Heilig asked for corrections or additions to the March 5 Council minutes. Hearing none, it was moved that the minutes be approved. The minutes were approved by voice vote.

1. “Allied Health Workforce Issues, An Economist’s Perspective” – John H. Short, Ph.D. President and CEO, Rehab Care Group, Inc.
   
   Yoder introduced Dr. Short along with his two colleagues from Rehab Care Group: Sean Maloney, Senior VP for Clinical Research and Development and Barbara Wallace, Assistant VP for Campus Relations.
   
   Short began by saying that he wished there were councils like the Council for Allied Health in NC in the other 41 states that Rehab Care serves. He said that he saw the value of a council that brings together representatives from industry, education and health care to address common problems in the allied health field. Currently, one of the largest problems for Rehab Care and the health care industry is the growing demand for PT’s and OT’s. Demand for the services of these professionals is a primary factor in the growing cost of healthcare. To address these issues Rehab Care co-sponsored (along with the University of Missouri) the FuturePoint Summit in November of 2005. The objective of the Summit was to assemble a group of academic leaders, industry executives legislators and allied health practitioners to identify and implement solutions to allied healthcare workforce challenges. Out of this assembled group a National Coalition was formed which determined four primary goals: a) to establish an Allied Health Research Foundation, b) create a Central Data Repository to pool and analyze industry information, c) work to achieve common objectives in the areas of education, training and d) public awareness and advocacy. Short invited everyone to attend the upcoming FuturePoint Summit meeting June 15-16 in St. Louis, Missouri. The goals of the second meeting are to expand the membership of the National Coalition and to implement, plan and fund the four primary initiatives set by the National Coalition at the first Summit meeting. Short also invited anyone interested in these allied health issues to become part of the National Coalition, because it was a place to share ideas and come up with a better set of solutions to current problems in the field. The National Coalition is structured so that academics and clinicians lead the way in determining clinical policy while industry leaders work to implement it. Short concluded that a combined effort of this type would get legislators on board so that legislative policy would better reflect the reforms advocated by academic, clinical and industrial leaders. Dr. Short’s power point presentation will be put on the Council web site for those who were not able to attend.
   
   In the questions and answer period that followed, Dan Dore President of the NCPTA, voiced concerns regarding the accuracy of the material presented and the use of what he considered misleading points by Dr. Short, as he represented the for-profit sector of health care delivery.
   
2. “2006 Allied Health Workforce Vacancy Study: Preliminary Report” - Erin Fraher, Director, NC Health Professions Data System, Sheps Center and Samir Thaker, Graduate Research Assistant.
   
   Samir Thaker made the primary presentation on the Allied Health Job Vacancy Tracking Project. He began his remarks by cautioning that the results presented were from a preliminary analysis of the data and that they should be considered with this fact in mind. The purpose of the Project was to quantify workforce demand for selected allied health professions. To do this, Thaker and Fraher looked at the number of classified ads placed in a variety of sources for a given profession. The help wanted ads were used as an indicator of the number of vacancies that exist for the professions being studied. 2,968 ads were gathered for eleven professions over an eleven-week period (Feb. 7 to Apr. 23, 2006). Results provide information on the number of vacancies, the distribution of vacancies by region and profession, and the types of employers advertising vacancies. The eleven professions studied were selected based upon a survey given to Council members at the beginning of the year. About 75 survey responses were received from a variety of professions. The professions chosen to be studied were based on which ones indicated that they were facing the greatest shortage and on those that indicated that they employed a large workforce and would like to know more about demand based on the workforce needs they faced. The professions selected for study were as follows:
   
   Medical Technologist
   Medical Laboratory Technician
   Occupational Therapist
   Certified Occupational Therapist
   Emergency Medical Technician (Basic, Intermediate, Paramedic)
   Physical Therapist
   Physical Therapy Assistant
   Radiologic Technician
   Radiologic Technologist
   Speech Language Pathologist
   Speech Language Pathology Assistant
   
   The sources used to retrieve vacancy ads included ten major newspapers that cover all the geographic regions of the state. This year these newspapers were supplemented with a variety of online sources, in response to the results of the survey, which indicated that many allied health professionals search for jobs online as well as in newspapers.
   
   There are some methodological limitations to this study. To begin with, it is impossible to capture all the vacancy data that is available. A specific list of sources, the ten newspapers and the ten online sources, were therefore selected. Employer specific websites were not looked at because it would have been too difficult to monitor all the different employer websites in the state and around the country. Data was collected during a specific time period, so if there is a seasonal demand for a profession(s), this is not reflected in the data. Advertisements providing no information on job location were excluded.
   
