Comment / The HFMA launches new website. And this time, it’s personal!

If you are reading this, then hopefully you have noticed something different. The HFMA has a new website. I hope you like our new look, but I think you will find some really useful features and self-service options that will make it easier for you to interact with the association and to navigate our wide-ranging member publications, training and news offerings.

The association first went online back in 1999. When we launched, we noted that a recent survey had reported that ‘nearly one third of adults in the UK are connected to the internet either at home or at work’. And the government had committed to a target for 25% of all government services to be provided electronically by early in the new millennium. How things have changed!

The internet is now woven into all of our lives. It is how we transact with businesses, and increasingly with public services. It is how our entertainment is streamed to us. It is how we get our news and keep up with the lives of families and friends. And it is an absolutely key tool in the way the association delivers its services to members. Quite rightly, it is how members expect to access the HFMA and all it has to offer.

So, what’s new about our current offering? What makes it so special? Well, we think it looks great – and hope you agree. Our aim has been to give you a site that is easy to navigate. The HFMA is multi-faceted. We produce on average more than one policy and technical briefing or consultation response every week. We also deliver healthcare finance-specific news to our members through our news and news alerting services. The website also hosts the online version of our member magazine – Healthcare Finance.

The association is a major provider of training and events – ranging from face-to-face conferences and online webinars to continuing professional development-accredited online courses and full masters-level qualifications. And at its heart, the HFMA is a member network. It has wide-ranging committees, branches that cover every corner of the UK, and special interest groups that both inform our policy work and provide invaluable networking opportunities where finance professionals can get together to share challenges and solutions.

In many ways the website is multiple websites in one place – so making it easy to find your way around, getting where you need to go quickly and not getting lost was a core requirement. It is hopefully a gateway to everything HFMA.

One of the key new features is the myHFMA area. For a start this gives members’ total control over their membership details – enabling simple changes, for example when they change job or address. No more having to email the association to update information. But it does so much more.

For a start, members can now track their continuing professional development (CPD) hours, built up from HFMA events, briefings, magazines, bitesize courses and more. They can even manually add CPD hours they have completed outside of HFMA activities – creating a central log to support any declarations members make to their accountancy bodies.

Members can quickly see their membership status – and upgrade to full membership if they are just an affiliate – while also seeing what committees and groups they currently serve on and whether their employing organisation is a part of any HFMA faculties, networks or the Healthcare Costing for Value Institute. The myHFMA area also shows any publications that have been bought previously and events that members have signed up for, as well as keeping a record of those that have been attended.

There are also changes in how we deliver out policy briefings to you. For recent publications, and most briefings going forward, you will be able to read the whole briefing online – giving a more modern and easier reading experience. You will still be able to view or download documents as a pdf – if that is what you prefer – but you now have the option.

There are so many new features and new looks that overall add up to a better user experience. Take some time to have a look around and, if you haven’t already, check your member details (you will be prompted to create a new password when logging on) – and let us know what you think.