AARC Record - July 2006, Issue 2

Welcome to another issue of the AARC Record. The summer issue, traditionally a little smaller in term of numbers of articles, still has much to offer. It especially has a lot of information germane to the upcoming summer HOD meeting in Phoenix.

Madam Speaker, Denise Johnson has some good information to share regarding the Summer HOD meeting. Among other items, she asks that those who need to furnish a picture for the House roster do so and she provides contact information for doing just that, as well as a link to the current roster (you can check and make sure they got your “good side”). She also mentions that we are going to have some “best-practices” break-out sessions at the meeting utilizing a format that was very successful in the recent past in Keystone (many of you that went that summer have the famous “screw milk, got Oxygen?” t-shirts…I still contend that the mild hypoxemia we all succumbed to actually enhanced the experience). Past Speaker, Claude Dockter reports on the status of past resolutions and the March Board of Directors meeting. Speaker-elect, Debbie Fox has some good advice, a hilarious Sam-ism, and a plea for leaders to jump in and take the reins for next year’s committee assignments. Speaking of best practices, Frank Salvatore, the HOD Treasurer, has some excellent advice on financial management for state affiliates and finally, Madam Secretary, Lynn Lenz, reports off on the first e-vote of the house and has some news for those anticipating discussion on making our Board of Directors elections an electronic process.

I would encourage everyone to read all of these articles as they contain not just good information, but good advice as well. The leadership of the House is clearly doing a great job of preparing for the upcoming meeting as well as just taking care of business. Please read on…[Top]

Fun in the Sun

Denise Johnson, BS, RRT
Speaker

The time is flying by. Soon we will be meeting in Phoenix. I am working with the officers, committee chairs and President Runge to prepare the agenda for the House meeting as we speak. It will be a very full two days discussing the many issues and topics currently facing our profession and, most importantly, the patients we care for. While in the past we have had focus group opportunities during the summer meeting, we are going to try something a little different this year. I have asked Denice Stingl, chair of Affiliate Best Practices, to organize a number of “Best Practice” mini-breakout sessions that will allow a number of delegates to share their experiences/stories about some exciting work that is occurring in their states. You will have the chance to rotate through all of the learning sessions during the time allotted. This idea originated out of focus groups several years ago in Keystone, CO.

I am also putting time aside for 2006 committee chairs to pull their committees together for face-to-face time during the meeting. I have received feedback that this is extremely useful time for the chairs.

I would encourage your continued support of your state presidents to complete the online survey gathering disaster preparedness information. If you have already done so, thank you. President Runge and I have dedicated some time in Joint Session to review the results of the survey.

If you have not turned in a photo of yourself for the online delegate roster, please do so to Joe Horn at jhorn@irgstaffing.com You can take a peek at the roster by going to the following link. http://www.aarc.org/members_area/contacts/hod_roster/index.html
Thank you to Joe Horn and Roy Wagner!

On a personal note, the Minnesota/Wisconsin meeting NRRCC (North Regional Respiratory Care Conference) was held in May in Duluth, MN. We were fortunate to have President Runge as one of our keynote speakers and I was honored to be the one to introduce him. As always his message was informational and inspirational! We also had presentations by our PACT reps from both states and had computers set up near the entrance of the vendor hall to familiarize attendees with the Capitol Connection and to offer assistance in writing letters. There was great exposure and some letter writing was accomplished. I know many of you have and will be doing similar activities. It is a great way to spread the word with a personal contact approach.

I truly look forward to our time together. It is always rewarding and wonderful to connect with all of you. As always, I hope you will call me with questions, concerns or just to talk. You can reach me at 612-273-5569. [Top]

Sam-Isms Etc.

Debbie Fox, MBA, RRT-NPS
Speaker-elect

“You can’t just sit in the back seat while they drive the car off the cliff!” – a quote from our esteemed Executive Director Sam Giordano during the March BOD meeting in Dallas. I know several RTs who collect similar “Sam-ism’s”, his unique way of expressing a thought with such clarity.

I considered this particular Sam-ism as we begin our preparations for the summer HOD meeting in Phoenix. It reminded me that all of us need to take an active role to result in an effective, productive meeting. Perhaps it’s easier just to sit in the back seat, but it’s better when everyone contributes to the process. So in an effort to help out our new Delegates, what needs to be done to prepare? Remember the primary role of the Delegate is to serve as a liaison between the AARC and their society membership, to provide two-way communication and input. Resolutions will be out soon and need to be presented to the state societies’ BOD for their review and consideration. That’s a good opportunity to check with your state Board and see what issues or concerns are currently causing them heartburn. Is it pandemic flu preparations, licensure issues, state budget problems, polysomnography woes?