   Finally, the results are not sensitive to repeat advertisements placed by a single employer in multiple sources. This last point might result in an overstatement, for example, of vacancies for physical therapist because one particular online source, PT Bulletin, included multiple postings for the same positions.
   
   After the raw vacancy numbers were adjusted to account for the different workforce sizes of the professions within the state, an accurate view of demand was attained. Even when taking into account the possibility of PT overstatement due to multiple postings, physical therapists had the highest vacancy index at 33.7%. OT Assistants (21.8%), PT Assistants (21.7%), OT’s (13.4%) and Speech Language Pathologists (7.5%) round out the top five with the largest vacancy index.
   
   The vacancy data can be analyzed by profession and AHEC regions as well as by employer type. While the data generally followed population patterns (e.g. greater demand in urban areas), some regional differences in demand were discovered for specific professions across AHEC regions. There is a greater demand, for instance, for EMT’s in the Coastal AHEC than in Charlotte AHEC, even though Charlotte has a greater population. When broken down by employer type, the largest demand was found in staffing agencies (35%), with hospitals (26%), private practice (17%), government (9%) and long term care (3%) rounding out the top five.
   
   Sign-on bonuses were found to be more prevalent in this year’s study, being offered in 13% of ads (n=385), up from 3% in the 2005 report. Bonuses for PT’s and Medical technologists were most common, and ranged from $1,000 to $10,000. They were mostly offered by large employers such as hospitals, home health, and staffing agencies.
   
   To conclude, the highest demand was for PT’s, OT Assistants, and PT Assistants while the lowest demand was for Medical Laboratory Technicians and Medical Technologists.
   
   Demand for certain professions appears to vary by region across the state; the statistical significance and causes of this are yet to be determined. Finally, questions remain about the online sources indexed in this vacancy report and whether or not the additional data they provide is worth the uncertainty they introduce. The complete analysis and study will be available in June.

1. Music Therapy Association of NC – Rebecca Engen
   
   Engen reported that MTANC had another strong year. The NC Association has increased to a point where it has better paid membership in the state than the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) has on average nationwide. The NC Association’s dues are much less and the continuing education programs are more cost effective. Members are active at the local, state, regional, and national levels. The current President of AMTA and the current President of the Southeastern Region of AMTA are both from NC.
   
   Trends and Concerns:
   Last year Engen reported difficulty with communication and the Association’s website. The state board has worked hard this year to update Association files and to inform the clinicians about the organization. MTANC now has a new website that is easier to locate with search engines and is being updated by an active member on a regular basis. In fact, MTANC has had numerous reports by clinicians of self-referrals based on use of the website. Engen reported that as a faculty member at Queens University of Charlotte they have had student inquiries, from both traditional and nontraditional prospective students, direct from the MTANC web links.
   
   Engen reported that membership may be at a record high this year. While there are well over 100 Board Certified MT’s living in NC, many are not currently practicing or are working out of the field. At last count, there were 64 paid members of MTANC. Many of these were persons who attended a continuing education program and paid membership to get the discounted registration. This is a plan MTANC will continue to follow as it helps improve its rolls and inform its clinicians.
   
   High School Senior Exit Projects continue to be a problem for the universities and selected individuals. Engen said that she personally fielded 19 requests this past year, some of which were not prepared and others were quite informed and clear in their purpose. Engen has developed a list of FAQs and suggested websites for all student inquiries. Since implementing that, only about half of the students have contacted Engen for additional questions or observations. A similar sheet will be developed and posted on the website for access by everyone.
   
   There are three undergraduate programs in the state with one more pending final approval. This year a second Master’s degree program was approved at App. State (ECU already has one). While the education of Music Therapists is booming, there are not enough clinical training programs in the state and many students who leave for this final degree requirement do not come back. New jobs for Musical Therapists are not increasing by as much as MTANC would like. However, private practice and hospice are the fastest growing areas in NC right now. MTANC members are also pleased that two school districts, Gaston and Union counties, are now employing Music Therapists as therapists vs. educators.
   
2. Carolina Chapter of the American Horticulture Therapy Association – Nancy Easterling
   
   Easterling said that she is pleased that CCAHTA is now a member of the Council. She said that many people still do not understand what horticultural therapy is and what horticultural therapists believe. As she reported to the Council in January, the CCAHTA premise and belief is that quality of life is directly related to people’s ability to be connected to the natural world.
   
