Conference Highlights
The Kansas City Chapter won the Chapter Performance Award, the highest, overall honor for a chapter to win. To be eligible, the winning chapter must meet the following 10 criteria: leadership and administration, education, financial management, membership, networking opportunities, communication, strategic planning, collaboration, health-care policy, and innovation. The winning chapter receives $1000 and recognition at the National Conference.
Some new awards were presented during the conference. These awards were designed to recognize chapters that excel in everyday chapter activities. The Alabama Chapter won an excellence award for Member Sponsorship; the Utah Chapter for Web Site Design; the Kansas City Chapter for excellence in Educational Programs; the Great Plains Chapter for Recruitment into the laboratory profession; and the Austin Chapter for Revitalizing their chapter.
I attended the Council of Chapter Leaders’ meeting on Friday. Nearly 100 people attended this meeting for all Board members of the chapters. The day’s theme was “ Peak Performance,” led by the Council of Chapter Leader’s Chair Judy Buti-Dunton; and the Chair-elect Bob Anselmo. The chapter leaders had the opportunity to meet the leaders of the National CLMA office. They brought information about their activities, and also were interested in feedback on how they could further support the chapters. The day provided a networking atmosphere among the chapters. Ideas were shared regarding what chapters are doing with their members, plus new ideas were generated through round table discussions. This time was a great motivator for the whole group. The Chapter Awards were presented, along with Best Practices Presentations by chapters. It was a very enjoyable and valuable day for me as your Chapter President. Thank you for the member support of sending your President to this National Conference.
Just a few comments about the CLMA/ASCP conference: CLMA/ASCP held over 200 continuing education events. There were opportunities for all level of attendees: technologists and supervisors, managers, executives and administrators, and pathologists and medical directors. The featured keynote speakers of the conference gave excellent presentations on “Service and Motivation,” “Humor: A Personal Strategy for Success,” and “The Future of the Laboratory Industry.” The speakers focused on commitment to our profession, have fun while doing your job, don’t forget to laugh at yourself, and shared a real positive outlook for the future of the laboratory. We all left with a renewed zeal for our profession and the responsibilities it requires.
The Siouxland Chapter participated in the Silent Auction at the conference to help generate money to support the CLMA Foundation. Our Chapter donated a Black Hills Gold bracelet; the final bidding price was $190.00. All items for the auction where on display in the Exhibit Hall.
The next National CLMA/ASCP conference will be in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 28–30, 2004. I hope that many of you will be able to add this conference into your 2004 budgets. It is definitely a worthwhile event!
- Kari Nornes, Siouxland Chapter President
Board of Directors Meeting
The Siouxland Board of Directors met on August 5, 2003. The minutes of this meeting will be posted on our Web site: www.clma-siouxland.org.
Siouxland Chapter Membership Meeting
The next Siouxland Chapter membership meeting will be held during the Annual SDAHO Convention in Sioux Falls, SD, on Thursday, September 25, 2003 at 2:30 pm. Details of our meeting will be in the convention registration packet. The exhibit show will follow at 3:30 pm. We will have a CLMA booth in the Exhibit Hall where you can enter your name to win a CLMA jean shirt. Don’t forget to stop at our booth!
Joint Contract with ASCLS-SD/CLMA
At our ASCLS/CLMA Spring Meeting in Yankton, SD, the ASCLS and CLMA boards met to discuss our mutual contract in place for this annual meeting. Presently, CLMA receives 10% of the revenue for participating in this event. Our CLMA Board was interested in offering a bigger commitment by our organization; and thus, receive a percentage of revenue reflecting our level of participation. After discussion, the conclusion was to create a task force committee to propose a workable joint contract. The committee consisted of CLMA members Rick Pudwill, President-elect and coordinator of our continuing education; Jill Hanley, Board Member with experience of past spring meetings; and me (Kari Nornes). The ASCLS-SD members were Mona Gleysteen, President and now Past President; Bret Scherrill, President; and Debbie Pravecek, Treasurer. On June 2, we met to discuss our ideas of a joint contract. We received a draft contract prepared by ASCLS-SD on August 4 that was discussed at the Board meeting on August 5. We will keep you informed of the progress of this contract as the task force committee continues to work with ASCLS.
Upcoming Continuing Education
SDAHO Annual Convention, September 24–26, 2003, at the Sioux Falls Convention Center.
