AARC member since 2000
Director of Respirtory Care Services
Fairview Hospital
Cleveland, OH
AARC Activities:
2006 - Current: AARC Membership Committee 2006: AARC Protocol Implementation Task Force 2005 - Current: AARC Management SWAP Shop Reviewer 2004: Chairman of the National AARC Sub-Committee on COPD Awareness 2004: AARC National Sub-Committee - Asthma Education 2002 - Current: AARC Management Specialty Section
Affiliate Activities:
2008: NE District Representative to the Ohio Society for Respiratory Care 2008: Management Chair - Ohio Society for Respiratory Care 2007: NE District Jr. Representative to the Ohio Society for Respiratory Care 2007 - 2008: Board Member of the Ohio Society for Respiratory Care 2007 - 2008: PACT Member 2003-2004: Planning Committee OSRC State Meeting
Related Organizations:
2008: AARC Representative - American Thoracic Society Quality Improvement Task Force 2006 - Current: Ohio Hospital Association HRSA Ventilator Workgroup for Mass Casualties 2006 - Current: Bowling Green State University Advisory Board Member 2003 - 2004: Advocate/Consultant Cleveland Environmental Protection Agency 2002 - Current: Member, Greater Cleveland Asthma Coalition
Education:
Ashland University: Graduation - July, 2006 - Masters Business Administration: MBA - Graduated Top 10% Class: GPA 3.833 - Academic Achievement: Admission into the Delta Mu Delta National Academic Honor Society (Business Administration) The Ohio State University (1988 - 1993): Graduation - June, 1993 - Bachelors of Science: Allied Medical Professions - Major: Respiratory Therapy - Sub-Specialty Track: Administrative Wooster High School (1984 - 1988): Wooster, Ohio - Graduated: Cum Laude
Publications:
Laher, DS. Keeping Post-ICU patients Out of the ICU. AARC Times (February 2008, Vol. 32, Issue 2). December 2008 - Current: Author Monday Morning Manager. Management Blog. Advance Magazine for Managers of Respiratory Care. http://community.advanceweb.com/blogs/mr_1/archive/tags/Management/default.aspx Laher, DS. Making Cents. Advance for Managers ofRespiratory Care (November 2007, Vol. 16, No. 9) Laher, DS. Clinical Perspectives - Ventilatory Management of the Adult ARDS Patient. AARC Times (June 2007, Vol. 31, Issue 6) Laher, DS. Threats to the Profession: Scared About Nursing - Think Again. RT Magazine (March 2007) Laher, DS. Taking Skill Development & Competency Testing into a New Era. AARC Times (August 2005, Vol. 29, Issue 8) Laher, DS. Therapist Apathy Can Cause Lack of Stature. Advance for Respiratory Care Practitioners. (May 16, 2005, Vol. 18, No. 11) Laher, DS. What Hospitals Want. Home Health Care Dealer Provider: The Journal for HME (October 2003, Vol. 15, No. 10)
What steps will you take to strengthen international exposure of respiratory care?
Countries outside the U.S. have made it very clear that they would like to learn and adopt best practices in respiratory care as identified in our Clinical Practice Guidelines and evidence-based practices. As an international leader in respiratory care, it is our duty as advocates for the profession and our patients to share our knowledge with the international RT community. These same rules apply as it relates to management and leadership. While leadership is universal and is not specific to a particular profession, I feel there is much we can provide to other countries, most notably with our accomplishments in developing a respiratory benchmarking tool. May 21-24, I will be traveling to Saskatoon, Canada, to speak at the CSRT National meeting to share information on this subject and I feel that my experiences in speaking to an international audience will provide me with the tools necessary to carry our message abroad.
How would you suggest we recruit and educate the leaders of the future for the AARC?
Before the advent of DRG-based reimbursement, respiratory care departments were cash cows of hospitals. As a result, most departments were able to employ multiple leaders to serve as managers, clinical educators, and most importantly, mentors. As reimbursement dropped, so too did staffing. The role models that were once able to effectively advocate for the profession disappeared, as too did the mentors that cultivated our leaders of tomorrow. Much like corporate America, I believe the AARC must invest in a formalized mentoring program to grow and develop the future of our profession. More efforts like the RC Idol program that was launched at this year’s Congress need to be developed. The Dean Hess and Rich Bransons of the world will not be around forever. Succession planning needs to start now. A mentoring program that would allow networking across all specialties is what is needed to identify and educate our future leaders.
With the introduction of the Medicare Respiratory Therapy Initiative Bill in Congress, how are you going to work to get that bill successfully passed?
Lobbying policy-makers in Washington has been an invigorating experience as I have served as a PACT member for the last two years. Aside from what this new bill would do for our profession, it would serve as a catalyst for patients with pulmonary disease to gain the access they need to RTs. Doing so will improve their quality of life, and reduce health care costs. As an advocate for the profession and for the patients who suffer from pulmonary disease, I have made it a priority to communicate the importance of this bill to the RTs in Ohio and thousands more nationwide. In addition to routinely contacting my congressperson regarding this bill, I have sent faxes and emails and have written blogs regarding this issue. As chair of the Management Section, I believe I will be given the platform to communicate the importance of these and other issues on a larger scale.
