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National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA)

Strategic Implementation Team (SIT)

Marjorie Albohm, MS, ATC, Chair

July 2006

Dallas, TX

Mission Statement: The Strategic Implementation Team (SIT) will review NATA’s current strategic endeavors and status, our accomplishments, the current environment and how it is changing, and any significant trends that have surfaced. The SIT will make adjustments to the Strategic Plan, talk about new strategies and make recommendations to the Board. The benefit of the SIT and this process is that NATA will move to strategic thinking, a form of ongoing strategic planning process. The SIT will meet annually in person to allow these key groups to communicate and work together on mutual projects. SIT will have one or more conference calls, as determined by the group.

The SIT met over the weekend of July 14-16, 2006 to lay the foundation for implementing the NATA strategic plan as approved by the Board of Directors, to organize itself and develop its communication strategy, and to assign tactics, responsibility, and timelines. The key areas of focus of the Association are:

Favorable State Regulation
Revenue for Athletic Training Services
Marketing and Public Relations
Job Development

Present were:

Marjorie Albohm, MS, ATC, Vice President, Board of Directors

Al Green, MEd, ATC, EMT—Public Relations Committee

Ken Knight, PhD, ATC, FACSM—Chair, Education Council Executive Committee

Mary K Kirkland, MS, ATC, LAT—Council on Employment

Ivan Milton, ATC—Committee on Revenue (substituting for Ken W. Locker, MA, ATC)

Eric McDonnell, ATC—Governmental Affairs Committee

Pamela Rast, PhD, LAT, ATC —Continuing Education Committee

(substituting for Kris Boyle-Walker, ATC, PT, OCS)

Kenneth Rogers, PhD--Clinical/Industrial/Corporate AT Committee

Eric Sauers, PhD, ATC, CSCS—Post Professional Education Committee

Dan Sedory, ATC, NHLAT—Entry-level Education Committee

Bob Shriner, MS, ATC, LAT—Secondary School AT Committee

(substituting for Brian Robinson, MA, LAT, ATC)

Clint Thompson, MA, ATC—NATA Research and Education Foundation

(substituting for Michael Sitler, EdD, ATC, REF President)

Unavailable: Ron Courson, ATC, PT, NREMT – College/University AT Committee

Staff Present:

Eve Becker-Doyle, CAE, NATA Executive Director

Teresa Foster-Welch, CAE, NATA Assistant Executive Director

Cate Brennan Lisak, NATA Director of External Affairs, Staff Lead for SIT

LarryCommons, NATA Director of Internal Marketing

Becky DeCourcey, NATA External Affairs Coordinator

Patty Ellis, NATA National Manager of Markets & Revenue

Anita James, NATA Meetings Manager

Russell Lowe, NATA External Affairs Coordinator

Cynthia Nadel, NATA External Affairs Coordinator

Rachael Oats, NATA Special Projects Manager

Karen Peterson, NATA Executive Operations and HR Manager

Ellen Satlof, NATA Public Relations Manager

Judy Pulice, NATA Manager, State Legislative & Regulatory Affairs

Guest: Brian Conway ATC, LAT, NATA Board of Director Liaison to COE

Introductions

By way of introduction, each committee representative stated the top priority of the committee and its constituency. These priorities were stated as:

Clinical/Industrial/Corporate AT Committee: Assist in the education process and facilitate research to improve the professional life of athletic trainers.
Committee on Revenue: Enhance revenue generation opportunities and get states involved in the process.
CollegeUniversity Athletic Trainers Committee: Information to come.
Continuing Education Committee: Cultivate communities of practice.
Council on Employment: Development of new jobs and improvement of working conditions of current jobs.
Education Council Executive Committee: Improve health care by improving the education of athletic trainers.
Governmental Affairs Committee: Regulatory control in all 50 states.
NATA Research and Education Foundation: Provide funding for sports medicine research and disseminate the findings to sports medicine communities.
Professional Education Committee: Professional socialization of athletic training students.
Post-Professional Education Committee: To promote accredited post-professional education programs and credentials that prepare athletic trainers for advanced clinical practice, and research and scholarship, in order to enhance the quality of patient care, optimize patient outcomes, and improve patients’ health-related quality of life.
Public Relations Committee: Make athletic trainers a household name.
Secondary School AT Committee: Improve employment penetration rates, working conditions and awareness of the importance of athletic trainers among secondary school administrators and parents.

Meeting Summary

To provide the foundation for decision-making, several presentations were made on the Association’s finances, membership rates and employment trends. NATA is on solid financial footing with a healthy percentage of athletic trainers as members. There are, however, opportunities for improvement in all these areas. As the SIT works through its recommendations and assignments, members agreed to be mindful of these areas. The work of SIT will be completed by the individual committees.

SIT CommunicationsSystem

There was discussion of means of communicating among the Team. Karen Peterson will distribute a draft framework for comment.

