Why you CAN’T afford NOT to join the AARC
Protect your license
What can you do as an individual when other groups propose legislation
to eliminate respiratory licensure boards or to become exempt
from your licensure act allowing them to practice respiratory
care with no standards for training or credentials? Here is what
the AARC has done this past year to be the “Voice for Respiratory
Therapists” on real issues that require strength is numbers.
- Nearly 100 respiratory therapists representing the AARC went
to Washington DC recently to protect the interests of respiratory
therapists by making personal visits to the offices of Senators
and Representatives.
- Exemptions to the state respiratory care practice acts are
being debated in many states. This means that some untrained
and untested individuals may be allowed to perform your jobs.
The AARC is fighting for the rights of Respiratory Therapists
on all of these issues.
- In Colorado, a bill to repeal that state’s respiratory
care practice act was defeated because of the efforts of AARC
members in that state. Be alert and be active as they were through
involvement in the AARC.
- In California, Governor Schwarzenegger nearly combined all
health care boards into one, which would have diminished the
effectiveness and voice of RTs in that state. Now that will
not happen because the AARC and other organizations fought for
recognition.
Education
Have you ever needed to document your participation in high quality
continuing education activities for your state licensure board
and had trouble finding good programs or organizing the documentation?
Here is what the AARC is doing to provide that service in a cost
effective fashion all while keeping your personal transcript for
you.
- AARC continuing education programs are accepted by all state
respiratory licensure boards. As an AARC member, your transcript
is kept for you in a concise record that you can access 24 hours
per day 7 days per week via our website.
- World class education is available via our Summer Forum Meeting
and International Congress. These meetings provide all the continuing
education you need to do your job more effectively and meet
your licensure requirements. The AARC has access to the leading
experts in the profession and offers a great venue for professional
networking.
- Award winning publications are mailed directly to all AARC
members and are also available on line. The Respiratory Care
Journal is the scientific journal for the respiratory care profession
which publishes original research, case reports, reviews, book
critiques, letters, and monthly features on chest radiographs,
pulmonary function tests, and blood gas analyses. AARC Times
is the premier news and feature magazine of the profession with
management tips, educational articles, human interest features,
how-to articles, profiles of leaders in the profession, reports
on current government trends, and job opportunities nationwide.
- Our popular Webcast Educational Series allows AARC members
to receive high quality education via the Internet from the
world renowned experts from the privacy of your home or office.
Members can view live webcasts, receive continuing education
credit and have the records documented on your personal AARC
transcript. Can’t make the live webcast? Simply view the
archived programs at a time that it is convenient.
- Professor’s Rounds is a series of high quality educational
programs available on DVD that keep you current on the hot topics
facing Respiratory Therapists. These disks can be viewed at
your convenience and shared with an unlimited number of colleagues
within your own institution to create a class roster and obtain
continuing education credit.
Staffing Decisions
Have you ever had facility administrators or external consultants
make recommendations on staffing standards that compromise your
ability to care for your patients? The AARC has a well tested
solution that has been adopted by some major companies in the
consulting business.
- The AARC has a long history of having a staffing standards
book called the Uniform reporting Manual. The 4th addition of
this manual was completed in 2004 and contains the most up-to-date
standards in the industry specific to respiratory therapy.
- Three major companies; Solucient, MediServe and CliniVision
have agreed to use the AARC time standards for procedures in
their productivity models. The AARC has worked hard for Respiratory
Therapists everywhere to establish standards that are specific
to the care you deliver as opposed to using generic indicators
such as CPT codes that do not accurately reflect work performed.
- The AARC is taking it to the next level by creating a benchmarking
system that will allow hospitals to submit their data for comparison
to like facilities to provide a measure of staff efficiency.
This system will be piloted in late 2005 and once fully implemented
will serve as a method to assure “apples to apples”
comparisons on staffing that will make sense.
Support Your Job
Being a health care professional is a tough job and the AARC is
constantly involved in issues to make your job easier.
- $1,000,000 fund is available for research. The American Association
for Respiratory Care Research Program was established in 1996
to sponsor research to determine relationships between clinical
interventions by respiratory care practitioners and the outcomes
of care. The primary purpose of the AARC Research Program is
to sponsor research initiatives which can document the clinical
and economic impact of respiratory care practitioners in the
delivery of health care. Clinical trials and effectiveness research
to determine how clinical interventions by respiratory care
practitioners affect overall health of patients, including physiologic
indicators and quality of life, will be considered for funding.
- The AARC made a commitment several years ago to develop Clinical
Practice Guidelines (CPGs) that can be used to standardize and
improve the quality of care provided to respiratory patients.
These guidelines are readily available on the AARC website.
- The Center for Disease Control (CDC) last year was about
to implement updated infection control language that would have
required hospitals to disinfect or change small volume nebulizers
after every patient use. This would have severely affected the
staffing efficiencies and costs to hospitals. The AARC made
strategic contacts and provided evidenced based documentation
that resulted in this change being rescinded.
- Current AARC President John Hiser has formed an Adhoc Committee
on Officer Status for Respiratory Therapist in the US Uniformed
Services. The AARC believes that Officer Status would more accurately
reflect the professional training that individuals must possess
to become Respiratory Therapists.
Advocacy and Key Partnerships
Is it important to you to have respiratory therapists recognized
as professionals in the home care setting or to be acknowledged
as disease managers in the fight against asthma and COPD? Here
is what the AARC is doing to make sure you are represented.
- The AARC worked to encourage the introduction of House Bill
964 which would include respiratory therapists under the Medicare
home health benefit. Currently only Nurses and Physical Therapists
are recognized under this benefit. The AARC is committed to
fighting for the rights of respiratory patients to have access
to respiratory therapists for their care needs in the home.
- Through the National Institute of Health, the NAEPP developed
asthma guidelines specifically for Respiratory Therapists that
were distributed to AARC members in recent months. In addition,
they have now developed new guidelines specific to pregnancy
and asthma.
- The AARC is part of the National COPD Coalition whose mission
is it to gather key partners interested in promoting quality
care for the early detection and treatment of patients with
COPD. Your professional organization is representing Respiratory
Therapists in this effort.
Professionalism and Value of Respiratory Therapists
As a Respiratory Therapist do you get all the respect you deserve
as a health care professional? The AARC is working to provide
resources and tools that will assist you in your job and demonstrate
value to your colleagues.
- Have you ever had a question about a procedure or piece of
equipment that you wanted to get feed back on from other respiratory
therapist? The AARC help line is the way to get this assistance,
usually with responses in 24 hours. This is a great resource
for professionals who are members of the AARC.
- Taking the assistance of other professionals to a higher
level, the AARC also has specialty sections for areas such as
management, education, sleep medicine and adult acute care to
mention a few. As a member, you can sign up for one or more
of these sections for a nominal fee and have access to key information
about your specialty as well as an e-mail list serve that will
allow you to communicate with other professionals with like
interests.
- The AARC has accumulated a series of studies, published articles
and white papers that demonstrate the value of Respiratory Therapists.
One of the clearest examples of this resides in your value as
administrators of respiratory protocols that allow patients
to receive the right care, at the right time, in the right care
setting. This is not only a clear indication of value to the
patient, but also results in cost savings to your facilities.
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