What does your state society do well? During our summer meeting Denise is allowing time for breakout sessions for Delegates to discuss best practices. Do you have a best practice for vendor relationships/sponsorships, managing your website, or promoting legislative activities? Maybe it’s a project for consumer/patient education or increasing your membership. You can also make use of the open microphone time to share your success stories or ask for input from other Delegates.

I will begin working on 2007 Committee appointments during this Summer Meeting. I’ll be asking you to select the committee(s) that you would like to serve on next year. I would also encourage you to consider a Committee Chair position. Serving as a Committee Chair is one way to take more of a leadership role in the House.

A few final thoughts to prepare … don’t forget the sun block and business-casual swimsuit! I’m looking forward to seeing everyone and having a productive meeting in Phoenix! And remember - “Just because you put your boots in the oven, doesn’t mean they will be biscuits.” [Top]

First E-Vote Ruled A Success

Lynn Lenz, BS, RRT
Secretary

The first HOD e-vote went off without a hitch in early 2006. The purpose of the vote was to conclude the second reading of the AARC Bylaws changes. This was accomplished, and the proposed Bylaws changes passed by a margin of 41 to 2. There were 7 delegations that did not respond, which are recorded as abstentions.

I want to thank Sherry Milligan in the executive office for setting up the web application that facilitated this vote so nicely. It was really easy, as Secretary, to check the results on a daily basis and see how things were progressing. I was easily able to identify those affiliates who may have had a problem and contact them with issues. One affiliate voted twice (fortunately the same way), and 23 had not yet voted with the deadline only two days away. In compliance with the house rules regarding an e-vote, I contacted each of those affiliates and the list of non-responders dwindled to 7 by the time of the deadline.

One of the things I noted during the discussion phase of the Bylaws changes was concern for future electronic election of AARC officers and directors. I anticipate that the Elections Committee will bring details of this process forward during their report at the House meeting this summer. It is then that you should be prepared to voice your concerns so that they can be adequately addressed prior to the first AARC electronic election. If the election goes as smoothly as the e-vote, I believe we are in good hands. [Top]

Fiduciary Responsibility

Frank Salvatore, Jr., BS, RRT, FAARC
HOD Treasurer

One of my duties as House Treasurer is to sit on both the Finance Committee and Audit Sub-Committee of the AARC. In March, we were tasked with reviewing the consolidated financial statements and independent auditors’ report of the AARC. I have to tell you that it was an eye opening experience to do this on the national level. If you don’t already know this, your organization is not only in very good shape financially, but we have some top-notch people running a well-oiled machine down there in Texas.

Many of us who have reviewed the financials and audit reports on the state level know it needs to be done, but I am not sure if everyone knows just how important it is. So my goal is to pass on information that I found interesting. In July 2002, the Congress passed, and the President signed, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). SOX came about after the events surrounding the fraud perpetuated by companies like Enron, Tyco and others that dealt blows to the public trust of America’s corporations. The main goal of SOX was to direct legislation toward publicly traded corporations, but in New York, Attorney General Elliot Spitzer has been working to have the SOX provisions apply toward the nonprofits. Regardless of the outcome in New York, some of its provisions could be viewed as best practice for nonprofits, and should be considered:

If a nonprofit doesn’t have an audit committee, one should be considered. If the audit committee does exist, it should review its governance to make sure it operates within the guidelines of SOX.
A nonprofit organization should have a conflict of interest policy. For those organizations that have such a policy, it should be reviewed to see if it needs updating.
A nonprofit organization should develop and implement a zero-tolerance policy for unethical and illegal behavior.
The audit or finance committee should establish procedures that document and resolve complaints received regarding improper accounting practices and breakdowns in internal controls to ensure that employees are given “whistle-blower protection.” These procedures should ensure that any employees/members who come forward with information to the audit committee are not subjected to punitive measures by the organization.
Nonprofit organizations need to develop document retention (and disposal) policies. Special attention must be paid to policies regarding the disposal/destruction of documents that might be a part of any litigation.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am no expert on SOX. The information I have passed onto you was part of an article that was given to us by Salmon Beach & Associates an independent auditor of the AARC. But in reading the article, I saw some points that I as a member of the Connecticut Society for Respiratory Care (CTSRC) think should be considered. We have to get back to the realization that we have a fiduciary responsibility to our membership. They have elected us to office to not only ensure that we advance the profession, but they also have an expectation that we will run the organization efficiently and effectively. This is where I feel the information above may be of interest to each board member of the state society.

