Aspiring Leaders Track

Well suited to attendees taking on new positions, opportunities or challenges, or those who haven't previously completed the AHRA basic course or aspiring leaders track. Please note, schedule is subject to change. Please note, schedule is subject to change.

Aspiring Leaders Track: Saturday, February 25, 2023


07:00 AM – 05:30 PM: Registration Open
07:00 AM – 08:00 AM: Breakfast with Exhibitors
08:15 AM – 08:30 AM: Welcome & Opening Remarks

08:30 AM – 09:30 AM: Opening Keynote: The Neuroscience of Leadership: Building a Culture of Trust
Genein Letford
CEO at CAFFE Strategies, LLC

The science is clear. Trust is the new driver of productivity. Getting your message across, lowering fears (both rational and irrational), and pulling out the best of your team members requires strong leadership. Scientists have identified the brain mechanisms that support our ability to connect and communicate with others and reveals how we can activate and strengthen them. Learn how to develop team chemistry and trust by building team identity through shared goals, values and an increase of oxytocin.

You will learn to:
• Upon completion, participant will be able to identify their internal sensations (interception) in order to modify the messages they are communicating to team members.
• Upon completion, participant will be able to implement strategies that increase team synchronization and trust.
• Upon completion, participant will be able to track trust building activities and learn how to receive and process the feedback to continue building trust.

CE Credit: 1.0
CRA Domains: CI, HR

 

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM: Employment Continuum Part 1
Peggy Pust
Program Director of Radiology at Westmoreland County Community College

Participants are not required to attend both Part 1 and Part 2 in order to receive credit. One (1) credit will be granted per session attended. Soup to nuts. This session will cover key ways to recruit, interview, hire, coach and retain talent in your imaging departments. Definition of Continuum: a continuous extent, succession, or whole, not part of which can be distinguished from neighboring parts. Does this sound easy to achieve when discussing staff who report to you? This session will offer you strategies to help you approach human resource matters with understanding and patience. Work force continuums will quickly become models to others by demonstrating how candidates can enter a workforce, develop in their careers and stay put. Part 1 will emphasize the first step in seamless succession of career development focusing on interviewing with a mission to hire a person with the right fit, building the workforce through appropriate orientation measures, team building skills, relationship building, competency assessments and performance evaluations to reward approaches that will help develop a sound team (Recruit, Interview, Onboarding, Orientation and Training). Part 2 emphasizes the next step to team building through Employee Engagement; Developing Accountable team members through Coaching, Counseling and Accountability.

You will learn to:
• Match your needs with the right candidate by interviewing and hiring smartly.
• Develop your team with seamless approaches to the “next step”.
• Produce an atmosphere of commitment and communication with a focus on quality, safety, and customer service.
• Reward and retain employees effectively.
• Align behavior to goals.
• Develop shared expectations.

CE Credit: 1.0
CRA Domains: HR

11:15 AM – 12:15 AM: Employment Continuum Part 2
Peggy Pust
Program Director of Radiology at Westmoreland County Community College

Participants are not required to attend both Part 1 and Part 2 in order to receive credit. One (1) credit will be granted per session attended. Soup to nuts. This session will cover key ways to recruit, interview, hire, coach and retain talent in your imaging departments. Definition of Continuum: a continuous extent, succession, or whole, not part of which can be distinguished from neighboring parts. Does this sound easy to achieve when discussing staff who report to you? This session will offer you strategies to help you approach human resource matters with understanding and patience. Work force continuums will quickly become models to others by demonstrating how candidates can enter a workforce, develop in their careers and stay put. Part 1 will emphasize the first step in seamless succession of career development focusing on interviewing with a mission to hire a person with the right fit, building the workforce through appropriate orientation measures, team building skills, relationship building, competency assessments and performance evaluations to reward approaches that will help develop a sound team (Recruit, Interview, Onboarding, Orientation and Training). Part 2 emphasizes the next step to team building through Employee Engagement; Developing Accountable team members through Coaching, Counseling and Accountability.
You will learn to:
• Match your needs with the right candidate by interviewing and hiring smartly.
• Develop your team with seamless approaches to the “next step”.
• Produce an atmosphere of commitment and communication with a focus on quality, safety, and customer service.
• Reward and retain employees effectively.
• Align behavior to goals.
• Develop shared expectations.

