Strategic thoughts from ACHCA's new leader - Business Strategies - American College of Health Care Administrators has new leader Mary Tellis-Nayak - Interview

Nursing Homes, March, 2002 by Laura Hyatt

Not too long ago the American College of Health Care Administrators (ACHCA) brought aboard Mary Tellis-Nayak as its new president/CEO. With more than 20 years of long-term care experience, she has worked in a skilled unit of a hospital, outpatient assessment, home healthcare, freestanding long-term care and multifacility clinical services. Formerly vice-president of Clinical Services at Beverly Healthcare in Arkansas, she was also director of the Long Term Care Accreditation Program at the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). Recently, she discussed her strategies for strengthening the College in the years ahead.

Hyatt: How do you view ACHCA's mission and current status?

Tellis-Nayak: The mission of ACHCA is to enable its 5,000 members to continuously enhance their professional development throughout the continuum of healthcare administration, with an emphasis on long-term care, to improve the quality of care they provide.

ACHCA believes in advancing the profession and has been providing certifications for nearly 20 years. A study conducted by the research firm LTCQ, Inc., indicates a relationship between facilities that have administrators who are members of the College and enhanced outcomes, as measured by fewer citations, greater census and better quality improvement performance. The study showed an even greater relationship if the administrator had received ACHCA certification--a strong argument for certification.

Hyatt: What is your vision for the organization over the next three to five years?

Tellis-Nayak: ACHCA is entering a new era, an era of rebuilding and revitalizing. Using the acronym E-R-A, we will focus on the following:

E--Education

R--Relationships

A--Advocacy

It is necessary for us to build a strong foundation so that administrators see the benefits of membership in their professional association. We will strive to strengthen our educational offerings--an important part of my vision. In this regard, I'd like to see ACHCA call on some of the true leaders in our profession and have them share the practices and systems that have made their own respective long-term care organizations excel. We want to work with students who are currently engaged in long-term care administration and those who are studying in the field of healthcare but haven't yet thought about long-term care as a career. Once we revitalize the organization, our chapters can then turn their attention to these new administrators and students.

We are all aware of National Association of Boards of Examiners of Long Term Care Administrators (NAB) documentation showing that over the past three years, there has been approximately a 37% decrease in persons sitting for the administrator's examination. While this is not a "crisis," it is surely not moving in the right direction, particularly when we are seeing a large increase in the elderly population globally. We must attract people to this profession and, if we aren't doing so, we need to determine why. ACHCA is working with NAB in a research initiative to examine the reason or reasons.

Relationships are another area of concentration. ACHCA is an association of professionals, not a trade association. I'd like to begin to look toward joining hands with other organizations such as the National Association of Directors of Nursing Administration (NADONA) and the American Medical Directors Association (AMDA). By joining ranks with groups such as these and having strength in numbers, I think we will stand a much better chance of advancing the interests of our members and being heard nationally.

Another area of focus is advocacy. I'm going to work hard to make sure ACHCA has a "seat at the table" when major legislative and regulatory decisions are made concerning our profession. I also plan to work hard to have ACHCA be not only at the table, but also the first place that national leaders can contact when they are poised to make decisions critical to the future of our profession.

Hyatt: What strategies are you employing to achieve the goals you've cited?

Tellis-Nayak: We are making every effort to listen to our members and have already held "town hall" meetings in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Florida and Kansas. We plan to visit New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts in the next three months. I am working to align our programs with comments I have heard at these meetings and with other communications from the membership.

We are creating an advisory committee consisting of suppliers and providers, which will meet twice a year and interact with ACHCA's development committee and members of the board of directors. Internally, I want to work toward ensuring that the national office staff understand that the administrator is our customer and should be treated with respect and attended to in an efficient manner. Upgrading our membership software, Web site and other management systems will go a long way toward achieving this goal.

I want to continue to meet members through state and chapter meetings, as well as other association events. And finally, I intend to work closely with the media to get the word out about ACHCA's position on key policy issues.