The AARC Summer Forum offers respiratory care managers the chance to grow their departments, and they go home with the kind of information they need to move their services forward.
If you don’t believe it, just listen to what a couple of attendees at last year’s event in Phoenix had to say about the experience.
Sparking New Programs
“As a result of attendance, I have learned how to use the Leadership & Management Section and specialty sections wisely and intuitively to present and propose department changes and solidify the request for additional FTEs,” says Christy Clark, BS, RRT, director of respiratory care and cardiopulmonary rehabilitation at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare in Tallahassee, FL. “Without the resources available and the networking gained from the Forum, I would not have had the information and contacts to help move proposals and business plans forward.”
Clark says her Summer Forum attendance also sparked the development of a new program at her hospital that’s much like those already available for BSN students to help prepare the next generation of leaders.
“In conjunction with our local BS cardiopulmonary science program we developed leadership shadowing experiences for senior students to shadow management and participate in meetings, revenue, review, etc.,” says the AARC member. “So now they have insight into the business perspective and opportunities for advancement within their profession.”
Exceptional value
AARC member Jeffrey Hodges, MBA, RRT, director of respiratory therapy and wound care at Kingman Regional Medical Center in Kingman, AZ, particularly appreciated the session in Phoenix that was presented by health care consultants and says the contacts he made throughout the three day event were essential to helping him develop new programs.
“Every organization is looking to reduce costs, and unless we as a profession start to concentrate on showing value rather than counting procedures we will be ripe for cuts,” says Hodges. “I really enjoyed the time we spent with the consultants as the information they provided was very valuable.”
With initiatives ranging from a pulmonary rehabilitation program to an inpatient respiratory disease management program employing COPD navigators in the works at his place, getting the chance to come face-to-face with other managers who had already implemented these programs was priceless.
“The information and contacts I gained help me to develop a strong business case for the additional FTEs,” says Hodges. “The ROI for attending the Summer Forum for RT managers is of exceptional value.”
On to Ponte Vedra!
This year’s Forum will take place June 26-28 in beautiful Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, so make plans now to attend. As the experiences of these two managers illustrate, you’ll come home with a wealth of knowledge you can put to use advancing your department!
Email newsroom@aarc.org with questions or comments, we’d love to hear from you.