   The purpose and mission of CCAHTA is to promote and advance the practice of horticulture as therapy. CCAHTA has 125 members in the state of NC. The American Horticultural Therapy Association has 850 members nationally. CCAHTA members are OT’s, social workers, psychologists, and activity professionals. Members come from all backgrounds as horticultural therapists. Members working in the state work in the prison system, residential care facilities, hospice, retirement communities and in hospitals. The current status of the horticultural therapy profession in NC is that 53% of members are employed as horticultural therapists. Reasons for unemployment include a lack of acceptance of who horticultural therapists are and what they do. Currently there are limited job opportunities and these jobs are low salaried. The average salary for a horticultural therapist is $40,000. Therefore, individuals that are well qualified, as HT’s are not practicing because they feel they can be paid better doing something else. 26% of CCAHTA members are registered HT’s.
   
   Registration is a peer-reviewed, professional registration. To maintain their professional status CCAHTA members believe that they need to focus on research, improve communication with other allied health professionals, emphasize their credentials and expand educational opportunities. CCAHTA’s current goals are to build capacity, increase information and education, increase membership, implement more professional standards and do more outcome oriented research. CCAHTA has a conference coming up in Sept. in Asheville. The Carolinas Chapter website is horticulturaltherapy.net. There is a national conference in June in Portland, Oregon entitled “Gardens and Healthcare.” The national organization’s website is http://www.AHTA.org.
   
3. NC Recreation Therapy – Amber Milliken
   
   NCRTA is continuing to revise and update its website at http://www.ncrta.org. NCRTA continues its strong relationship with its national foundation, the American Therapeutic Recreation Association. The ATRA is working on a Medicare Project. In NC, NCRTA is working with Senator Burr on this and hope that he will be a big supporter of the Medicare Project. NCRTA is currently waiting for a call for action from the ATRA to move further on getting support for the Medicare project in NC.
   
   NCRTA’s president- elect recently attended the Mid-Year Forum in Plano, Texas (March 17-20, 2006). It was apparent at the forum how strong a chapter NCRTA is and how it has become a standard of practice for other chapters throughout the nation.
   
   NCRTA recently revised its by-laws. NCRTA has just received licensure within the past year. To be consistent with licensure, the group is now called the NC Recreational Therapy Association, where as previously it was not. Another change is the enlargement of the NCRTA’s board of directors from nine to eleven through the addition of two more members-at-large. Additionally, the terms of the Secretary and Treasurer have been increased from one to two year terms.
   
   The group held a successful Student/Professional Issues Forum (SPIF) on Feb. 10th, 2006. Over 80 professionals and students were in attendance. NCRTA will be having their annual conference in Asheville September 24-26 this year.
   
   The North Carolina Board of Recreational Therapy Licensure has a new website at http://www.ncbrtl.org. Currently there are 204 licensed professionals in NC. There have been many good reports on the advantages of being licensed in the workplace from members. The NCBRTL Ethics Committee has just started on adopting one code of ethics for the NCBRTL. They hold workshops on the licensure process and these have been well attended and received.
   
   The NCRTA is currently working with a representative at DHHS to have recreational therapy added to the list of approved Medicaid providers. Establishing this is very important to the NCRTA membership and the profession.
   
   NCRTA currently has 317 professionals and students as members. This is a five high. The group just put a membership directory online and this has been a great way for professionals and students to network with one another in the profession.
   
   The organization is also currently doing town hall meetings to reach out to students and schools and figure out what the students want from the NCRTA and the recreational therapy profession. Over the last year, they have met at seven schools and have received feedback from the students that they are now applying to their goals for the year. Finally, NCRTA has established a new $500 academic scholarship for recreational therapy students.
   
4. NC Chapter: American Massage Therapy Association – Rachel Mann
   
   The AMTA-NC Chapter was organized in 1984 with seven members. They now have over 1300 in the state, with over 55,000 nationally. We are the oldest massage therapy association in the nation, 63 years, and are the only non-profit, member driven massage association. Everyone working on the state level is a volunteer.
   
   We have recently completed a redesign of our website – http://www.amtanc.org. Our next major undertaking is seeing that our membership committee visits all 29 training programs in the state to give the students information about our association and the benefits of belonging.
   We offer continuing education for our members, with two major statewide conferences per year and several unit meetings, which are local, with about 350 attendees. Our next convention is Sept 8-10 in Raleigh, where we anticipate 125 attendees.
   
   Our national organization has a locator service available where you can find a qualified therapist in your area. Visit http://www.amtamassage.org, and click on Find a Massage Therapist, or link through our website. National Massage Therapy Week will be held Oct 24-31, 2006.
   