CE Credit: 1.0
CRA Domains: HR

12:15 PM – 1:15 PM: Lunch with Exhibitors

1:15 PM – 2:45 PM: Introduction to Asset Management
Mario Pistilli
Administrative Director, Imaging Services at Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Understand different components of asset management in radiology.

You will learn to:
• Justify capital equipment for purchase.
• Understand different costs associated with asset management.
• Use benchmarking data to evaluate utilization of equipment and justify replacement and/or additional equipment.
 
CE Credit: 1.5
CRA Domains: AM

3:15 PM – 4:15 PM: Art of Negotiation
Becky Allen, R.T.(R), MS, CRA
VP Operations at University of Cincinnati Medical Center & Enterprise Director of Imaging

This session will define what negotiation is and describe situations where good negotiating skills may come in handy. The session will focus on important negotiations that occur in the imaging work environment and more specifically on negotiating for services, supplies, and capital purchases. Participants will learn the importance of and how to prepare for negotiation. Attendees will understand needs vs. wants vs. desires and what can be negotiated. Some negotiating styles, strategies and tactics will be explored, and body language also will be discussed. The session will wrap up with a discussion on completing and reviewing your negotiation result.

You will learn to:
• Define “negotiation.”.
• Understand how good negotiation skills give you an edge.
• Prepare for negotiations.
• Manage the negotiation process.
• Use various negotiation styles.
• Understand and use body language.

CE Credit: 1.0
CRA Domains: AM, CI

4:30 PM – 5:30 PM: Marketing Matters: Building Basics
Brenda Debastiani, MBA, CRA, RT®
Director of Imaging at Mon Health Medical Center

Competitive markets and diminishing resources create high-level attention on how marketing impacts your future. No longer can you and your staff register for a marketing-exempt status. Keeping employees, physicians, patients and the community abreast of the activities in the hospital radiology department and imaging centers requires solid planning and innovative thinking. This interactive session will demonstrate the nuts and bolts of marketing, both internal and external, marketing plans and strategies, and the team commitment needed for growth.

You will learn to:
• Identify the key components of marketing.
• Examine how all employees are integral to the marketing team.
• Understand how building a marketing program not only increases financial performance, but also builds strong relationships both internally and externally for your organization.

CE Credit: 1.0
CRA Domains: OM

5:30 PM – 7:00 PM: Cocktail Reception in Exhibit Hall
 

Aspiring Leaders Track: Sunday, February 26, 2023


8:00 AM – 9:30 AM: Budgeting for Business Management - Part 1
Luann Culbreth, MEd, MBA, RT(R)(MR)(QM), CRA, FSMRT, FAHRA
Senior Director, Corporate Advocacy & Outreach at United Imaging

NOTE: You must attend Part 1 AND Part 2 of this session to get CE credit – no partial credit will be granted. A medical imaging administrator wears many hats; one of which is the complicated hat of budgeting. In the financial world of imaging there are many different types of budgets. This session will give participants an overview of these different types of budgets and an understanding of how to plan and design them, especially the operating budget. Attendees will also learn about capital planning and how to plan for staffing additions and will see several examples of how to monitor important financial data with respect to your department of responsibility. Other topics to be addressed include staffing analysis, productivity measures, business plans and proformas, and capital planning.

You will learn to:
• Understand types of budgets encountered in medical imaging management.
• Understand operating budgets and capital planning.
• Use tools for monitoring salary, productivity and staffing within the budgeting process.
• Campaign for staffing additions to the budget.
• Understand business plans and proformas and their role in new program development and budgeting.

CE Credit: 1.5
CRA Domains: HR, AM, FM

9:45 AM – 10:45 AM: Budgeting for Business Management - Part 2
Luann Culbreth, MEd, MBA, RT(R)(MR)(QM), CRA, FSMRT, FAHRA
Senior Director, Corporate Advocacy & Outreach at United Imaging

NOTE: You must attend Part 1 AND Part 2 of this session to get CE credit – no partial credit will be granted. A medical imaging administrator wears many hats; one of which is the complicated hat of budgeting. In the financial world of imaging there are many different types of budgets. This session will give participants an overview of these different types of budgets and an understanding of how to plan and design them, especially the operating budget. Attendees will also learn about capital planning and how to plan for staffing additions and will see several examples of how to monitor important financial data with respect to your department of responsibility. Other topics to be addressed include staffing analysis, productivity measures, business plans and proformas, and capital planning.

