TJ Midla, CMM

I grew up in a medical family. My father was a primary care physician for 47 years. My mother had a business degree and handled the financial side of my father’s private practice. Both of my brothers are physicians and all my sisters worked in hospitals/offices as medical assistants/candy stripers at some point of their careers.

I officially began my healthcare career in 1993. My brother contacted me about running his orthopedic practice he had opened in Indianapolis, Indiana. He had an office manager that was temporary until I got settled. After 6 months of learning every position in the office, I took over as his manager.

I took and passed the CMM exam at the Annual Conference in Buffalo, NY. At that time, I was one of only 24 CMM’s in the entire state of Indiana. Getting certified gave me a huge boost of confidence that I was acting in the best interest of the practice. It also confirmed to my brother that I knew what I was doing. I also found that other managers began contacting me for help with what was going on in their practices. With my certification, my title was changed to Practice Administrator. I had complete control of the business aspects of the office. The physicians were free to practice medicine as they saw fit, having the confidence that the rest was in good hands.

In 2004, my family and I moved back to my wife’s hometown of Augusta, Georgia to be near her family. After being out of healthcare for three years, I returned with Augusta Pain Center. Since joining in 2007, we have grown from an eight employee staff in a 3000 square foot lease to 26 employees, three providers, a clinic, a surgery center, and our own 15,000 square foot building. Our surgery center is Joint Commission Certified.

In 2011, I was honored to be nominated for PAHCOM’s Medical Manager of the Year. Even though I did not win the award, I feel truly blessed to have even been considered. The people membership of PAHCOM is loaded with amazing people.

I was invited to join the National Advisory Board in 2013 and currently work with an outstanding team from across the country trying to promote PAHCOM and offer suggestions for keeping the Association a strong influence in today’s healthcare environment.

Every aspect of what I have done, currently do, and will do in healthcare has been enhanced by my membership in and relationship with PAHCOM.