The Official Newsletter of the Oregon Society for Respiratory Care
Volume XVII | Number 1 | May 2010 | PDF Version
KETTERING CRT/WRT/CLINICAL SIMULATION SEMINAR COMING TO OREGON IN JULY
Samaritan Albany General Hospital is sponsoring a Kettering National Seminar for July 23, 24, 25th. The seminar is a NBRC Exam prep course that helps therapists pass the CRT, Written RRT and Clinical Simulation exams. It reviews the entire 2 years of RT schoolwork, but is very focused on NBRC style test taking skills. Test taking skills are the common reason many RTs fail the NBRC exams. Many people buy the Kettering books, but the seminars have so much more on test taking skills and proven systems to pass the Boards, which makes the seminars so essential to becoming RRTs. A number of Oregon hospitals no longer hire CRTs, they only hire RRTs.
Both the CRT exam and the WRT exams are new tests based on the updated NBRC matrix. The new CRT exam was first given in July of 2009 and the new WRT exam first given in January of 2010. So if you’ve been out of school more than a year, you probably are not aware of the new changes to the exams.
In order to hold the seminar, we need at least 12 people to sign up for the program and send a deposit of $85 by May 23rd Eastern Standard Time (www.ketteringseminarS.com/register, use access code XALB266H). The seminar normally costs $395, but with the access code, we are going to get a discount to $295. If we can get >20 people by May 23rd, we can get the price dropped to $265. Those who wait until after the May 23rd deadline should expect to pay the full price of $395. The price includes 4 books plus CRT and WRT practice exams.
Joe Dwan, MS Ed, RRT will be teaching the seminar.
Joe recently retired as director of RCS at Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center in Portland.
The seminar is approved for 25.5 AARC CEUs. It will be held at Albany General Samaritan Hospital in Albany, driveable from Portland and Eugene for the 0800 start time. The above website will have a detailed map showing the location of the seminar. Thanks to Marilyn Barclay, RRT, who is sponsoring this seminar!
Revision to December 2009 Southern Region Report
The following is printed to clarify information presented in the Southern Region Report of the December 2009 Breath Sounds:
Cardiopulmonary Services and Electroneurodiagnostics are preparing to add Exercise Testing for anyone seeking a license to dive and have a history of Asthma.
It is not an original concept that caution should be taken in the area regarding anyone who has a history of Asthma or been diagnosed, loosely or otherwise, with Asthma and or given a bronchodilator. They are working with a local physician, Dr. Kent DeYarman, M.D. Allergy and Asthma specialist as well as Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle WA along with our local diving shops. This collaborative effort is being done in the hopes of decreasing the risks associated with diving and the diagnosis of Asthma. For more information regarding diving, please see the divers alert network web site at www.diversalertnetwork.org
Our Neurodiagnostics area has added the services of Ambulatory EEG’s as well as the ability to perform and monitor Long Term EEG’s with video. The Neurologists are able to access the data from anywhere in the hospital as well as their offices and or home pc’s.
OSRC OBSERVATIONS
2010 OSRC Pacific Northwest Respiratory Care Conference Summary
Dear OSRC Members,
In reviewing the 2010 conference details and the feedback, the best word that comes to my mind is WOW! We had a stellar turn-out this year for our conference in Eugene. Our final count of attendees was approximately 240 with 25% of those being students! We also had tremendous vendor support which greatly helps us with putting on the conference for our members. All of this in this trying economy; this says a lot about our members and their interest in attending our annual conference and we as your Board members give you our most sincere thanks. After all, the members are why we are here.
I would like to thank the conference attendees for all of the wonderful feedback that they provided via the CEU and feedback forms. Overwhelmingly, the attendees stated that this was the best conference in a number of years, that it was great to see the Chili Cook-Off return with a vengeance, and that they are eagerly awaiting the 2011 conference. For all of our OSRC members, we have been able to secure a number of presentations from our presenters and these have been posted to our website at www.osrcpnw.org.
