Perspectives from the Board Room

By Jason M. Newmark, BA, MHA, CRA, FAHRA

March Madness was in full swing the last few weeks both on the basketball courts and in Washington DC as our policy makers failed to come to a consensus on how to enact meaningful healthcare reforms (or at the very least try to put aside bipartisan views for a few minutes – easier said than done!). Our association has also embraced its own recent version of (good!) madness.

AHRA Spring Conference

As you have read in a few recent LINK articles and/or seen on AHRA’s Facebook page, the 2017 Spring Conference was a tremendous success. We had over 180 attendees and a diverse group of speakers presenting on a broad range of topics. We also had over 20 vendors present to meet with attendees to discuss their offerings and establish relationships for future collaboration. I’d like to extend a special thank you to Tricia Trammell (Spring Design Team Chair) and the rest of the Spring Design Team members, as well as to our collaborating sponsor, GE.

Spring Board Meeting

The AHRA Board of Directors held their spring meeting on March 9 in Savannah, GA to coincide with the Spring Conference. Below are some highlights:

Generative Discussion

In an effort to keep all of our board members up to speed on industry and association best practices and trends, we read and discussed two great articles with a focus on developing strategies to enhance services to our members. Feel free to read these articles and share your thoughts:

Strategic Priorities

We continue to drive and monitor progress toward our key strategic priorities, which were developed and refined based on the needs of our members. We spent time reviewing each of our strategic goals:

Goal A: Imaging Leaders (Members)

1. What can we do to enhance current and develop new offerings and programs for our members at various points in their career progression?

The board and staff discussed programs that are in early development. More details to come!

2. How are our members feeling about our association? What can we do to improve services/programs/offerings?

We will present a member survey in the next few weeks, so please take the time to complete it – your feedback shapes the services we provide and the strategic direction of our association.

3. How can we enhance our overall board succession planning processes and ensure strong leadership for our association for the future?

A slate of candidates for the 2017-18 board will be presented to the membership for consideration and voting in early May. Please vote – it matters!

Goal B: Employers (Healthcare Systems/Hospitals/Facilities)

1. How can we increase retention rates of members, as well as recruit new members to our association?

Our 2017 Membership Campaign is in full swing, and we are aiming to have 6,000 active and engaged members this year. Let’s work together to reach our goal!

Goal C: Industry Stakeholders (Corporate Partners/Policy Makers/Organizations)

1. AHRA Education Foundation Fundraising

As of early March we had nearly 50 member pledges totaling approximately $10K! And our corporate sponsorship annual appeal and multi-year campaign efforts are well under way.

2. Organizational Liaison Program

AHRA is often asked to dedicate individuals to act as formal liaisons to other associations and organizations. We will be refining the liaison program to clearly define our ROI and goals.

3. Regulatory Affairs

Regulatory affairs topics and questions continue to be the most popular source of discussion within the membership. We are working closely with the Regulatory Affairs Committee to ensure we have sufficient resources to maintain and enhance the level of information being shared with our members, as well as support our collaborative efforts with other organizations.

Financials

One of our board’s most important responsibilities is financial oversight of the association. During our meeting we reviewed the final FY16 AHRA audit report, as well as the financial performance of the association for the first two months of FY17. I am happy to report that our association continues to perform extremely well.

Our goal is provide full transparency of our board activities and ensure that members are invested in the success of our association. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions and/or ideas. A sincere thank you for being active and engaged members of this fantastic association. Here’s to a great spring!

Jason M. Newmark, BA, MHA, CRA, FAHRA is the president of the 2016-2017 AHRA Board of Directors. He is the vice president, diagnostic services at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA. He can be reached at jason.newmark@baystatehealth.org.