MGMA opens centennial conference crediting practice leaders for the work patients never see

"Patients may never know why they got in sooner, why a physician stayed longer ..." Akash Madiah, MBA, told a ballroom of medical practice leaders Sunday in San Antonio. "Those positive outcomes happen because of leaders like you."

Madiah, acting chief executive officer of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), officially kicked off the association's 2026 Annual Conference, a centennial meeting that continues through Wednesday at the Henry B. González Convention Center under the theme "From Here Forward." He told attendees it is MGMA's largest conference since the pandemic.

Madiah came to MGMA in 2018 as chief financial officer after running finance for DaVita Medical Group's Colorado Springs market, picked up the chief operating officer title in 2024 and has led the association on an acting basis since January.

He said he first found MGMA as a user of its data while working in practice operations. "I've sat in your seat," he said.

The view from the exam room

Sasha Andreev, an actor and television host who emceed the session, told the audience he turned 45 this year and started losing his voice. "I joke that I talk for a living," he said.

Over the past two years, he said, he has been through exams, medications and blood tests and has had his throat scoped repeatedly. "Going to the doctor for me became almost a hobby," Andreev said. "The receptionists know my name."

Each round of care meant scheduling appointments, keeping up with his chart, waiting for someone to answer the phone and dealing with insurance, he said. He has had good experiences and bad ones, and "when you're in a vulnerable position where the very thing that is your livelihood is on the line," it becomes very clear which practices run smoothly, he said.

He called the administrators and executives in the room "the chaos coordinators, the ringmasters, the magicians who keep these practices running" so that clinicians can care for patients like him.

"When you are in the business of health care, you are in the business of people," Andreev said.

What has changed in 100 years?

MGMA dates its founding to a 1926 gathering at the Madison Club in Madison, Wisconsin, where 32 clinic managers from 21 medical groups compared notes on what the association calls the "mutual problems" of running a practice.

"One hundred years ago, there was no modern reimbursement system, no EHR, no AI and no telehealth," Madiah said. "But there was one thing that was remarkably familiar: health care leaders working to make sure patients receive great care."

The technology, the regulations and the payment models have all changed, he said, but the responsibility to patients has not. According to Madiah, members told MGMA it is one of the most trusted resources in their professional lives.

"When something goes wrong in your practice, we want MGMA to be the first resource that comes to mind, not the third call after you've already struck out twice — the first," he said.

Who did MGMA honor?

The first half of the session closed with MGMA's 2026 award recipients, who appeared in recorded videos on the ballroom screens.

Tracy Bird, FACMPE, CPC, CPMA, CEMC, CPC-I, president and owner of Medical Practice Advisors in Spring Hill, Kansas, received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Andreev told the audience Bird has been doing this work for 50 years.

"All I have done my entire career is just get up every morning and do my job, and I love that," Bird said. "I love what I do."

Brigid E. Jones, MBA, RN-NIC, FACMPE, an operational strategy consultant with JBE Consultants in Denver, received the American College of Medical Practice Executives (ACMPE) Forum Representative of the Year award.

The Future Four award, which honors professionals whose work is shaping the future of their organizations and the profession, went to Sonya Biswas, PPMC; Sara Brice; Jackie Hansen; and April Marsh, RN.

Adam Pople, MBA, M.A., FACHE, FACMPE, of Saint Francis Healthcare System in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, was named MGMA Legislative Liaison of the Year. The award goes to practice professionals who educate and motivate members on legislative and regulatory issues through grassroots advocacy.

"Too often, we let legislation happen to us," Pople said. "Instead, we have to get out there and be a part of the process. We have to share our knowledge and our expertise of what happens behind our practice walls, so that we are a part of the decision, and we help those policymakers understand what really matters to us."

Medical Economics is in San Antonio at the MGMA Annual Conference, Sept 27-30, celebrating 100 years of MGMA, attending sessions and speaking with industry leaders. Follow our coverage on our MGMA conference page.