Jan. 23, 2007

You need to know the AAHSA Plan for 2007-2008 and what you can do to advance it. The plan is based on the unprecedented confluence of the following information.

Scenario Planning Process — All AAHSA members are receiving by mail an outstanding publication about the future called the "Long and Winding Road," our updated 10 year scenario planning report. It identifies "consumer behavior" and "talent and workforce availability" as the biggest uncertainties we face in the next decade. I ask you to read it, download supporting information from our Web site and make it a source of strategic discussions throughout your organization.

Member and Employee Satisfaction Surveys — The 2006 AAHSA Member Value Survey pointed out member diversification and overall satisfaction with AAHSA. More than 75 percent of our members are providing some kind of home-oriented services. Approximately 75 percent conduct a resident/client satisfaction survey, but only 25 percent conduct staff satisfaction surveys. I ask you to keep transforming your organization with an eye toward helping older people stay in a place they call home. And, conduct regular client and employee satisfaction surveys. Those who know most about the people they serve and work with will be tomorrow's successful organizations.

Quality First — Quality First is our multi-year quality improvement plan to achieve excellence and earn the public trust. At its core are "Tell Your Story" and "Live Your Story." It is based on a continuous quality improvement management and governance culture. It is for all members. Quality First has begun to change the national discussion from punishing nursing homes to transforming aging services for all Americans.

The National Commission for Quality Long-term Care published an excellent booklet called "Out of Isolation: A Vision for Long-term Care in America." It is clear, simple and outlines the six major area of systems change that challenge America's aging services continuum. It is a "must read" for your board and other constituents.

I ask you to advance Quality First and report your results. Our Web site is full of tools, examples and case studies that you can use to be successful.

If you are a nursing home, sign up for the new Nursing Home Quality Campaign, a supplement to Quality First. More than 1,200 nursing homes have signed on to measure new and existing quality measures. This voluntary campaign is an unprecedented collaboration on the part of providers, consumers, professionals and government. The campaign reinforces existing quality measures and it introduces process measures related to resident and employee satisfaction.

With these core priorities outlined, below is a summary of our 2007-2008 business goals to advance our mission of creating the future of aging services.

1. To Tell Our Story More Boldly
Our 2006 Annual Meeting & Exposition in San Francisco was a phenomenal experience of storytelling. We all need to get really good at it through annual reports, media relations, resident life history programs and policy maker visits to your organization. The popular media is still focused on negative stories of personal experiences. Our 2007 Annual Meeting in Orlando, Fla., will follow-up on that storytelling journey. The theme is "Live Your Story." It will remind us again that storytelling changes lives, reinforces fundamental values and underscores enduring truths. It is up to us to change the perception of our work. Perception is reality until we change it.

2. To Strengthen Our Leadership Position
We must continue to position AAHSA members as transformational leaders. We need to be advocate leaders, thought leaders, innovation leaders and statesperson leaders. We will continue to convene leadership groups like CAST, our Long-term Care Financing Cabinet, our Affordable Housing Cabinet and our Faith-Based Cabinet as national models to be emulated locally. We will continue to offer tailored leadership development programs for you and your team. To paraphrase Jim Collins, greatness is a matter of conscious choice and leadership is the key. Leadership matters.

3. To Develop Innovative Models of Care and Services
Some of our members have organizational histories dating back to post Civil War. Yesterday, they were leaders of widows and orphans homes. Today, they are leaders in comprehensive gerontological centers, non-traditional housing models, geriatric rehabilitation, hospice and much more. These same organizations and newer ones like them will lead us into the future. We have led innovation for two centuries — where human need has arisen, our member ancestors have met it. It requires courage, hard work, vision and commitment. We all need to be innovators, and we all need to learn more from each other. I have not found a problem yet that one member faces that another hasn't addressed successfully, nor have I seen a need that a great not-for-profit hasn't figured out how to meet.

4. To Advance Advocacy Activism
We know all too well that if we don't actively advocate for the right policies for the right reasons, bad things will happen through ill-conceived law, regulation or litigation. All of us — including residents, families, staff and boards — must tell our story to policy makers. They listen to somebody's story every waking hour of every day. That's how bridges to nowhere get funded and housing and Medicaid don't. Activism. You must personally and organizationally get involved in advocacy. AAHSA makes it easy for each of you to "Contact Congress" through our Web site. You can express an opinion in less than a minute. You no doubt remember "minute men" from American history class. Today we need "minute people" to get Congress' attention on key issues.

5. To Reinforce Membership Value
You value AAHSA membership. Thank you. Those who use our Group Purchasing program have collectively saved more than the amount AAHSA receives in dues from all members. Many of you who use our affinity insurance program have similar results. But more important, as one of our members leaders put it, "Every major innovative idea my organization has implemented has come by way of AAHSA." Our member survey reflects that those who get involved feel more value. It's called the Power of Community.

6. To Strengthen Relationships with State Associations
Gone are the days when there were clear lines between state and national issues — and between states themselves. We are all in this era of transformation together. While each state has its local dynamics, character, economy and demographics, one thing binds all of us: our aging parents and friends deserve consistent, secure and competent care and services through policies that make quality an automatic public expectation.

Therefore, AAHSA—which is you, our members—is a state and national team. "Think global, act local" and "standing alone together" are two guideposts I use to describe the great relationship we have with state partners. It is incumbent on members and professional staff to see that we synergize and energize our advocacy, shared and storytelling. Together.

7. To Advance a Culture of Discipline
Jim Collins' Good to Great paradigm includes developing a Culture of Discipline. Like each of you, AAHSA needs to continuously improve our planning and management processes to help you do your job more effectively. Simply put, our job is to help you help the people you serve and those who care for them. To lead you requires that we be the best we can be based on your ever-changing needs. To help us continuously improve, we want your feedback and participation at state and national levels.

A new era is emerging. AAHSA has a responsibility to lead and serve through the Power of Community.

That's the plan. Let us know how we're doing — and how you're doing.

Larry

William L. Minnix, Jr., D.Min.
AAHSA President and CEO