You will learn to:
• Understand types of budgets encountered in medical imaging management.
• Understand operating budgets and capital planning.
• Use tools for monitoring salary, productivity and staffing within the budgeting process.
• Campaign for staffing additions to the budget.
• Understand business plans and proformas and their role in new program development and budgeting.

CE Credit: 1.0
CRA Domains: HR, AM, FM
 
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Patient Satisfaction in Today’s Healthcare Environment
Becky Allen, R.T.(R), MS, CRA
VP Operations at University of Cincinnati Medical Center & Enterprise Director of Imaging

In today’s healthcare environment patient satisfaction has transitioned from a general satisfaction metric into the world of quality/outcomes measurement. Healthcare managers must be poised to manage in an environment where transparency of operations and customer expectations are driving the healthcare marketplace.

You will learn to:
• Understand the regulatory environment related to patient satisfaction.
• Evaluate and work towards a culture for patient centric decision making.
• Use reactive and proactive techniques that will assist in managing customer expectations.

CE Credit: 1.5
CRA Domains: OM
 
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM: Lunch with Exhibitors

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM: Managerial Communication: Communication More Effectively in the Workplace
Brenda Debastiani, MBA, CRA, RT®
Director of Imaging at Mon Health Medical Center

Communication is an essential leadership tool; if you learn to communicate well, you will be more credible and effective. This session will help you to build your communication strengths and identify areas of opportunity and improvement. We will focus on several aspects of business communication including verbal and non-verbal messages. You will assess your current listening skills and learn tips for improving your ability to listen attentively. We will also discuss the art of persuasion and explore the use of hypnotic language and power words. The ability to speak confidently in a variety of business settings, both formal and informal is the mark of effective communicators. In this session, you will learn methods to systematically prepare materials for presentation or written proposal. We will also focus on the importance of translating your messages for your target audience.

You will learn to:
• Connect emotionally with people in the workplace.
• Become credible and persuasive.
• Listen more attentively.
• Appreciate body language meanings.
• Speed-read personality types for more effective communication and teamwork.
• Methodically prepare for presentations and business proposals.

CE Credit: 1.0
CRA Domains: CI
 
2:40 PM – 3:40 PM: Introduction to Regulatory and Compliance
Melody Mulaik, MSHS, CRA, RCC, RCC-IR
President at Revenue Cycle Coding Strategies LLC

From A to Z, the Alphabet Soup of regulatory requirements and compliance is a constantly changing recipe for patient-focused quality care, safe environments, educated technologists, and best practices. Participants will be introduced to CMS’s accrediting organization (AO’s) and the current focus of the 2017 Joint Commission surveyors for Imaging Services. An overview of credentialing options for specific modalities will be reviewed along with recently introduced or upcoming regulatory requirements for reimbursement of services.

You will learn to:
• Have a basic knowledge of CMS’s accrediting organizations.
• Have a Joint Commission Readiness Worksheet to use for preparation of surveys.
• List at least one credentialing organization for each specific imaging modality.
• Understand the basic requirements for XR-29, PAMA, and H.R. 2029.

CE Credit: 1.0
CRA Domains: OM, FM, AM
 
3:50 PM – 5:00 PM: Closing Keynote: Superpower to Success: How to Unlock Your Leadership Potential
Adam Mendler
CEO at Thirty Minute Mentors

Every leader and emerging leader aspires to reach their potential in order to be as effective as possible in the workplace; to live a happy, successful, and fulfilled life; and to make a positive impact on others. But how can you become your best self without understanding the process of how to become your best self? And how can you best lead and motivate others without understanding the strategies employed by the most successful leaders? After interviewing more than 500 of America’s top leaders - from Fortune 500 CEOs to founders of household name companies to four-star generals and admirals - what was once only understood by a few has now been codified. The solution lies not in focusing on your skills, but in harnessing your superpower. But what is a leadership superpower? And how do you discover and activate it?

After this session, attendees will have a better understanding of what makes them unique and how they can apply their distinguishing leadership superpower in leading their own lives and in leading others.

You will learn to:
• Understand and unlock your leadership superpower
• Learn the most misunderstood but integral principles essential to effective leadership
• Understand how to excel in not only one vocation, but in multiple roles, jobs, and careers

CE Credit: 1.0
CRA Domains: HR
Certified Radiology Administrator (CRA) Domains:
The following are used to denote specific domains (subject areas) addressed by the CRA credential.

AM = Asset Management
CI = Communications/Information Management
FM = Fiscal Management
HR = Human Resources
OM = Operations Management