AOTA Board of Directors Tackled a Full Agenda in Its February 2010 Meeting
The AOTA Board of Directors held its winter meeting on February 19-20, 2010 via conference call and Live Meeting. The Board tackled a full agenda which included a review of the Association’s finances, updates on health care reform efforts, and a review of strategic directions for the Association and Centennial Vision priorities in light of changing trends and the environment in health care.
The Board received a report from Treasurer Saburi Imara covering the Association’s financial performance for the first six months of FY 2010, which showed significant improvement from the same period a year earlier. AOTA’s Executive Director Fred Somers provided the Board with the first update of year-end financial projections, highlighting that while conditions have been favorable, key variables left in this fiscal year, including annual Conference attendance and overall trends in the stock market, remain uncertain. He also reported that AOTA membership trends remain strong.
The Board also devoted time to health care reform, with a briefing from Chief Public Affairs Officer Christina Metzler, during which she highlighted the successes AOTA and its members had in promoting occupational therapy in the health care reform debate, especially through the many visits to Washington by members, students, and leaders. However, she also explained that health care reform efforts are in a state of flux. The process would be moving forward with a Presidential summit on February 25. But major gaps still exist between the House and Senate, between Republicans and Democrats, and between conservatives and progressives. Metzler reported that AOTA is currently putting its resources into obtaining a fix for the Medicare therapy cap, as the exceptions process expired on December 31, 2009. While legislators on Capitol Hill are sympathetic to removing the cap, the political climate is not favorable for bipartisan action, even if there is agreement. AOTA will continue to seek inclusion of the home health language that was in the House bill to expand occupational therapy’s role in home health. AOTA will also continue to promote active grassroots advocacy by informing members and keeping the Legislative Action Center up to date.
The Board also undertook a strategic planning discussion in which they reviewed the current Centennial Vision priorities in the context of the changing environment in health care and other external factors. This included a review of key threats and opportunities facing the profession and the Association identified by Board members, including reimbursement and scope of practice challenges, as well as key trends affecting the profession such as the proliferation of academic education programs, faculty shortages, the profession’s research capacity and movement towards developing research enterprises among occupational therapy educational programs, and current trends in practice and workforce demographics.
Vice President Ginny Stoffel then took the Board through a careful review of progress made on each of the Association’s 2009–2010 priority activities and measures of success to gauge progress toward achieving the Centennial Vision.
VP Stoffel then facilitated a discussion of AOTA’s current priorities in light of the new information in order to determine which have been met, which may need to be revised, and what new priorities may need to be added. Over the next few weeks the Board will be finalizing the 2010–2011 Centennial Vision Priorities and will share that new document with the membership.
The Board also discussed the ongoing efforts to seek feedback from various stakeholder groups and the membership at large about the proposal of the Member Participation Ad Hoc Committee, which will come before the Representative Assembly in April.
On Saturday the Board engaged in a self-assessment of its performance over the past year, and received reports from AOTA’s organizational advisors, including presentations from AOTF President Diana Ramsay and AOTF Executive Director Charles Christiansen, AOTPAC Chair Amy Lamb, and a report on the issues upcoming at the WFOT Congress from WFOT Delegate Mary Evert.
