December 20, 2012

Season’s Greetings from the AARC
The AARC would like to wish all of its members a great holiday season and a prosperous new year. The AARC offices will be closed on Dec. 24 and 25 and also on Tuesday, Jan. 1.

White Paper on Best Practices Published
A White Paper on Best Practices in Respiratory Care Productivity and Staffing has been approved by the AARC Board of Directors. It offers guidance to ensure that  productivity and staffing levels are provided within acceptable standards of practice recognized by the profession, with assurances that patient safety is protected. 

AARC Member Comments on School Shootings
AARC member Dr. Michael Anderson was the go-to person for MSNBC last week after the Sandy Hook Elementary school shootings. The network tapped Dr. Anderson for his background as vice chair of the National Commission on Children and Disasters. Click on the link to watch a video of his appearance.

RESPIRATORY CARE: New Website Features
Did you know that you can now easily download papers just accepted for publication in the Journal but which will not appear in print for a few months? Just click on “Papers In Press.” Do you want to share an article with a colleague? Just click “Email this article” in the column to the right of every article. Remember, the new site is open access in December . . . you don’t need to enter your user name and password to access the Journal contents. Please send us your questions and comments by clicking “Contact Us” under the Journal’s logo. Here’s one from a member who already wrote in: “This new [Journal website] is great! Thanks! I would like to access the journal this way and drop the hard-copy journal. As long as there is an archive, I get more convenience and lose nothing! Good job! Phil, member for over 35 years.”

Congress RFP Deadline Extended
The deadline to submit proposals for AARC Congress 2013 has just been extended! You now have until Jan. 15 to let us know what you’d like to see on the program when the Association reconvenes in Anaheim, CA, next Nov. 16–19.

Lobbying Efforts Pay Off
Thanks in part to comments made by the AARC and other organizations, the IRS has made numerous changes to a final rule on the new excise tax on medical devices that will make it easier to exempt many home oxygen therapy and other respiratory devices. The tax was mandated by the Affordable Care Act.

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