CLMA provides leadership in the clinical Laboratory industry supporting lab professionals at every stage of their career. We educate and advocate on behalf of our members and play a leadership role in enhancing the image and increasing visibility of our profession.

We kicked off this new CLMA image with a power point presentation from the Council of Chapter Leaders’ meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, at our membership meeting during the ASCLS/CLMA South Dakota Huron State meeting in May. To briefly summarize this presentation, several key recommendations are the goals of CLMA and its Chapters:

• Redirect our focus to appeal to all levels of laboratory professionals. Remain committed to the lab manager niche, but expand offerings to serve supervisors and coordinators. (Membership Focus)
  
• Develop basic educational programs that will be targeted to entry-level managers and supervisors. (Education Focus)
  
• Consider new strategies regarding Chapter infrastructure to ensure that all members have access to a Chapter, and that the image, quality, and value of programs provided by the Chapters are consistent across the organization. (Chapter Focus)
  
• Assume a leadership role in communicating the value that the laboratory profession contributes to the healthcare continuum. (Advocacy Focus)
  
• Develop an Annual Conference Long Range Plan to reverse declining trend in attendance and to create a new value proposition for exhibitors. (Education Focus)
  
• Develop a new corporate identity/logo and theme line to better delineate the organization’s mission and value to members. (Marketing Focus)
  
• Develop an Image Awareness Marketing Plan with the primary goal of enhancing the visibility of the association and increasing membership. (Marketing Focus)
  
  

As you can see from points above, there are five strategic areas of focus: Marketing, Advocacy, Collaboration, Education, and Chapters and Membership. We will try to highlight each of these areas for you throughout the rest of the year in our membership meetings and newsletters.

The CLMA National Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, was again a wonderful experience for me. The Council of Chapter Leaders’ meeting prior to the conference is an invaluable meeting. I would like to thank all the Siouxland Chapter members for the support of sending your President to this conference. It is a very important, information-gathering event essential for the growth of our chapter, and also to help guide us in supporting CLMA’s mission.

Thank You - Kari Nornes

Advocacy

The Clinical Laboratory Coalition has been active with five legislative priorities for 2004.

1. Competitive bidding
   
2. Elimination of the CPI freeze
   
3. Prevent lab co-pay issue from surfacing again
   
4. Specimen collection fee increase
   
5. Improved reimbursements rates for new tests
   
   

Refer to the CLMA Web site, Members Only, then go to the Policy section for key facts on these hot legislative issues.


Competitive Bidding

In September, the Clinical Laboratory Coalition will be preparing a letter for members of Congress and Senators to sign that would go to CMS outlining CLMA’s concern about the Competitive Bidding Demonstration Project. According to the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003, CMS is the responsible party by law to implement this demonstration project. The Clinical Laboratory Coalition is opposed to competitive bidding. Laboratories are essential health services, and not commodities, which with a focus on price could have the potential to compromise quality and patient safety. So the Clinical Laboratory Coalition is trying to work with CMS as the project develops through these guidelines:

• CMS should include all 1,100 clinical laboratory tests, not just the 56 most frequently ordered ones.
  
  
• The project should be bid for three or four years to determine long term and short term savings and impact.
  
  
• There should not be a single provider who would control the share of the market.
  
  
• The bidders should not be chosen on price alone, but on the ability of the laboratory to furnish reliable, high quality testing, with quick turnaround times, and easy access to services.
  
  
• And there should be a post-demonstration evaluation that would review key factors in the failure or success of the demonstration: market competitiveness, quality issues, impact on underserved and specialized populations, access to emergency services, turnaround time, specimen integrity issues, and patient and physician satisfaction.
  
  

As CLMA members, we need to educate our congressmen that represent us about the competitive bidding project. Each chance you get, please point out the issues presented and possible results of this project. Stay current on this issue by reading your CLMA Email Alert for future developments.


Continuing Education

SDAHO Annual Convention: South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organization Fall Meeting is September 22–24, 2004, at the Sioux Falls Convention Center and Sheraton Hotel. The convention brochures were mailed the second week of August. Our primary CLMA meeting day will be Thursday, September 23rd. “Safety” is the main theme of the convention. The Exhibit show starts on Thursday, September 23rd, from 3:30–5:30 p.m. We are looking for volunteers to help at our Siouxland Chapter Booth. Please contact Kari Nornes at: kanornes@aol.com. “Early Bird” registration deadline is August 27, 2004, with the final registration date on Monday, September 13, 2004.

• Siouxland Chapter Winter Meeting: A date is being planned for December in Sioux Falls.
  
  
• National CLMA Convention: Chicago, Illinois, March 5-8, 2005, Lakeside Center at McCormick Place
  

Membership

We thank the following members who have renewed their CLMA Siouxland Chapter membership since January 1, 2004. Our current membership is 54 members.

February 20, 2004: Board Meeting - Minutes posted on our Web site

April 28th, 2004: Board Meeting - Minutes posted on our Web site

May 5th, 2004: Membership Meeting - Minutes posted on our Web site.

August 4th, 2004: Board Meeting - Minutes posted on our Web site.

September 23rd, 2004: SDAHO Membership meeting.

December 2004: Siouxland Chapter Winter Membership meeting


Membership Recognition at ASCLS/CLMA South Dakota State Meeting, Huron, SD

At our membership meeting on May 5, 2004, we took the opportunity to recognize our members for their years of support as a CLMA member. Certificates were handed out for 5, 10, 15, and 20 years as a CLMA member. The following people were recognized:

CLMA PAC

Three years ago, CLMA organized a Political Action Committee to make an impact on legislators in congress. This year at the National CLMA convention, the CLMA PAC committee surpassed their goals for raising funds for the PAC. That gave the committee the ability to now disperse these funds to key legislators in the US Congress. Selection was based on voting record on laboratory issues and his/her status on key congressional Committees. Last April, we were notified that Senator Daschle, from South Dakota, was selected along with 11 other congressmen to receive a contribution check from the CLMA PAC. The check was given to him on July 29th, at a fund-raiser in Sioux Falls. Three Chapter members; Terry Erickson, Patty Buus, and Kari Nornes, were able to present the check to Senator Daschle.


Siouxland Chapter By-laws

The CLMA Siouxland Chapter By-laws have been updated and approved by the National CLMA By-laws Committee. The By-laws will be emailed or sent to each member for review. At the SDAHO convention membership meeting on Thursday, September 23, 2004, the By-laws will be discussed and voted upon for approval.


Carrier Advisory Committee Alternate

Patty Buus has been chosen by the Siouxland Chapter Board to act as an alternate to Twila Henning’s position as the laboratory CAC representative. Her responsibilities will be to communicate CAC information to our CLMA Siouxland Chapter members when Twila is unable to attend. This CAC alternate position is a two-year commitment. Thank you Patty, for your interest in this position.


Newsletter Topics

We appreciate member involvement and are very interested in topic ideas that you would like included in this newsletter. Please email your topic suggestions to Kay Knoblock at: knoblock@siouxvalley.org. Or, if you are interested in getting involved with the newsletter committee, please contact Kay Knoblock.


Siouxland Chapter Web site:

The Siouxland Chapter Board is looking for ways to stimulate vendor sponsorship of our Chapter Web site. Please contact a Board member with your ideas. We are also looking for information which you would like to find on our Chapter Web site. Please check out the Siouxland Chapter Web site at: www.clma-siouxland.org.

Kari Nornes, Editor


A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.

See you all at the SDAHO convention for our fall membership meeting.