   The AMTA-NC Chapter will be re-introducing our Practice Act Revision Bill in the May legislative session. The bill was introduced last year, but it didn’t pass due to some objections from affiliated parties. The Community College System also filed a bill to allow their programs to be exempt from the Licensing Board regulations. Their bill didn’t pass, but the language was inserted into the Budget Bill and was passed. Therefore, the Community College exemption goes into effect 7/1/06, along with any other program offered by a degree or diploma granting college or university. All Proprietary Schools are required to be approved by the BMBT. Included in our Bill will be provisions for the BMBT to charge the schools fees for this approval. We are also allowing for fee increases to licensees, and changing our continuing education requirements from 25 hours to 24 hours every two years to be consistent with our national certification board.
   
   NC has had state licensing for massage therapists since 1998, with the first licenses were issued in early 2000. The Board of Massage and Bodywork Therapy have issued over 6200 licenses since then, with 4900 in good standing. Relating to Dr. Short’s presentation, many of the state licensing boards have joined the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB). This group’s intent is to work toward standardizing the licensing process and reciprocity across the country. Our national office has just introduced a Government Relations Program with similar goals.
   
   Thank you for the opportunity to belong to this Council. We appreciate being considered equals in the Allied Health Field, since we are licensed Health Care Providers. We are working to educate other health professions, insurance companies, and consumers, of the benefits of therapeutic massage.
   
5. NC Occupational Therapy Association – Carol Siebert
   
   “The North Carolina Occupational Therapy Association is pleased to report that we just hosted over 3500 colleagues from across the nation at the 86th annual AOTA Conference and Expo held in Charlotte last week. This was the largest AOTA annual meeting in 5 years and by every measure, a great success. NCOTA had a booth in the exhibit hall and we had a number of North Carolina attendees who joined the association last week. AOTA has about 700 members in North Carolina, and that includes a significant number who are not among the 630 NCOTA members. We anticipate a significant “bounce” from the conference in terms of membership numbers and member involvement in the association.
   
   The meeting of Affiliated State Association Presidents preceded the AOTA conference, where I welcomed 51 other state and territorial presidents to N.C. with the most recently updated occupational therapy practice act. On September 22, 2005, the amended practice act was signed into law. The amendments update standards for initial licensure; sundowns permitted practice for new grads prior to licensure (and strengthens supervision requirements for these limited permitees), strengthens enforcement, and explicitly regulates practice delivered using Internet and telehealth technologies. The updated act also added a second public member to the NCBOT. That member is from education professionals, acknowledging that public school practice accounts for nearly a third of all OT practice in the state. Efforts to make the practice definition more current and specific were opposed by chiropractors. Despite urgings from committee chairs to reach a resolution, we were unable to engage those opposed in a dialogue on this issue. Therefore, the amended practice act retains the very general definition of practice from the 1984 statute, which results in permitted practice being interpreted broadly.
   
   It is our understanding that the NCBOT is now developing revisions and updates to the rules to operationalize the amended practice act. We anticipate proposed rules being published later this year.
   
   NCOTA is making plans to celebrate our fiftieth anniversary as a professional association in 2007. We are developing plans for a special anniversary celebration conference in fall 2007.
   
   Two of our professional level curricula are moving into new quarters this month as a result of the higher education bonds passed earlier this decade. Both the UNC Occupational Science Division and the ECU Occupational Therapy Department will move into new buildings this month. UNC is also enrolling students for its newly established Ph.D. program in occupational science.
   We continue to experience challenges as a result of policies developed in Raleigh and in
   
   Washington. The implementation of Medicare part B therapy caps has begun to have an effect. We have anecdotal evidence of backlogs of referrals to hospital outpatient departments (exempt from the cap) and access problems for individuals in rural areas who cannot access outpatient therapy through a hospital setting. Medicaid recently implemented a policy on payment for orthotics and prosthetics which 1) is inconsistent with the single explicit statement of scope in our practice act, and 2) creates access problems for Medicaid recipients, requiring them to be seen by two professionals for services which were previously performed by a single practitioner. On a positive note, policy and payment changes in home health have created a growing demand for occupational therapy practitioners in that practice venue. We are also experiencing a continually growing need for occupational therapy practitioners in the public schools.”
   
6. NC Physical Therapy Association – Daniel Dore
   
   “The mission of the North Carolina Physical Therapy Association (NCPTA), a component of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), is to represent and promote the profession of physical therapy in North Carolina, and to further the NCPTA member’s role in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of movement dysfunctions and the enhancement of the physical health and the functional abilities of the people of North Carolina.
   