For 2011, the conference returns to Portland and I am already hard at work with the beginning stages of its planning. For those of you that are unaware, the Vice- President of the OSRC Board is the Conference Chair. This means that the VP has the responsibility for organizing and planning a successful conference each year. This cannot ever be done solely and the other OSRC Board members are instrumental to the VP in accomplishing this feat. That being said, we cannot do it alone! The membership contributes enormously to the success of the conference and in looking ahead to 2011; I am planning on having a Conference Committee to assist me with the 2011 Conference details. This committee will be comprised of OSRC members that are interested in helping with the organization and with selecting conference presenters.
This gives the membership the opportunity to be involved with the conference planning process and provides an opportunity for the membership to have its voice heard. Look for details for the Conference Committee to be posted to the website in April 2010 @ www.osrcpnw.org.
Thanks again to everyone that helped support our 2010 OSRC Pacific Northwest Respiratory Care Conference. We look forward to seeing you in 2011 in Portland!
Best,
Jeffrey Moors, RRT
OSRC Vice-President & Conference Chair
Message from the President
I hope everyone who attended the Conference in Eugene enjoyed the lectures. Jeff Moors and all the BOD worked hard on this, so the members would learn and enjoy. We raised enough money to give 4 student scholarships. Please, all you students go to the OSRC website and put in your application.
Our website is going through some updates, so please still use the site for BOD e-mails, references to the AARC and other organizations. We will be posting the Breath Sounds to the website starting with this issue.
I’m looking forward to this year as the President. We are already talking about the next conference in Portland at the Monarch. I would hope you all are looking forward to another great conference. Jeff is already looking forward to 2011 building a strong program for the conference. Contact Jeff with some interest and ideas. I will be attending the AARC Leadership Workshop in Dallas, TX, and so will the President-Elect. There will be so much to learn and report back to the Board of Directors and membership.
Good luck to all the students that graduate this year!
Paula Butcher
OSRCNW President
Call for nominations!
In 2011 the OSRC Board of Directors has positions open for President-elect, Central Region Director, Eastern Region Director, and Delegate. If you are interested in these positions or know someone who is please contact Marilyn Barclay at marilynb@samhealth.org before June, 2010. If you would like more information about the positions please contact Marilyn Barclay.
Breaking News: Oregon RT’s in DC
40 to 50 helicopters in the air, motorcades with big limos and attached flags, followed by ominous big, black SUVs was the scene in Washington DC on March 9th. Marching protestors in hospital gowns, complete with signs, protested in favor of healthcare reform, as noted by the picture in both the USA Today and the Oregonian. Healthcare advocacy ads “clog airwaves” according to USA Today (3/10/10, 5A). And health care workers clogged the sidewalks around the Senate and House offices. The chest physicians, alziemers groups, lab techs, rehab folks, homecare companies, all were tromping the halls of Congress promoting their issues.
Heatlhcare Reform was literally in the air, on our recent PACT trip to DC, where over 100 RT’s from Alaska to Florida, Oregon to Maine and states in- between. Tony Garber, RT manager at Hermiston’s Good Samaritan Hospital and OSRC Eastern Director, participated in the seven meetings with the Oregon Congressional Delegation. We also had Jerry Killian, an Alpha One patient from Oregon provide the patient perspective on the difficulty of daily living with COPD, home oxygen and the lung transplant process. Jerry’s story was passionate and powerful, eliciting a strong response from the legislative aides in our meetings.
As I said at the Feb OSRC Conference, RN’s, PT’s, OT’s, Speech Pathologists, Radiology, MRI, Ultrasound, EEG, you name them, they are
reimbursed by Medicare for services provided outside of the hospital. Respiratory Therapists are the only ancillary group that is not reimbursed for services outside the hospital. So our trip to Washington, DC is to gain reimbursement for RT’s, which will improve access, care and cost to our asthma and COPD patients. We want to revise the Medicare statue to add recognition of respiratory therapy services as a separate Medicare Part B benefit to permit qualified RT’s to provide respiratory therapy services under the general supervision of a physician.
The second issue we brought to Congress was to have the bills (S343 & HR 1077), described above, reviewed by the Congressional Business Office, who will determine how much this will cost Medicare.
Our third issue is to improve research funding for COPD. As you know, COPD is the #4 killer in America, but will become #3 by 2020. Research funds are pitiful, compared to cardiac, diabetes, AIDS, and other top diseases.
