Welcome to the MGMA, I mean AMGA conference

The recent American Medical Group Association conference in Las Vegas didn’t get off to the best start: the woman singing an a capella version of the national anthem forgot the words, and then the keynote speaker referred to the AMGA as the “MGMA”—the initials of the host’s rival/sister organization the Medical Group Management Association—several times during his speech.

During her performance, the singer sang some lyrics out of sequence, froze, and then—since she had no instrumental accompaniment—was able to “reset” and finish the song. “I don’t know if I have ever heard a better recovery,” said former AMGA Chair Ronald Kirkland immediately afterward.

Kirkland himself helped the proceedings recover by first acknowledging the military veterans in attendance and then by making note of the conference’s setting—Caesars Palace—by quoting horse trainer Jimmy Jones who once suggested that a man should make at least one bet a day, because otherwise, “He could be walking around lucky and never know it.”

The opening announcement made by AMGA President and Chief Executive Officer Donald Fisher was to acknowledge the first hole-in-one in the history of the organization’s pre-conference golf tournament. It was shot by Timothy O’Connor, chief financial officer for the Burlington, Mass.-based Lahey Clinic, and—citing the “19th hole” tradition where the hole-in-one golfer must buy everyone in the clubhouse a round—Fisher said, “Tim, I just want you to know there are 1,700 people here expecting a drink tonight.”

Fisher then went on to introduce the keynote speaker, Donald Berwick, president and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Noting Berwick’s standing as an honorary knight of the British Empire, Fisher said that, if Berwick is ever convicted of a capital crime in Great Britain, his title gives him the privilege of choosing whether he be hanged or beheaded. Fisher, however, didn’t call for either after Berwick called the AMGA the MGMA multiple times during his speech.

Jeff Milburn, a member of the MGMA consulting staff, said later on he was asked how much MGMA paid for the mention or if his organization could split Berwick’s speaking fee with the AMGA.

“We certainly appreciate the recognition,” Milburn said. “But stuff like that can happen to anybody.”