I hope the above information gives you something to think about. After attending the board meeting in March, I can reassure you the AARC is financially strong and also has addressed many of the above issues. As always, thank you for the opportunity to serve as the Treasurer of the House. I look forward to seeing all of the Delegates in Phoenix. [Top]

New from the BOD

Claude Dockter, RRT
Past Speaker

As Immediate Past Speaker of the AARC House of Delegates I have various responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is communication. It is the expectation of the House of Delegates that I communicate AARC Board of Directors activities concerning House resolutions. It is also an expectation I attend as much of the AARC Board of Directors meeting as the House agenda allows. The following is my report concerning these two responsibilities.

House Resolutions
Resolution 00-05-17
“Resolved that the AARC recommend to the Veteran’s Health Administration that they amend the Qualification Standard for Respiratory Therapist to include language stating that Respiratory Therapists in Veteran Administration Hospital should meet licensure requirements of that particular state if applicable.”

As of March Board of Directors meeting: Sam will be contacting the VA central office later this spring.

Resolution 00-05-28
“Resolved that the AARC and Chartered Affiliate provide a mechanism by which the AARC and the Chartered Affiliates can conduct business in the event of a natural or man made disaster (i.e.: voting process, revenue sharing, operational process, etc.).”

Per March AARC BOD meeting: The AARC backs up its entire database so state societies can use AARC as an “offsite” back up insofar as the data pertains to AARC. The AARC now has under active investigation the identification of an offsite operations center, which would be used if the Executive Office building were unable to support Association operations. By meshing the database offsite storage with a facility, which can provide I.T. support, AARC will be able to continue operations

It was suggested that the AARC BOD and AARC House leadership consider requesting all chartered affiliates to develop similar disaster recovery plans. The AARC will be happy to serve as a resource for the affiliates at their option.

Resolution 00-05-29
“Resolved that the AARC automatically waive membership fees, without application, for AARC members, with a zip code in locations declared federal disaster areas after Hurricane Katrina and Rita, for one year, retroactive to August 31, 2005.”

The Ad hoc committee for AARC Emergency Preparedness was formed with Ken Thigpen as chair. The following are the committee charges:

Identify mechanisms to be able to communicate needs and immediate responses to aid therapists in areas affected by natural disasters. These mechanisms should be suitable for current use as well as in the event of future disasters.

Identify and communicate those programs/alternatives already existing to these therapists.
Assist in the coordination of relief efforts between the AARC Executive Office and the State Affiliates.

Coordinate efforts of these groups with the Disaster Response Roundtable to effectively reach affected therapist in a timely manner.

After formation of this group in December, 2005 they formed a 3-stage action plan comprised of Immediate (45 days or less), Intermediate (up to 90 days) and Long-Term phases. This group will continue to track closely with this plan and will refine as needed throughout the year.

AARC March Board of Directors Meeting
The House of Delegates leadership attended the March AARC Board of Directors Meeting in Grapevine TX. As always one learns the depth and breadth of activity the AARC is involved in to address the interests of the profession. The following are just a few highlights.

New COO hired. Tom Kallstrom will assume his duties as COO in July of 2006.
Tom Striplin was appointed for one year to fill the Director at Large position held by Tom Kallstrom.
2nd Reading of the AARC bylaws changes was passed.
Summer Forum moved from New Orleans to Phoenix.
Board of Directors considered submissions for consideration to receive the Bird, Hudson, Sepracore, Invacare awards and Honorary and Life memberships.
Considerable time was spent discussing Pandemic Preparation (goals, resources, concerns, and action plans).
Approval for IT upgrade of AARC systems.

Conclusion
Some of the highlights from the March Board of Directors meeting are being seen as we speak. The IT upgrade is in process. The survey regarding disaster preparedness was sent to the list serve; hopefully we all took the opportunity to participate. The AARC Board of Directors and the Executive office continue to keep their finger on the pulse of the health care environment. They have given us opportunities to participate that we have taken advantage of. Speaker Johnson has been working ever so diligently to put our summer agenda together and provide us with information and additional opportunities to contribute. I look forward to our summer meeting in Phoenix. [Top]

Membership Figures

(as of 7/6/06)

Active	29,392
Foreign	459
Honorary	21
Industrial	1,245
Life	60
Physician	114
Student	5,331
Special	1,962
Total	38,584

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For Your Information

The Calendar of Events can be found in the Delegate Handbook as well as the Chartered Affiliate Handbook, located at http://www.aarc.org/aarc_hod/. [Top]