   The vision of the NCPTA in that by the year 2020, physical therapy will be provided by physical therapist who are doctors of physical therapy and who may be board certified specialists. The Doctor of Physical Therapy may be assisted by physical therapist assistants to provide physical therapist directed and supervised components of intervention. All physical therapists and physical therapy assistants will recognize their responsibilities to be active participants in their professional association and advocacy activities for patients. Guided by the Professionalism in Physical Therapy Core Values, life-long learning and a commitment to comprehensive and accessible quality health programs for all people, physical therapist and physical therapy assistants will render evidence-based service throughout the continuum of care and improve the quality of health for society. The people of North Carolina will have direct access to physical therapists in all environments for patient/client management, prevention and wellness services. Physical Therapists will be recognized as the sole providers of physical therapy and the practitioners of choice in all clients’ health networks and will hold all privileges of autonomous practice. The NCPTA will maintain active responsibility for the growth of the physical therapy profession and the health of the people it serves.”
   
7. NC Speech, Hearing and Language Association – Wayne Foster
   
   “The North Carolina Speech, Hearing and Language Association (NCSHLA) recently held its 52nd Annual Convention with over 500 attendees. David Mills, long time special education administrator with the Department of Public Instruction and speech/language pathologist, was awarded the Honors of the Association. This is the highest honor that can be bestowed by the Association. David was the president of NCSHLA during its 25-anniversary year.
   
   Licensure for Audiologists: There are always several hot issues being addressed by the Association. I will discuss a few of these. We have been working on potential revisions to the state licensure law for audiologists for several years. At this time last year we thought we had devised a plan that made sense to address audiologists’ scope of practice and dual licensure issues. The latter requires audiologists who dispense hearing aids to hold a separate license to dispense. Our Board is moving cautiously on this issue knowing that whenever you open the licensure law for review there is a potential for the unexpected. At this point, the Board of Directors has opted to move carefully.
   
   Unfilled SLP Positions: There remains some question as to how many speech/language pathologist (SLP) positions have been left unfilled this year, particularly in the public schools, and how many are anticipated to be open next year. There are slightly over 100 currently open positions in the public schools. The anticipated number for next year is somewhere over 150. NCSHLA wants to assist in helping solve this problem in at least two ways.
   
   Speech/Language Pathology Assistants: Speech/language Pathology Assistants (SLPA) are graduating from two community college sites. These individuals could go a long way towards serving students in conjunction with licensed SLPs who are currently going without services or are receiving limited services. However, special education directors and lead SLPs do not generally understand how to utilize these professionals. A presentation has already been planned for special education directors at one of the major state conferences.
   
   NCSHLA is also going to endorse the use of SLPAs along with models of service provision and press this agenda with SLPs within the state. Private practice SLPs appear to be utilizing SLPAs effectively in many parts of the state already.
   
   Recruitment Strategies: The second strategy is to help special education directors with recruitment. There is enormous frustration with advertising in traditional ways. For example, it seems that advertising in a local paper after school has started is notoriously ineffective and, hence, is rarely used as a tool for recruitment. Use of professional publications and more active linkage with the training sites make better sense. NCSHLA will be working on tools to assist in effective recruitment of SLPs.
   
   Continuing Education Endeavors: NCSHLA has had good success this past year in the use of the web to increase membership and attendance at meetings. We are looking at how to use the web to provide continuing education opportunities with distance learning for example. Clearly, SLPs and audiologists are looking for ways to gain knowledge and skills in specific areas such as autism and cochlear implants without having to travel or expend limited education funds. NCSHLA will be working on developing training modules that can be accessed through the web. These modules can be updated as information changes.
   
   This year NCSHLA held its second Leadership Conference. While attendance was somewhat less than expected, this conference was rated highly by the attendees and will be replicated. The Association draws new members each year but creating excitement about serving in the state association has always been a challenge. The Leadership Conference gives us an opportunity to invite potential leaders and generate enthusiasm about serving.
   
   Medicaid Reimbursement: NCSHLA has been working hard to address reimbursement issues along with several other allied health professions as reported last year. This year we have added a new component to the endeavor. It has come to our attention that North Carolina’s Medicaid reimbursement plan for the schools is one of the most restrictive in the United States. These are funds that come from the federal government and are automatically matched by the state’s special education funding. NCSHLA is assisting on addressing how to change that plan and make it easier for schools to provide a wider scope of services to children.
   
   Summary: NCSHLA is thriving and working hard to address the difficult issues that face the professions. After over 50 years the Association continues to show leadership nationwide in many areas. An experienced and skilled slate of officers was elected in April and the new Board takes over on July 1st.”
   