CLMA has two featured speakers scheduled: Twila Henning, from Mayo Reference Laboratory, presenting “Update on the New CLIA Regulations” and insight into the CLIA surveyors interpretive guidelines; and Kathy Zirpel, from Sioux Valley Clinical Laboratories, presenting “Six Sigma: The Key To Flawless Laboratory Processes.” Their presentations are scheduled for Thursday, September 25.
ASCP Workshops for Laboratory Professionals, September 9–11, 2003, at the Holiday Inn Minneapolis West, Minneapolis, MN.
Topics include Routine Urinalysis Performance and Management; Gram Stains: Gaining Proficiency in Diagnostic Interpretation and Results Reporting; Phelbotomy: A Comprehensive Approach; Hematology: Maturation, Morphology, and Mystery; Clinical Microbiology: Review and Update; An Introduction to Body Fluid Analysis: Basic Techniques and Cellular Morphology; and Power UP Your Clinical Chemistry Knowledge. More information is available on their Web site: www.ascp.org/programs/workshops or call 800.621.4142. Also, ASCP has a variety of teleconferences for the fall. Check out on their Web site: www.ascp.org/programs/teleconferences.
Membership Statistics
Thank you to the following Siouxland Chapter members who renewed their membership during April 1– June 30, 2003.
| Owen Bain |
Brian Ballard
|
| Connie Braun |
Wanda Dally
|
| Sharon DeHaan |
Dianne Dell
|
| Harold Eichmann |
Bill Hofer
|
| Kay Knoblock |
Allen Miller
|
| Elaine Nelson |
Brad Northburg
|
| Mary Parr |
Rick Pudwill
|
| Nancy Riggle |
Beth Schochenmaier
|
| Mary Beth Sik |
Nevonne Stoker
|
| Connie Thury |
Steve Walhof
|
| Larry Weaver |
Jean Ziemer
|
Kathy Zirpel
|
|
Our total membership as of August 1, 2003, is 57 members.
We had four members whose membership lapsed between April 1–August 1, and two CLMA members who joined our Siouxland Chapter from Iowa: Harold Eichmann and Steve Walhoff. Welcome to the Siouxland Chapter!
Thank You to Our CLMA Volunteers
A special “thank you” to our CLMA members Patti Buus and Mary Parr who volunteered to help draw PSAs for the Cancer Screening event at the South Dakota State Fair in Huron. Giving of your valuable time to help is greatly appreciated!
CLMA MEMBERS: Have You Contacted Your Legislator?
We urge all of you to keep up-to-date reading the CLMA Email Alerts for current legislation happenings with the Senate and House versions of the Medicare prescription drug bill. The CLMA Web site: www.clma.org “members only” section, has sample letters, fact sheets, and downloadable spreadsheets that calculate the 20% co-payment amounts for the National Limitation Amounts of all tests in the 2003 Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule. They even have customized patient flyers to hand out to Medicare patients instructing them to contact Members of Congress to oppose co-payment.
Please refer to the July 23, 2003 Email Alert for the Senate and House Conferees to contact in our States on this 20% Co-payment issue.
Together, we can make a difference by taking time to send our Congressmen a note on our position of co-payment.
PAC Contributions
Now is the time to make your contributions to CLMA’s Political Action Committee. The Email Alert that you received from Kathy Ayres identifies the importance of your contribution and that it is never too late. This provides an opportunity to give a donation so that your voice and the PAC can be effective. As Kathy Ayres states, “A donation of as little as $25 by every member of CLMA or $50 from half its members would provide CLMA with more than $150,000 to work with. This would make a significant difference.”
So go to the CLMA Web site at www.clma.org. Login to the “Members Only” section and visit the Policy section to review the information. Download and complete the form appropriate for your situation. Send a check or money order with the completed form to:
CLMA PAC
989 Old Eagle School Road, Suite 815
Wayne, PA 19087
Thank you Siouxland Chapter members for all of your contributions!
New Wage and Vacancy Report for ASCP
The ASCP released its initial report on the state of the clinical laboratory workforce. The report is based on an analysis of the ASCP Board of Registry’s (BOR) 2002 Wage and Vacancy Survey, the 12th in a series of biennial surveys conducted by an independent agency for ASCP. The full report will be published in the September and October 2003 issues of ASCP’s Laboratory Medicine. You can find it on their Web site:
http://www.ascp.org/Downloadables1/WebTextitems/4024.asp
Newsletter Topics
We appreciate your 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.
Recruitment