We also discussed home oxygen equipment issues and Jerry described what it’s like to live with the ‘green leash’.
OUR FEW RT’S NEED TO MAKE SOME NOISE! Write to your Oregon Congressmen Today! It takes 5 minutes, when you use aarc.org, Capital Connection, type in your zip code. Use the letter already there or create your own. Help us advocate for our asthma and COPD patients!
Healthcare Reform has passed and President Obama has signed this historic legislation. RT’s tried to include our legislation into HCR but were unsuccessful thus far. For a brief description of what HCR is see http://www.kff.org/healthreform/8061.cfm
Joe Dwan, MS, RRT
PACT CoChair
OHLA Report
The Oregon Health Licensing Agency’s Respiratory Therapist Licensing Board met in Salem on Feb 12, 2010. Board members present were Bruce Kromer, Chair, Richard Larson, Mark Olson, and Marilyn Barclay. In order to save paper and time new computer notebooks were introduced for use by the board. Flash drives were available of the meeting materials for those who were interested. Unfortunately, when I accessed the flash drive there were no files. Because of that I do not have any of the usual statistics to report.
The Director of the OHLA, Randy Everitt, provided information about the various types of boards that make up the OHLA. The Respiratory Therapist Licensing Board is an advisory board; they provide guidance to the OHLA pertaining to Respiratory Care.
Katharine Lozano, Assistant Attorney General was present and provided a thought provoking analysis of the Respiratory Therapist Licensing Board’s position statements. Much work must be done by the board and the staff of the OHLA. It appears the board needs to carefully define position statements and rulemaking. Position statements are used to remind or clarify, but not interpret, rules. Rule making is a prescribed legislative process.
An interesting point was made regarding the definition of “place”. ORS 688.800-688.840 limits respiratory care practice settings to “any clinic, hospital, skilled nursing facility, private dwelling or other place considered appropriate or necessary…” Ms. Lozano believes the definition of place is a fixed area or spot and because of that transport is outside the scope of practice for RTs. The OHLA and RT Board will work toward repairing this oversight.
Much discussion took place regarding Polysomnographers and CPAP/BiPAP titration. Presently the rules read that a person must be licensed to titrate CPAP/BiPAP. In Oregon Polysomnographers are not licensed making it, technically, illegal for them to titrate CPAP/BiPAP. A sub-committee was formed to discuss this very important topic.
It appears that Polysomnographers are beginning the process of becoming a licensed profession.
Membership Report
The OSRC Conference was a great success! Many of you commented on the great array of speakers as well as subject matter. We would like to welcome the 17 RT’s who applied for membership!
Last year (2009) we had a grand total of 78 new OSRC members. 23 of which were students. We have 1503 Respiratory practitioners In Oregon and only 451 are members of the OSRC. Only 30% of us support and recognize the need for our organization.
What does the OSRC Membership do for you?
- Discounts to AARC/OSRC Conferences
- Up-to-date information
- Frequent CEU opportunities
- Advocates for YOU
- Promotes our Profession
I would like to encourage each one of you to get out there and help spread the word!
Carol Hardisty Membership Chair
Student Representative Report
The 2010 Respiratory Conference was a success. In keeping with the theme of the conference ( Promoting our Profession) students promoted our profession by having a banner year raising funds for future therapists and doing a presentation about the many uses of perfluorocarbons in respiratory care, done in poster board style for the first time this year! The silent auction raised over $1870.00 from donated items gathered mainly by Lane Community College 2010 graduates. TheChilicook-off with about 10 different chili entries, (including one with blueberries), lots of colorful costumes and rabble rousing fun, raised over $800 dollars . Over all, this was the most money ever raised at an OSRC conference for the scholarship fund. This was our year to shine! Thank you, to all our supporters and donations. We appreciate each and every one of you! See you at the next conference!
The 2010 Graduates.
NEW VENUE FOR THE BREATHSOUNDS NEWSLETTER!
I invite you to visit the OSRC website (www.osrcpnw.org) and find the current and future issues of Breath Sounds posted there. This will be the last printed and mailed issue. Breath Sounds will be posted 4 times annually in April, July, October and December. Future issues will again include a CEU article.