Action: It was agreed that ideas for effective communication vehicles will be forwarded to Karen Peterson.

Timeline: By 7/20

Communities of Practice

It has been suggested that NATA should take the lead in forming “communities of practice” (CoP) or special interest groups in order to facilitate the exchange of information among athletic trainers. A work group headed by Chad Starkey, Ph.D., ATC, has been formed to study this issue, but existing committees are also considering how to use this type of communication vehicle to advance their own work and share information. Certain conclusions were reached (NATA should create an etiquette for such groups, they should be organized yet informal, and they should evolve naturally – “bottom up”), and it was agreed that SIT should monitor this issue as it evolves. Issues of interest include how CoPs would relate to existing NATA committees, whether they are contextual- or content-driven, and whether a consultant could help NATA develop CoPs.

Action: Any work or conclusions developed by the CoP work group should report its findings to SIT for its knowledge, efforts in coordinating activities and reducing redundancies and overall relation to the strategic plan. Lisak will inform CoP of this request.

Timeline: Report as evolution dictates.

Trends and Issues

Participants identified trends and issues in the profession which fit under the four areas of focus within the Strategic Plan. From this activity, six “agenda” items emerged:

Clinical Outcomes

Value Models

Professional Socialization of Students

Unique Skill Set of Athletic Trainers

Data: Sets, Analysis, Reports, Utilization

Fellowship/Residency Programs

Supply and Demand of Athletic Trainers

For the remainder of the meeting, participants broke into small groups for discussions centered around these topics. It was agreed in advance that any resulting information, decisions or projects should be “packaged” in a way that they can be used to further develop the focus areas and for the variety of constituencies. For each action, the groups were asked to identify the responsible agency(ies), a timeline for results and a reporting mechanism. The actual work will be completed by the committees.

CLINICAL OUTCOMES and ALLIES

There are many challenges to the research necessary to obtain athletic training-specific clinical outcomes, not the least of which are time and money. That being said, it was agreed that such work is imperative to advance the profession. Despite the many obstacles, work can proceed.

The following action steps were identified:

Identify the top five ways to make athletic training relevant to the health care system.
Identify existing data sets available from members, faculty, researchers and practicing athletic trainers.
Identify researchers/scholars interested in this type of research.
Develop a tutorial on gathering data sets.
Publicize the interest in outcomes research in ways different from previous communication.
Create partnerships with outside groups like AMA, insurance companies, government, military, risk managers, associations, parent groups and youth sports to assist in collection of outcomes data.

Responsible Agency: The Education Council and its committees and the Research and Education Foundation will take the primary responsibility for this effort. Others to be involved include PR, GAC, COR, CEC and external liaisons including VIPs.

Point Persons: Ken Knight, Eric Sauers and Clint Thompson and respective agencies.

Timeline: Next agenda for meetings of Council and REF Board; 2007 ATEP Conference Agenda.

VALUE MODELS

The four primary areas for assessing the value of athletic training services are:

Productivity/Absenteeism
Health/Wellness
Workers’ Compensation Costs
Injury Prevention (Public Health)
Continuum of care

Some work has been accomplished on Value Model, including the 2003 “Value Model of the Certified Athletic Trainer in the Occupational Setting,” which can be found on COE’s webpage. Secondary schools are the first priority for the development of a comprehensive value model, followed by the college/university market.

While a representative of the CUATC was unable to attend the meeting, staff liaison to CUATC believes that creating a value model for CUATC would work well with its scheduled update of the AMCIA (Appropriate Medical Coverage for Interscholastic Athletes). This model may also address reimbursement issues in the college setting.

Current work on the Industrial/Occupational value model will be refined, and another model will be developed for the physician extender.

The value model documents should be tools that athletic trainers can use to create a new position or upgrade a current position. These tools should be fairly concise documents, and should contain separate member and employer modules.

Action: Several suggestions for obtaining additional information and for communicating with members were offered:

Develop a page on dedicated to Value Models, organized by category/settings – promote to members via e-blast.
Offer testimonials from members who have used Value Models to create employment opportunities.
Obtain data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and from CPT Codes.
Make complete models available only to members, but cite general statistics for public use.
Create physician extender value model.
Put out a “call” for existing studies among secondary school setting.
Put out a “call” to program directors to assist by getting graduate students interested in developing value models or case studies as thesis papers.
Promote the development of models and disseminate the information to district leaders via the committee representatives on SSATC, CUATC, CIC, etc.
Provide value models specifically to AT students, who can use them to find or create a career.
Maximize existing information through public relations (i.e. Beacon Mutual and other case studies).

Responsible Agency: SSATC, CUATC, CIC, as appropriate to the value models pertinent to their setting. COE, COR, CIC for all settings.

Point Persons: Chairs of respective committees, Patty Ellis, Russell Lowe,Becky DeCourcey

Timeline: Report at September 2006 teleconference with firm plan by October 2006; ongoing.

