ORGANIZATION NEWS—AAPM&R

Preliminary ProgramAccompanies this Issue ofArchives

The Preliminary Program for the 2001American Academy of Physical Medicineand Rehabilitation’s (AAPM&R) AnnualAssembly is included as a supplementalinsert to this issue of theArchives of Phys-ical Medicine and Rehabilitation. ThePreliminary Program contains detailededucational course information and regis-tration materials.

AAPM&R’s 63rd Annual Assemblywill offer the most continuing medical ed-ucation opportunities in 1 location forPM&R specialists this year. The meetingwill convene September 13–16, at theHilton New Orleans Riverside, in NewOrleans, LA.

Expanding its audience this year,AAPM&R’s 63rd Annual Assembly willbe held in conjunction with the AmericanHospital Association (AHA) Section forLong-Term Care and Rehabilitation Fo-rum and the American Medical Rehabili-tation Providers Association (AMRPA).The meeting will feature an extensive ed-ucational program with over 120 courses,seminars, and workshops. Courses will beorganized into 10 educational topic tracks:spinal cord injury, brain injury, stroke,musculoskeletal rehabilitation, electrodi-agnosis, pediatrics, geriatrics, practicemanagement, pain rehabilitation, and otherrehabilitation topics. An eleventh track—leadership and administration—was addedfor the AHA and AMRPA attendees; thistrack is open to all meeting attendees.

New research will be presented duringscientific paper and poster sessions. In ad-dition to the educational program, the As-sembly also includes a job fair, socialevents, and a technical exhibition of morethan 100 companies and institutions dis-playing their products and services.

New Combined Deadline Date: August13

The early bird discount date has beencombined with the pre-registration cutoffdate for mailed and faxed registrations.The early bird deadline has been extendedto provide more time to take advantage ofthe discounted registration rate. The dead-line is August 13. After this date, onlyonline registration with credit card pay-ment will be available until onsite regis-tration begins in New Orleans on Septem-ber 12. Full registration fees apply afterAugust 13.

Referral Marketing Kit HelpsMembers Build Networks

To assist physiatrists in building andmaintaining a strong referral network,AAPM&R recently created and distributedthe Referral Marketing Kit. Mailed toAAPM&R members in March, the kit in-cludes tools and resources designed tohelp physiatrists enhance and strengthentheir referral bases. It contains tips onbuilding and maintaining referrals andtools that members can use in their prac-tice. Developed by AAPM&R’s Market-ing Committee, the kit provides advice ondesigning a strategy to cultivate a referralnetwork, useful guidelines on communi-cating with referral sources, and sampleletters and surveys.

Complete contents of theReferral Mar-keting Kit, including sample letters anddocuments, are available for easy down-loading in the Member section of theAcademy’s website atwww.aapmr.org.

The Referral Marketing Kit is just 1 ofmany tools and resources that are availableto Academy members through thePM&RAwareness Initiative. Others include slidepresentations, community outreach, andmember education.

Slide Presentations

AAPM&R has developed both generaland specific presentation programs thatconsist of slides, instructions, preparedscript, and references. These slide andscript programs are flexible and can becustomized by members to include rele-vant cases from their own practices. Pre-sentations suitable for a professional audi-ence include:

● Understanding PM&R: Partners inQuality Health Care (For Physicians)

● Understanding PM&R: The Role ofPM&R in Managed Care (ManagedCare Executives/Insurers)

● Low Back Pain (For Physicians)● Stroke Rehabilitation (For Physi-

cians)AAPM&R has also produced general

and specific slide presentations that aresuitable for a public audience including:

● Understanding PM&R: The Role ofPM&R in Providing Quality HealthCare

● Understanding and Treating YourLow Back Pain

● What You Should Know AboutStroke and Stroke Rehabilitation

Traditional versions of these slide pro-grams can be purchased from AAPM&R’snational office, but members can also

download them in electronic format free ofcharge from AAPM&R’s website.

Community OutreachCommunity outreach activities, such as

speaking engagements at community meet-ings and local hospitals and participation athealth fairs, are the cornerstone of marketingto the public. In 1999, AAPM&R distributed2 community outreach kits containing fill-in-the-blank news releases, sample letters tothe editor, calendars identifying nationalhealth observances, reproducible fact sheets,and idea sheets on hosting communityevents along with instructions and back-ground material. Part of thePM&R Aware-ness Initiative, these kits were designed toprovide members with a turnkey package toconduct outreach and to generate awarenessin their local communities. Contents areavailable to members via AAPM&R’s web-site.

Member Educational ResourcesThe Academy has also developed edu-

cational resources for members as part ofthe PM&R Awareness Initiative. Morethan a dozen articles on marketing andmanaged care topics have been publishedin The Physiatrist newsletter. With topicsranging from understanding capitated pay-ments to creating a practice brochure,these articles are available online viaAAPM&R’s website.

Additional Marketing HelpIn addition to these and other grassroots

tools and resources for individual mem-bers, thePM&R Awareness Initiative fea-tures a number of components designed tobuild awareness of the specialty at thenational level. Among the projects under-taken in the last several years:

● PM&R insert in national edition ofUSA Today;

● targeted mailings to managed caremedical directors and case managers;

● exhibiting at national meetings ofmanaged care executives, case man-agers, and primary care physiciansand other sources of referral;

● outreach to medical students and phy-sicians-in-training;

● national media relations activity togenerate press coverage of the spe-cialty; and

● major expansion of the consumer sec-tion of AAPM&R’s website, www.aapmr.org.

Future PM&R Awareness Initiativeprojects will be announced in upcomingissues ofThe Physiatrist and on the web-site.

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Arch Phys Med Rehabil Vol 82, July 2001