Randy Cox
OSRC Breath Sounds Editor
ADVERTISING INFO
BREATH SOUNDS ADVERTISING INFORMATION
Breath Sounds is the official newsletter of the Oregon Society for Respiratory Care. It is published 4 times a year with mailings to all members of the OSRC. Your service or product will target the respiratory care community if you advertise in Breath Sounds. 2009/2010 rates and schedules are as follows:
ADVERTISING FEES
Quarter page: Published size—–3″ X 4.5″———————————$35
Half page: Published size——–6″ X 4.5″———————————-$60
Full page: Published size——–6″ X 9″———————————–$100
DEADLINES FOR SUBMISSION
For July 2010 Issue———————————————————————– 7/1/10
For October 2009 Issue—————————————————————– 10/1/09
For December 2010 Issue————————————————————– 12/1/10
For April 2011 Issue———————————————————————- 4/1/11
FORMATTING
Camera ready art or finished copy (black & white) must be received by submission deadlines at the following address with a check payable to the OSRC:
ATTN: Randy Cox, Editor, Breath Sounds c/o Respiratory Care
Lebanon Community Hospital
PO Box 739
Lebanon, OR 97355
451-7158 email: randyc@samhealth.org
CONTENT
Advertisements deemed inappropriate to the image of the OSRC, Respiratory Care, or health care in general, eg, tobacco ads, will not be accepted. The editor reserves the right to review all advertisements submitted and to refuse any that are deemed misleading or inappropriate.
OSRC BOD
2010-2011 OSRC BOD & COMMITTEE CHAIRS
PRESIDENT
Paula Butcher RRT (503)215-6061 Paula.butcher@providence.org
PRESIDENT-ELECT Cathy Melero (541)812-4299 cmelero@samhealth.org
VICE-PRESIDENT & CONFERENCE CHAIR Jeff Moors RRT (503)488-6140 jmoors@concorde.edu
PAST PRESIDENT & ELECTIONS Marilyn Barclay RRT (541)812-4299 marilynb@samhealth.org
TREASURER & BUDGET Peter Miller petemil@apbb.net
SECRETARY
Norm Kerr RRT (541)963-1504 Norman.kerr@grh.org
DELEGATE Linda Tier RRT (503)551-1547 ljtier@yahoo.com
DELEGATE
Tim Hutchison
(503)956-3506 timothy.hutchison@phillips.com
N. REGION DIRECTOR/EAST Al Cady
(541)387-6516 alan.cady@providence.org
N. REGION DIRECTOR/WEST David Buckwalter (503)418-5858
CENTRAL REG. DIR./WEST Carol Hardisty chardisty@peacehealth.org
CENTRAL REG. DIR./EAST MaryJo Eyler
(541)812-4298 meyler@samhealth.org
S. REGION DIRCTOR Ki Rabe
E. REGION DIRECTOR Tony Garberg RRT (541)667-3666 tgarb@gshealth.org
MEMBERSHIP
Carol Hardisty chardisty@peacehealth.org
LICENSURE
Marilyn Barclay (541)812-4299 mbarclay@samhealth.org
PACT
Joe Dwan MS RRT (503)571-4470 FAX (503)571-5653 Joe.g.dwan@kp.org
EDUCATION
Mark Stouffer RRT (503)216-2465 Mark.stouffer@providence.org
BREATHSOUNDS EDITOR Randy Cox RRT (541)451-7158 FAX(541)451-7589 randyc@samhealth.org
PULMONARY REHAB Susan Pfanner (541)222-7442 spfanner@ohvi.org
WEBMASTER
PUBLIC AWARENESS Debi Corah
(503)216-2291 Debi.corah@providence.org
HISTORIAN & BYLAWS Norm Kerr RRT (541)963-1504 Norman.kerr@grh.org
MANAGEMENT
Manya Kanavalov manya.kanavalaov@salemhos pital.org
ALTERNATE SITE CARE
STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE
MED. DIR./ADVISOR George Giacoppe MD ggiacoppe@samhealth.org