MSHA News
The following is an update of the business conducted during the fall
legislative council meeting. Feel free to contact us if you have questions or
comments.
Strategic plan and focused initiatives:
1. Personnel issues in healthcare and education
- Determine underlying factors leading to persistent vacancies
- Decrease the number of states that initiate action to reduce state
certification/licensure for providers of speech/language services
- Work to increase salary and benefits packages
- Decrease the number of vacancies
2. Evidence-based practice (EBP)
- Increase knowledge of availability and use of treatment efficacy and
other research and the principles of EBP
- Increase funding for high quality research to support EBP
- Increase use of high quality research and EPB in all clinical settings
- Increase interaction with researchers in other countries
3. Reimbursement in health and education
- Provide ASHA members with access to information and tools to effectively
negotiate with private health plans to ensure appropriate coverage criteria
and equitable reimbursement rates
- Increase number of employers the cover comprehensive SLP and audiology
services in health benefits package
- Provide ASHA members with access to information and tools to help them
effectively navigate state funded insurance programs at the state and local
levels to ensure appropriate coverage criteria and equitable reimbursement
rates
- Increase reimbursement for audiologic rehabilitation services in federal
and private insurance programs
- Increase availability of information related to access for federal,
state, and local funding streams for programs and services in the schools
4. PhD shortage
- Increase number potential doctoral level teachers/researchers, number of
students who continue on through PhD, retention of doctoral-level faculty,
and federal funding for doctoral program fellowships
- Increase availability and use of new education models for all levels of
education in the professions
- Increase availability and use of a coordinated data collection and
centralized mechanism for information dissemination on academic program
characteristics, doctoral students, and new teachers/researchers
Building update:
The new building planning is going smoothly. They expect occupancy by October
2007. A meeting is scheduled with the City of Rockville for design approval.
After they break ground, there will be a web-cam so members can watch
construction progress. Basic information about the new national office can be
found at: http://www.asha.org/about/leadership-projects/national-office/exec-updates/
Meetings with the vice presidents:
Several small group meetings with the vice presidents were conducted. One was
an update on the Reimbursement Focused Initiative with opportunity for
discussion and suggestions. Repealing the caps and separating speech-language
pathology from physical therapy remain priorities. Write to your senators and
representatives today! Have your patients write to their senators and
representatives too.
A second meeting was an update of the Evidence Based Practice focused
initiative. They have now established the national center of EBP (N-CEP). Staff
will conduct evidence reviews and we will have access to the reviews on-line.
The special interest divisions are currently suggesting topics and an advisory
board will prioritize them. The top four so far appear to be e-stim, fluency,
oral motor exercises, and apraxia treatment.
The ASHA website has a new director and is being re-configured. Please provide
feedback to the webmaster if you cannot find what you need on the site.
Resolutions passed:
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