PROFESSIONAL SOCIALIZATION OF STUDENTS

The profession is in danger of losing its traditional identity among students and, with that, the sense of passion and high standards which have helped make it unique. While the attitudes, behaviors, and values that are part of “identity” may be difficult to impart to ensuing generations of students, it was agreed that every effort should be made to do so. We need to teach students that athletic training is not just a job, it’s a career. Further, several ideas were generated that would recapture the mentoring opportunities that were inherent in the former internship style of training.

The following suggestions were offered:

Require minimum clinical experience (e.g., 5 years) for program directors.
Publicize the term “professional socialization” to make it generally understood.
Formalize mentor programs (especially for new graduates up to 5 years) and then mentor the mentors.
Increase numbers and types of student activities at the Annual Meeting to give them a greater sense of belonging.
Invite students to a Leadership Conference.
Market tutorials/instructions on modeling behavior.
Get better support from NCAA.

Responsible Agency: It is the responsibility of everyone in the profession to work on this challenge, including district and state leadership. However, within NATA it was agreed that the Education Council, CIC, SSATC and CUATC are the primary agencies. History and Archives Committee to assist with historical projects.

Point Person: Dan Sedory; Cate Brennan Lisak to notify committees.

Timeline: Next agendas for all agencies and committees.

Unique Skill Set of Athletic Trainers

In marketing the profession to prospective employers, to legislators or to insurance companies, it is important to be able to define how athletic training is unique and how it fits in with the wider health care system. Terms used to describe the role of the athletic trainer were adaptable, knowledgeable and providers of aggressive care. It was agreed that some terms (“holistic” and “generalist” for example) are correct but carry negative connotations in some circles, and do not fully describe the fact that athletic trainers provide a continuum of care and a “return to play” philosophy not seen in other disciplines.

Action: For marketing and legislative purposes, the point should be made that athletic trainers provide:

Prevention

Emergency Management

Rehabilitation

Accelerated return to work/play; aggressive rehabilitation

Continuity of Care; continuum of care

Medical Case Management

Wellness specialist

Adaptability

Whole body treatment—mental, physical, emotional

Responsible Agency: Public Relations and Governmental Affairs committees, Education Council Executive Committee.

Point Person: Ken Knight, who will collect notes and information; outline a plan for distribution by October 2006.

In addition, the unique nature of the traditional facility where care is provided should be noted. The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care Inc. would be the responsible organization for accrediting athletic training clinics located in athletic departments. The contact there is Naomi Kuznets.

Responsible Agency: Council on Employment in consultation with CollegeUniversity AT and Secondary School AT committees; Patty Ellis and Cate Brennan Lisak

Point Persons: Patty Ellis and Cate Brennan Lisak

Timeline: Next agendas for PR, GA, CUAT and SSAT committees and Education Council; Ongoing

DATA

It was determined that ongoing reports are needed on employment trends, both on a macro and micro basis. Needs identified:

How many athletic trainers are retiring each year?
What are trends in job titles?
What is employer (listing) experience with CareerCenter (satisfaction, etc.)?
What is employee experience with CareerCenter (success, satisfaction, as well as did they apply through Center or other method)?
Trends by membership category
Unemployment survey if rate exceeds 5%
Salary Survey comparison: ATs to other professionals

Action: Staff to further refine CareerCenter and employment data; provide reports to SIT as appropriate.

Responsible Agency: NATA Staff

Point Person: Cate Brennan Lisak

Timeline: Updated reports for September 2006 SIT telecom; CareerCenter reports quarterly; employment reports annually

FELLOWSHIP/RESIDENCY PROGRAMS

There are few postgraduate residency/fellowshipprograms for athletic trainers, and two agencies (PPEC and CIC) within NATA have been working to promote this type of education. Interest in developing such programs is on the rise. It is critical to advancing the profession to have quality programs available, and it was felt a systematic approach is needed for the development – guidelines are needed.

Action:

Establish guidelines for residency programs to assure quality post-professional educational experiences
Develop mechanism for NATA approval of programs

Responsible Agency: Post-professional Education Committee, in collaboration with CIC and the Education Council.

Point Person: Eric Sauers

Timeline: Conference call scheduled for July 17 for CIC people. Move up on priority list for PPEC and develop preliminary guidelines within six months.

Other SIT Actions

It was agreed that future SIT agendas will include a report from each participant on observed and documented trends in the profession.
Minutes from this meeting will be distributed within two weeks (deadline July 31, 2006).

Next Meeting

The next meeting of SIT will be a teleconference in September 2006. The group will be polled closer to September. It was agreed that another in-person meeting connected with the ATEP in January 2007 in Dallas would be beneficial. Confirmation of this meeting is to come.

Rev. 8.11.06 by request of E.Sauers

Cbl/SIT/sit meeting notes_final_072106

Strategic Implementation Team (SIT) Inaugural Meeting

July 15-16, 2006, Dallas, Texas