Focused Initiatives: 2004

Based on information obtained from ASHA members on issues of concern and the Legislative Council’s ranking of these issues, the Executive Board derived the following Focused Initiatives, issues, and outcomes for 2004.  National Office staff will develop the work plans that include strategies to achieve the desired outcomes for each Focused Initiative for implementation in 2004.

Focused Initiative: Health Care Reimbursement (Work Plan & Strategy Update) 

ISSUE: Coverage rules and reimbursement rates are increasingly affecting access to, and scope of services provided by audiologists and speech-language pathologists.

OUTCOME 1: ASHA members will have access to information and tools to effectively negotiate with private health plans to ensure appropriate coverage criteria and equitable reimbursement rates.

OUTCOME 2: Increased number of employers that cover comprehensive speech-language pathology and audiology services in their health benefits package.

OUTCOME 3: Increased number of states introducing legislation that mandates appropriate coverage of audiology and speech-language pathology services.

OUTCOME 4: ASHA members will have access to information and tools to help them effectively navigate state funded insurance programs (e.g., Medicaid, CHIPs) at the state and local level to ensure appropriate coverage criteria and equitable reimbursement rates.

Focused Initiative: Doctoral Shortage (Work Plan & Strategy Update) 

ISSUE 1: There is a critical shortage and continuing attrition of PhD level faculty in higher education that will affect preparation of professionals as well as the conduct of research in communication sciences and disorders.

OUTCOME 1: Increased number of potential doctoral level teachers/researchers in personnel preparation programs to fill short term and long-term faculty vacancies in human communication sciences and disorders.

OUTCOME 2: Increased number of students recruited into the professions who continue their education to become teachers/researchers.

ISSUE 2: Tradition has limited the role of research instruction in all levels of the curriculum resulting in a lack of a coordinated academic culture and scientific/research personnel preparation experiences in the discipline that promote careers as teachers/researchers in higher education.

OUTCOME: Increased availability and use of new models of education applicable for all levels (undergraduate, master’s, doctoral) and all types of programs (PhD granting and non-PhD granting) that (1) allow students to begin preparing for PhD education early in their careers and enter PhD programs upon completion of their undergraduate or master’s degrees, and (2) facilitate the coordination of professional and research training (for those students pursuing professional credentials in addition to the PhD).

ISSUE 3: There is no coordinated data collection and dissemination system related to doctoral programs and that allows for the exchange of information on research training experiences, funding levels, scholarship activities, and those who enter academia upon completing the PhD degree.

OUTCOME: Increased availability and use of a coordinated data collection and centralized mechanism for information dissemination on academic program characteristics, doctoral students, and new teachers/researchers in communication sciences and disorders.

Focused Initiative: School Programs and Services (Work Plan & Strategy Update) 

ISSUE: ASHA members indicate that many service programs in the schools require caseloads for speech-language pathologists and audiologists that are too high in number to provide quality services, that state and local policies/procedures require excessive paperwork, and that salaries are not commensurate with the specialized knowledge and skills needed to provide quality services.

OUTCOME 1: Increased number of states and local education agencies that use total workload time activities, including but not limited to IEP meetings, administrative tasks, diagnostic time, paperwork, consultation, planning time, and frequency and duration of direct clinical service to determine the number of cases that can be adequately and appropriately served.

OUTCOME 2: School-based ASHA members will have access to information on ways to meet federal, state, and local requirements for providing a free appropriate public education as required under IDEA by using a minimum of paperwork.

OUTCOME 3: Increased number of state and local education agencies that use the ASHA Certificate of Clinical Competence as a means for providing salary supplements for school-based ASHA members or to compensate ASHA members for additional workload responsibilities.

Focused Initiative: Cultural and Linguistically Diverse Populations (Work Plan & Strategy Update) 

ISSUE: Demographic and caseload changes related to culturally/linguistically diverse populations require an ASHA membership that reflects the culturally diverse groups in society.

OUTCOME 1: Increased awareness of the professions among racial/ethnic minorities.

OUTCOME 2: Increased number of racial/ethnic minorities enrolled in academic programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders.

OUTCOME 3: Increased number of racial/ethnic minority members of ASHA.