8. NC Association of Blood Bankers – Rennie Habel
   
   The NCABB was established August 30, 1972 and held its first annual meeting
   on May 3, 1973 in Asheville, NC. In September 1997 the organization celebrated its 25th anniversary. A memorial scholarship was established in 2005 that is given to a student and/or medical technologist to attend the group’s annual fall seminar.
   
   The NCABB holds two workshops per year: one in the spring and another in the fall. The workshops are held in different locations around the state on a rotating basis. Currently, the organization has a database of approximately 240 individuals. Seminar attendance, however has dropped from 200-250 in the 1990s to about 135-140 today.
   
   In March 2000 the organization became incorporated. Following this, they established their own website, http://www.ncabb.org, in 2001. The Association’s greatest challenge is to maintain a viable organization given the aging population of blood bankers, the diminishing level of educational funding from hospitals and blood centers, the closing of several schools of medical technology across the state, and the current shortage of staffing that appears to be nationwide.
   
9. NC Society for Clinical Laboratory Science – Libby Haile for Kathleen Shulman, President
   
   Thanks to dedicated officers and members the North Carolina Society for Clinical Laboratory Science has had another productive year. During 2005-2006 the society:
   a. Maintained a membership of 231 laboratory professionals
   b. Advocated for the profession of clinical laboratory science by celebrating National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week. NCSCLS representatives contacted TV and radio stations and local newspapers to let the public know about clinical laboratory scientists and the roles they play in healthcare.
   c. Held two continuing education meetings- Fall Focus in October and Carolinas Clinical Connection in Asheville last week. At the Carolinas Clinical Connection meeting, twenty-four speakers presented continuing education to over three hundred attendees on topics encompassing the four major laboratory disciplines, management and education.
   
   The Fall Focus and Carolinas Clinical Connections meetings represent collaborative efforts of the various North and South Carolina clinical laboratory science organizations to provide continuing education and networking opportunities to clinical laboratory professionals in North and South Carolina and surrounding states. NCSCLS works with American Medical Technologists and the North Carolina chapter of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) to present Fall Focus. These same organizations and nine others work with NCSCLS and clinical laboratory organizations from South Carolina to present Carolinas Clinical Connections. The continued success of these meetings has made North Carolina a national model for collaboration among different clinical laboratory organizations in presenting continuing education.
   
   The next Fall Focus meeting will be held November 4, 2006 at Wake Technical Community College. The next Carolinas Clinical Connection meeting will be held March 28-30, 2007 at the Springmaid Beach Resort in Myrtle Beach, SC.
   d. Presented local continuing education events. NCSCLS is divided into eight
   membership districts, each of which is overseen by a district chair. Regions five and seven in Raleigh and regions four and two in Winston-Salem presented continuing education events to the members in their districts this year. By hosting these events in the various districts NCSCLS can provide a convenient way for laboratory professionals to easily meet continuing education requirements to maintain their professional certifications. AHEC often works with the local district chairs to set up these events.
   
   Current issues of concern to the society include:
   
   a. Personnel Shortage-Title VII & VIII
   b. The decline in applicants for clinical laboratory technician and clinical laboratory science education programs
   c. Loss of funding for Allied Health education programs – Congress cut funding for Title VII by 68% in 2005. Title VII provides funding to establish or expand allied health education programs.
   d. State licensure of clinical laboratory professionals
   e. Competitive bidding for clinical laboratory services
   f. Clinical Laboratory Coalition Issues
   g. Allied Health Reinvestment Act (AHRA)
   h. House bill: H.R. 1175- Medical Laboratory Personnel Shortage Act of 2005
   i. Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
   j. Medicare Laboratory Reimbursement
   
10. NC Society of Medical Assistants – Marge Ottofy
    
    Ottofy said that she had just returned from the state Society meeting. The meeting was in Charlotte and about 300 were in attendance.
    
    The Society has over 2000 members. The NC Society is one of the medical assistant societies in the country whose membership is growing. Ottofy said that this was largely due to the number of educational programs that the NC Society offers. The Society has 35 programs approved by the Commission on Accreditation for Allied Health Education. These programs are in community colleges and private colleges across the state, serving rural as well as urban areas. The Society is very supportive of students and educators and will be having a “College Bowl” at its next annual meeting. The objective of the bowl is to promote friendly competition between the different school programs. Educators within the society have been working on the idea for several months. A trophy will be passed around to the different schools that win the bowl.
    
    The Society offers scholarships through its national, state and local chapters. NCSMA continues to be watchful for legislation that may restrict the profession’s scope of practice. The Society continues to grow in membership and is planning more educational programs for the colleges.
    
