AARC Appoints Director of Regulatory Affairs
January 28, 2008
The AARC has named Anne Marie Hummel as the Association’s new director of regulatory affairs. Hummel, who will be based in Washington, DC, will work closely with AARC Director of Government Affairs Cheryl West, AARC Director of Legislative Affairs Miriam O’Day, and the AARC leadership on a wide range of regulatory issues with the potential to affect respiratory patients and their access to care from qualified respiratory therapists.
“The AARC is pleased to welcome Anne Marie to our executive office staff,” says West. “This new position represents a bigger commitment on the part of the AARC’s leadership to the Association’s public policy agenda.”
Hummel brings a wealth of experience to the position. After studying business administration in college, she joined the federal government, serving for 20 years with the former Health Care Financing Administration (now the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS). Her stint at the government agency included 10 years managing the regulatory process and developing and writing regulations affecting the Medicare Part B program.
Hummel first became acquainted with the AARC and respiratory care profession about 10 years ago when she was serving as a consultant with Muse & Associates, a health care consulting firm the AARC has engaged on numerous occasions over the years to assist with various projects. “I assisted AARC in providing public comments in response to various Medicare regulations, including local coverage decisions that impacted the respiratory therapy profession,” says Hummel. She was also involved in analyzing the smoking cessation coverage policy and its impact on the ability of respiratory therapists to provide counseling, and she helped to develop the legislative language currently in HR 3968, the Medicare Respiratory Initiative aimed at improving coverage for registered respiratory therapists with a bachelor’s degree in settings outside of the acute care hospital.
“Having worked both inside and outside the bureaucracy, I have a broad depth of experience in understanding how the system works and in knowing the right people to contact that can influence change,” says Hummel.
Hummel’s previous experiences with respiratory care are expected to facilitate her new role. “I have learned that the AARC is dedicated to enhancing the value of its membership in the health care arena by promoting the education and competency testing of its respiratory therapists,” she says. “I have come to appreciate the compassion and caring with which respiratory therapists go about their job, especially when it comes to protecting the health and safety of those suffering from respiratory disease through patient education and training.”
One of Hummel’s first assignments will be to make a presentation on regulatory affairs to the AARC Political Advocacy Contact Team (PACT) members who will be gathering in our nation’s capitol March 9-12 for our annual Capitol Hill Lobby Days. “Regulations go hand-in-hand with legislation,” says Hummel, noting PACT representatives will be lobbying on the Hill for pulmonary rehabilitation legislation mainly because CMS has chosen not to establish a policy in this area. “I plan to present an overview of the regulatory process and the current environment, highlighting noteworthy regulations impacting the respiratory therapy profession.”
Having a dedicated staff member to address regulatory issues, says Hummel, will help the AARC expand its focus and ensure better patient care. “With hundreds of regulations published daily, we will now be able to focus more intensely on agencies to which we have not devoted much time in the past,” says the new director of regulatory affairs. “Engaging in a broader spectrum of activity can enhance the value of respiratory therapists by focusing on new activities that have specific relevance to the profession and the patients to whom they provide care.”