|
Task Force Briefing: News from
the Transition Team
By Patrick T. Knott, PhD, PA-C
APAP President Elect and
Chair, Transition Task Force
This is the first in a series of updates designed to
keep the APAP’s membership informed about the Association’s
transition to independent management. The transition team has been
hard at work performing due diligence in preparation for this change.
At this point each member of the team has taken on a subset of the
larger plan to gather information and investigate options that will
be open to APAP as a result of moving to independent management.
The transition task force members who assist me as chair
are Lisa Mustone Alexander, EdD, MPH, PA; David Asprey, PhD, PA-C;
Dawn Morton-Rias, PD, PA-C; Paul Lombardo, MPS, RPA-C; Dana Sayre-Stanhope,
EdD, PA-C; and Sherry Stolberg, MGPGP, PA-C. Timi Agar-Barwick is
an ex officio member.
The task force is considering ways to structure APAP’s
management for effectiveness and efficiency. We are projecting future
budgets and looking at ways to maximize our service to our members.
We are investigating alternative sites for APAP headquarters and performing
costs analyses, not only for office space, but also for options that
will allow APAP to provide a good employee benefit package. Each member
of the task force has taken on one or more issues such as these.
I anticipate that we will spend several more months
doing our homework, so that as we begin to put the scaffolding in
place, we do so with the data in hand that will allow us to make informed
decisions.
Important questions underlying the need for independent
management for APAP will arise as the transition progresses. Several
of the most basic questions follow:
Isn’t APAP already an independent organization?
Yes! APAP has been an independent organization since its inception.
But we have a contract with the AAPA to provide office space, staff,
information technology services, accounting, and other management
services. This relationship has served us very well over the years,
but for the Association to attain its full potential and mature as
an organization, the move to independent management is the option
that holds the greatest promise for APAP.
Isn’t APAP’s identity clear? Although
APAP is usually recognized as the sole voice for physician assistant
education within the PA community and related organizations, this
is not the case externally. One of the reasons for this is our shared
location with the AAPA at 950 North Washington Street in Alexandria,
Virginia. The blurring of identities is larger than our shared physical
address with the AAPA, however. When external organizations refer
to PAs, they understandably think of the AAPA, which has been such
an effective advocate over the years for the profession and physician
assistants. The fact that a separate organization for PA education
and educators exists is often not recognized. For APAP to function
effectively as the sole organization representing PA education in
the United States, it must create a unique identity.
What will independent management do for APAP?
In an association structured around PA education, systems appropriate
for APAP will be developed to allow business to be conducted in a
more focused and effective manner; in short, APAP will be enabled
to advance its mission. New opportunities, both internal and external,
will open to APAP as it becomes increasingly recognized as the organization
representing PA education; and APAP will have primary responsibility
for, and direction of, its staff.
What is the anticipated date for APAP’s transition?
Transition planning is a work in progress. Based on financial
projections, it appears that it will require at least three years
for the Association to be most favorably positioned to move to independent
management.
I will continue to update you as more information becomes
available. I welcome your comments and suggestions. Please e-mail
me at patrick.knott@finchcms.edu.
|