11. NC Dental Hygiene Association – Betsy Hardin
    
    “2005 – 2006 has been an interesting year for NCDHA. Although we are the only professional organization to represent NC dental hygienists, we are not usually consulted regarding the job market for dental hygienists in NC. Currently, there are 12 dental hygiene schools across the state with a 13th one slated to open in the fall of 2006 and we have heard that there are plans for another school. Just looking at the number of new schools one would conclude that there is a shortage of dental hygienists and the new schools are needed to help eliminate the shortage. In reality, that is not the case. In NC, by law, each dentist is only allowed to supervise 2 dental hygienists. Over the past 3 years, approximately 3 graduates per class have been unable to find a job. Hygienists are required by NC law to work under the direct supervision of a dentist. This prevents hygienists from seeking employment in nursing homes, hospitals or extended care facilities where patients cannot easily travel to a dentist for any type of dental treatment. Rural areas that do not have a dentist nearby also lack preventive services that could be provided by a dental hygienist.
    
    The most exciting news we have heard is that the American Dental Hygienists’ Association is developing a curriculum for an Advanced Dental Hygiene Practitioner. Last summer the Senate Committee on Appropriations unanimously approved HR 3010 which encourages the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) to explore development of an advanced dental hygiene practitioner who would be a graduate of an accredited dental hygiene program and complete an advanced educational curriculum, which prepares the dental hygienist to provide diagnostic, preventive, restorative and therapeutic services directly to the public in rural and underserved areas.
    
    Our second challenge this year has been the creation of a new regional dental hygiene licensing exam. The students and we are excited about a regional exam because that would allow hygienists who pass the board to be able to practice in other states who also recognize that board. North Carolina has chosen to write its own board which at this point is recognized by only one state.”
    
12. EMS Administrators Association – Terry Barber
    
    NC EMS has its roots in volunteerism and volunteerism remains an important component in many EMS Systems. However, due to a decreasing pool of capable volunteers this service is gradually being transformed into career or paid structures to maintain quantity of available responders to an ever-increasing demand.
    
    EMS in NC got its official start in 1973 with passage of the EMS Act that provided state guidelines for the development of EMS systems. It established EMS as a function of County Government. In most counties it is provided directly by county government. Systems vary across the state and include a combination of volunteer rescue squads, county third service providers, private ambulance companies, hospital based ambulance programs, and fire departments.
    
    EMS (EMT, Paramedic) is still a young profession continuing to define itself. It is unique in its position and mission because it is solidly an emergency first responder, but is also a health care entity. It has been aptly named the “public’s health care safety net” due to the integrated acute health care resources it can and will provide.
    
    A group of administrative and management professionals early in the development of EMS in North Carolina formed the NCAEMSA. They had the vision and foresight to understand that EMS would grow and change requiring an ongoing effort to exchange information and ideas including best practices for providing evolving emergency health care services to the citizens of their jurisdictions.
    
    We have 200+ members representing a majority of the EMS systems across the state. Members serve on committees promoting Associational objectives. Along with EMS advocacy we provide two educational/networking conferences per year, summer and winter.
    
    Association’s Purpose:
    To raise professional standards and to improve EMS management practices. This is done by providing guidance, coordination, a forum for the exchange of ideas, and an informational network for EMS.
    
    Objectives:
    To develop professional standards for EMS Administrators
    To identify and coordinate entry-level education opportunities for EMS Administrators
    To identify and coordinate continuing education for EMS Administrators
    To provide a forum for the exchange of information and development of possible resolutions to common problems regarding EMS administrative matters.
    To coordinate the activities of the Association with State and Federal agencies to improve the standards of Emergency Medical Services.
    
    Membership:
    Membership is composed of individuals within North Carolina concerned with the management of EMS, emergency medical programs, or emergency medical organizations.
    
    Educated and credentialed pre-hospital personnel are in short supply across the state and nation. The NCAEMSA is in the forefront encouraging ideas and motivating government at all levels to stay engaged. It is also among the leadership motivating and addressing EMS System personnel needs.
    
13. NC Academy of Physician Assistants – Josh Smith
    
    Smith began by saying that he was speaking for Audrey Tuttle, the Academy’s President, who was unable to attend the meeting.
    
    The NCAPA has had a very strong year and the profession in general has had a strong year as well. Recently, CNN.com had a list of the top 50 professions and PA’s were ranked 5th on the list (based on Job satisfaction, growth, security and salary). The Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants listed NC as the number one state to be a physician assistant. APAA voted NCAPA as runner up for the best performing constituency at the national convention last year.
    
