Robert M. Coats Outstanding Member Award

Purposes and Scoring Details
An annual award shall be made for outstanding individual contribution for betterment and growth of the Alabama Chapter, HFMA. All members of the Alabama Chapter, HFMA shall be eligible except elected officers. The period of achievement to be considered shall be from May 1 to April 30. The award shall be presented at the annual meeting and shall consist of the following:

1. Paid registration and lodging (package deal limited to $2,000) to National HFMA Institute of choice.
2. Plaque relative to achievement.

The winner will be determined as follows:

Points

1. Attendance at Chapter's Annual Institute .......................... 250
2. Attendance at quarterly Chapter Meeting ......................... 200
3. Attendance at Forum Meeting .......................................... 100
4. Perfect attendance at Annual Institute, and three
   Statewide Meetings ......................................................... 100
5. Attainment of FHFMA (in year of attainment) .................... 300
   (each year thereafter) .................................................... 100
6. Paper published in any healthcare related publication ........ 300
7. Chairman, Type A Chapter Council/Committee* .............. 300
8. Member, Type A Chapter Council/Committee* ................ 100
9. Chairman, Type B Chapter Council/Committee* .............. 150
10. Member, Type B Chapter Council/Committee* ................. 50
11. Program participation, Alabama Chapter of HFMA ............ 300
12. Participation in project accepted by National HFMA ........... 100
13. Sponsor new member .................................................... 25
    *Limit of one

Robert M. Coats Biography
The origins of naming the Alabama Chapter’s Outstanding Member Award after Robert M. Coats began in 1951 when he joined Ernst & Ernst. His dedication to his profession, his firm and, later, his industry were already there. Bob was the only person not affiliated with a hospital at the first meeting of the Alabama Chapter-American Association of Hospital Accountants now known as HFMA.

Bob is credited with steering Ernst & Whinney into the healthcare field and being a pioneer in providing accounting and consulting expertise to the healthcare industry. He also made friends across the country and started or helped many careers in healthcare.

He served HFMA in many roles. He was chairman of the Uniform Accounting and Cost Reporting in connection with Third Party Cost Reimbursement Formulas project in 1962. The results of this project produced a cost reporting system that was one of the forerunners of the current cost reports and cost studies. He was awarded the William G. Follmer Award in 1969 and the Robert H. Reeves Award in 1974 in recognition of his active role in HFMA. He also earned the Muncie Gold Award in 1986. Prior to his winning, only eight Alabama Chapter members had received the Muncie Gold Award.

On October 31, 1986 the Alabama Chapter voted to name the Outstanding Member Award in his honor. Although he never received this award from the Alabama Chapter, nearly every recipient was influenced by Mr. Coats. Many of the recipients worked for him at Ernst & Whinney. Although he easily could have put himself into the position to be the outstanding member, he preferred instead to encourage and support others. That was the kind of man he was and why this award will be known as the Robert M. Coats Outstanding Member Award.

Robert M. Coats Outstanding Member Award Winners