NRAA Approves Strategic Plan

There is an association out there for everyone: every occupation, patient group, industry, or ideology.  The National Renal Administrators Association (NRAA) is the only voice for renal administrators in Congress, with CMS, MedPAC, and in the renal community.  Because the strongest associations are those that are cohesive and have focus, the NRAA leadership has developed a "Strategic Plan and Goals for 2001-2004".   The strategic plan was approved on February 23, 2001 by the NRAA Board of Directors and by the NRAA membership May 8, 2001.

NRAA Strategic Plan and Goals 2001-2004

I. To pursue reimbursement policies and program management policies which enable ESRD providers to deliver quality care for fair compensation.

1. Pursue reimbursement structures that enable ESRD providers to provide quality care for fair compensation.
2. Advocate for payment methodologies which incorporate annual adjustments to reflect inflation, technological changes, and increased workloads resulting from new regulatory mandates and changes in patient acuity.
3. Pursue Medicare reimbursement policy for dialysis providers that is equitable to other Medicare providers and medicare HMOs.
4. Support the creation, at both federal and state levels, of safe harbors in the ESRD program which allow reasonable physician ownership practices and facility support of patient needs.
5. Foster an understanding on the part of all payors that high quality care cannot be provided without adequate resources.

II. To advocate for  and to protect the interests of ESRD patients.

1. Improve ESRD patient quality of care and life expectancy.
2. Achieve universal access to care and to ensure that ESRD services are included in all basic health care benefit plans.
3. Promote patient choice of treatment modality through education and support.
4. Protect ESRD patient interests in an era of managed care, capitation, and consolidation.
5. Encourage all payors to offer all treatment modalities and easy access to treatment facilities.
6. View the delivery of quality patient care as a partnership with all disciplines on the care team, including transplant and access surgeons.
7. Encourage practice guidelines that consider quality of life in treatment decisions.
8. Support efforts to improve the availability of accurate patient outcome data.

III. To serve and support the NRAA membership.

1. Represent the professional interests of renal administrators in the development and implementation of public policy.
2. Serve as a resource on ESRD issues for policy-makers at the local, state, and federal levels.
3. Provide dialysis managers with opportunities to enhance their skills and knowledge.
4. Encourage and facilitate attendance at NRAA-sponsored workshops, meetings, and seminars.
5. Explore and implement collaborative educational offerings with other organizations in order to increase participation and bring offerings closer to home for members.
6. Foster members’ commitment to NRAA goals via participation in committees, letter-writing campaigns, congressional visits, and contributions to the NRAA political action committee (PAC).
7. Support the development of state renal organizations.
8. Encompass and support all roles of individuals managing dialysis facilities and ancillary services provided to dialysis patients.
9. Periodically assess member needs and provide resources to meet those needs.
10. Ensure that NRAA organizational structures and processes are relevant to changing member needs.
11. Assess the impact of the strategic plan on the bylaws and structure of the organization, including board structure, membership dues, and organizational resources necessary to implement the plan.
12. Identify the needs of and support renal administrators affected by industry consolidation.

IV.   To foster collaborative relationships with other stakeholders in the ESRD community.

1. Represent the interests of all types of dialysis providers, especially in an era of industry consolidation.
2. Elicit support from large corporate entities to allow their managers to belong to NRAA.
3. Participate in and support industry-wide efforts to improve standards of care and the adequacy of dialysis therapy.
4. Educate payors regarding the special issues involved in ESRD care and the costs to providers of delivering that care.
5. Participate in and provide leadership to the efforts of the renal coalition.
6. Represent dialysis facility operational concerns in matters involving the coalition.
7. Encourage coalition members to participate in state renal associations.
8. View the delivery of ESRD patient care as a partnership with owners of dialysis facilities and the nephrologists who direct  clinical care.
9. Support efforts to increase public awareness of the need for organ donation and transplantation.