Persons of the Year

Posted by ED Saturday March 24 a.m.

Franklin, TN (March 23, 2007) Two national executives were recognized for “outstanding contributions" in the new field of medical banking at the 5th National Medical Banking Institute, recently held in Marietta, GA. The Institute, an educational arm of the Medical Banking Project, grew over 55% in attendance and is a defining event for the emerging medical banking industry.

BP Fulmer, President of the Medical Banking Institute and Executive Director of Commercial EDI Services at ACS, and Joe Fortuna, MD, Medical Director of the E&C and AHG Divisions of Delphi Corporation, were selected by the Medical Banking Project for its prestigious Person of the Year Award.

“Facilitating the medical banking industry has been somewhat akin to a mouse dancing between elephants,” said John Casillas, founder of the Medical Banking Project, which organizes the annual Medical Banking Institutes with peer review from a President’s Council. “These are highly conservative industries and the process of change comes slowly. The individuals we selected join our Hall of Fame for contributing critical thought leadership and also for helping us to convene and shape a growing medical banking movement.”

BP Fulmer, who was appointed to serve as the President of the Medical Banking Institute, was publicly credited with helping to establish high value educational programming at the Institute through the creation of a President’s Council. He was also recognized for his efforts to support MBProject’s HSA Accumulator Use Case, a pilot program that is being funded by Exante and managed by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Joe Fortuna was credited with providing new thinking around how banks can facilitate value-driven healthcare during a speech he gave at MBProject’s 2006 DC Leadership Forum entitled “I Have A Dream”. He was also praised for teaming with MBProject in his capacity as Healthcare Focus Leader at the 1600 employer strong Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG), to launch the Joint Taskgroup for Value In Health, an effort subscribed to by top automakers and tier one automotive suppliers.

Only three other individuals have been awarded the Person of the Year by MBProject. They include Tom Dean, President of Revenue Management Solutions, Inc.; David Harris, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers; and, John Hardin, B2B Product Manager, SOA/Business Integration, Sun Microsystems.

"We could not facilitate a brand new industry without great people and forward thinkers," said Casillas, who pioneered original thinking in the convergence of banks and healthcare in 1996 and has since implemented a broad series of programs to facilitate what is now becoming a global industry segment. “We need and greatly appreciate their efforts. Great things will continue to happen for us because of their ability to engage in creative dialogue with banking, healthcare, employer and other critical stakeholders.”