free for prospective members and the media. Reservations are required. To register, contact Stephanie Slevin by March 25, 2013, at info@OceanCountyBusinessAssociation.com. For further information call 866-606-6222 or visit www.OceanCountyBusinessAssociation.com.
OCBA is an Ocean County-based professional networking organization for business owners and corporate decision-makers.