President’s Message (September, 2022)
A Message From the President
Summer is traditionally a time when APTA and APTA Indiana activity slows down. However, this past summer was a little different with the first APTA Leadership Congress from August 12-15. The Leadership Congress encompassed a variety of groups within APTA, meeting over the span of five days. These groups, included Component Leadership, this year’s APTA Association Leadership Scholars, select students from each state, and the Delegates of the House of Delegates (HOD). Indiana had representation in many, if not all, of the groups. This allowed us to stay current in where our association is headed and to share our experiences with other APTA components and to learn from theirs. This included participation in the HOD. A recap of the HOD can be found HERE.
Heading into the fall, we have the opportunity to strengthen our professional association by being better together at the APTA Indiana Fall Conference. The Fall Conference will be held October 21-22 in Fort Wayne. The APTA Indiana Conference Committee has been working hard over the past few months to bring you a selection of educational programming that will provide you with up-to-date knowledge to benefit the care you provide to your patients. The full Conference schedule can be found HERE. We are planning a Pub Crawl on Friday Night, which will benefit the APTA Indiana Political Action Committee (PAC). This is a great opportunity to catch up with your colleagues and support a great cause that directly impacts physical therapy practice here in Indiana. On Saturday, we will have a Town Hall, providing an opportunity to have a conversation about our profession in a relaxed, open forum setting. If you have topics that you would like addressed in the Town Hall, please send them to info@aptaindiana.org. If you have not yet registered for the Conference, it is not too late. Register HERE by October 14.
The 2022 APTA Indiana Slate of Candidates was released last week. I want to recognize the hard work of our Nominating Committee, Jessica Baker, PT, DPT, Kate Lindemann, PT, DPT and Barb Settles-Huge, PT who have brought to us a robust Slate. Thank you also to those who have consented to serve. We have candidates on the Slate who are new professionals (have been licensed for less than five years) all the way to those who have represented APTA Indiana for well over 20 years. On November 9, the APTA Indiana elections will begin. I encourage you to take time to review the bios of each of our candidate before you vote. The candidate bios can be found on the ballot.
Many of you know Mark Scherer, who has been the APTA Indiana Attorney since 2006. Mark advised the APTA Indiana Board of Directors (BOD) last fall of his intention to retire from practice, but was gracious enough to remain with the Chapter until we were able to find a successor. Over the winter of 2022, the APTA Indiana BOD reviewed the Chapter’s needs and identified a number of qualified attorneys. Potential attorneys were interviewed by Nate Nevin, APTA Indiana Vice President, Steve Beebe, APTA Indiana Lobbyist and myself. We are pleased to let you know that the APTA Indiana BOD has approved the appointment of Steven Earnhart, from the firm Thrasher, Bushmann, & Voelkel, P.C. Representatives from the Chapter will have the opportunity to meet with Mark and thank him for his service to APTA Indiana.
As many of us face challenges with authorization of and payment for physical therapy services, we need to work together on these challenges. I echo APTA’s slogan, Better Together. APTA Indiana’s Practice and Payment Specialist, Andrea Lausch, PT, DPT, has been doing an incredible job collecting data on the issues faced by members. She has attended meetings, such as, the Employer’s Forum of Indiana, to be a voice at the table when it comes to the health care of Hoosiers. For more details of all the resources that Andrea is bringing to you, please check out the Practice and Payment page on the APTA Indiana Website.
As we consider where we are going, we need to reflect on where we have been. I have a request relating to APTA Indiana historical documents. We are looking to digitize documents that provide background and the history of APTA Indiana. If you have anything that you would like to share, please reach out to me at slavene@uindy.edu.
As always, thank you for being a member of APTA Indiana. Your involvement in your professional association helps move the needle on the practice of physical therapy within our state and the care that we provide to our patients and clients.
Emily Slaven, PT, PhD
President, APTA Indiana