    NCAPA has 1500 active members including 400 students from four schools (Wake Forest, Duke, ECU, and Methodist). The academy holds two conferences a year, which offer over 70 hours of CME. One is held in the winter in Raleigh and the summer conference is held at Myrtle Beach. NCAPA had 1000 attendees last year and this year at their new location at Kingston Plantation they are expecting over 1200.
    
    Smith stated that the main thing he wanted to report was the opening of the Eugene A. Stead, Jr. Center, which is NCAPA’s new facility, which is located in RTP. It is a 4000 square foot building; one half of it houses the NCAPA administration and the Society for PA History. The other half is the E. Harvey Estes Conference Center, which has 2000 square feet of conference space available to any organization that wishes to hold a meeting there. It can hold up to 75 people and has a full service kitchen and catering staff. Smith said that if any organization present at the Council meeting was interested in holding a meeting there, the Estes Conference Center offers competitive prices. The phone number for the center is (800) 352-2271. You can also visit the NCAPA web page at http://www.ncpa.org for more information.
    
14. NC Association for Deans and Chairs of Health Sciences – Nancy Porter
    
    The NC Association for Deans and Chairs of Health Sciences was established in 2004. The purpose of the organization is “to promote the advancement of health sciences education by encouraging innovation, collaboration, cooperation, and communication among the Deans and Chairs of Allied Health Sciences. The association also seeks to provide leadership by advocating the interest of health science and by reflecting the broad scope of health science disciplines. Sharing information regarding current issues in health science education and responding to those issues in a manner deemed appropriate by the membership will always be a focus of the association. Additionally, the association will participate in the development and seek implementation policies, programs and procedures to address concerns of the Deans and Chairs of Health Sciences.
    
    Several members accepted the offer of David Yoder to attend meetings of the Council for Allied Health in March. The organization scheduled a meeting for that afternoon to enable members to attend both meetings with limited traveling. We anticipate scheduling similar “joint” meetings in the future.
    
    The membership looks forward to a close working relationship with the Council as we are addressing many similar issues.
    
    A major concern for the Deans and Chairs is having the health leadership positions filled at the NCCCS office as well as recruiting and retaining qualified faculty for health programs at the 58 community colleges.
    
    The next meeting of the Association is scheduled for October at the NCCCS Conference.
    
15. The North Carolina Society for Radiologic Technologists – Bob Styres
    
    The North Carolina Society of Radiologic Technologists, Inc. (NCSRT) is alive and well and we anticipate working with the Council for Allied Health in all future endeavors. We have secured a succession of strong leadership and continue to supplement our infrastructure with dependable chairpersons and growing participation of our membership. Legislative initiatives, professional recognition and membership growth will be the main areas of focus during our 2006-2007 year.
    
    Concerning legislation, H.R. 1426, the CARE Bill, continues to garner support. As of April 23rd, 125 Congressmen have signed up to co-sponsor this legislation. The purpose of both this and Senate Bill, S. 2322, with 15 co-sponsors, is to establish minimum educational standards for people performing diagnostic or therapeutic radiologic procedures. This will be tied to Medicare reimbursement in the same fashion the Federal Government tied highway monies to lowering the threshold on breathalyzer tests for DUI to 0.08 nationally. Five of the thirteen Congressmen from North Carolina, Representatives Miller, Watt, Price, Butterfield and Jones are listed as co-sponsors of the House Bill and Senator Burr has given his support for the Senate Bill. We hope all of you will lend your support to this effort.
    Professional recognition is vital for our area of healthcare. We are specially trained in the usage of ionizing radiation and the effects of this exposure to our patients. No other healthcare professionals share this expertise. The NCSRT, Inc. is promoting the field of Radiology by being proactive in both education of the general public to the need of trained personnel performing Radiologic procedures and by recognizing our peers who display extraordinary commitment to their patients and the profession. To this end, the NCSRT, Inc. has developed the “Imaging professionals for Excellence” award and will honor our first recipients at our Annual Conference in 2007.
    
    Membership has remained at a constant level over the last 2 years. This year, we plan to grow by 10%. This will be accomplished by focusing on the benefits of membership and by keeping the membership excited and involved in our growth. Plans are being made by the President to visit major imaging centers throughout the state, spreading the excitement of our new initiatives. We are also asking our members to “BE A PART”. The acronym of PART is professional, Active, Radiologic Technologist.
    
    We are excited about the future and appreciate being here today.

website questions?

Copyright © The Council for Allied Health in North Carolina