Talk Rehab
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Virtual CRT Congressional Fly-In
Me Too! And now is your chance.
NCART and NRRTS are hosting a Virtual CRT Congressional Fly-In to do just that... to raise awareness for the plights and issues surrounding access to Complex Rehab Technology (CRT).
Join me and listen to this episode with Don Clayback and Mickae Lee from NCART and Weesie Walker, ATP/SMS from NRRTS as they explain what it is and how it works.
Bill Noelting:
Hi, and welcome to Talk Rehab. I'm Bill Noelting. And today we're going to learn about the upcoming Virtual CRT Congressional Fly-In on September 21st. Part of CRT awareness week. We'll spend a few minutes with Don Clayback, Executive Director of the National Coalition for Assistive and Rehab Technology, NCART. Mickae Lee, Associate Director of NCART. And Weesie Walker, Executive Director of The National Registry of Rehab Technology Suppliers, NRRTS. We live in a world of acronyms. Welcome everybody. And thanks for doing this. First of all, what is a virtual CRT Congressional Fly-In?
Don Clayback:
Well, I'll kick it off, I guess, Bill. It's meant to give us a gathering where we can all come together and take the CRT message to members of Congress. It's really a continuation of a historic partnership with NCART and NRRTS where we brought CRT stakeholders together in Washington, DC every year to allow suppliers, consumers, manufacturers, clinicians, and others, to meet individually with their members of Congress and their staff, to help them understand what CRT is, the problems that are impacting access and how Congress can help us resolve those and make sure people get the equipment they require.
Bill Noelting:
Is there a primary objective? What is our common message? What specifically do we want to accomplish?
Don Clayback:
I would say the primary objective is to continue to educate Congress on what CRT is and why access is important. As we sit here today on July 23rd, we're not sure what the exact issue is going to be when we're meeting with members in September. So, we'll be developing and fine tuning that between now and then, but it'll be basically that message, that here's what CRT is. Here's the issues that we're faced with and here's how Congress can help us.
Bill Noelting:
Thanks, Don. Weesie, what's your spin on this?
Weesie Walker:
Well, I will certainly reiterate what Don just said, that I think it's important to look at how this event started back in the day. Simon Margolis was Executive Director of NRRTS. And he had this vision of having continuing education in DC and then adding onto that, the advocacy part. And that's kind of how it got started. In the second year we were there. We had CRT users in the grid and it just became really apparent that their message was much more powerful when we had these meetings with our representatives and senators. From that it's kind of evolved into this partnership with NCART in trying to get more people who use CRT to understand the limitations that CMS puts on us as providers of CRT. And to get them involved in doing the right thing. So, as Don said, I think last year, obviously we didn't get to hold the conference.
Weesie Walker:
It had to be canceled at the last minute, but we're always focused on making sure that A, the Congress now understands what CRT means, what is complex rehab technology, and that they are meeting the people who depend on it for their quality of life and being able to participate like everyone should be able to go to work at a school, whatever. What we're understanding is there is more awareness, but we have a long way to go on that front. And even some of the people that use custom wheelchairs don't know that CRT is the term that refers to that. And I think that's an important function of this event, awareness.
Bill Noelting:
Mickae, do you have anything to add to that?
Mickae Lee:
A little, yeah. I mean, it's hard to add much more to what Weesie and Don have said, because they've sort of summed it up so perfectly, but we are working with a new Congress now. There's some new staff members for sure. And there have been many topics and discussions being presented to these individuals, to Congress as a whole over the course of the last year, year and a half. Now it is really critical to keep CRT included in those discussions and to make sure that these policymakers, these policy influencers understand what complex rehab is, exactly what Don and Weesie has both just shared, but that they understand what the issues at hand are and that we deliver those asks regarding what needs to be done next.
Bill Noelting:
Okay, good info. We know what it is. Now, how does it work? How does a Virtual Congressional Fly-In work? Don.
Don Clayback:
Well, the good news is, Bill, we think it works smoothly and we think it works very easily from the attendee perspective. What we're asking people to do is once they sign up and commit to attending, and again, this year it'll be a remote attendance. So, it's great that people don't have to actually fly to DC, but once they sign up and register, we pretty much take it from there that we and the consultants that we're working with will set up the appointments for people, with their members of Congress. We will prepare the related talking points. We will also be holding a preparation webinar, an advanced prep webinar, so we can prepare people to make those calls effective. And then we'll be also matching people with other individuals within their state. So, the first step is just to get people signed up and then once they do that, we'll take it from there and we'll make it an easy process. And based on folks, the comments we've gotten from past attendees, people are very positive after their first experience, dealing with their members of Congress.
Bill Noelting:
We've all been living in Zoom land for the last year. Is this going to be a Zoom event?
Don Clayback:
Exactly. It'll all be done through the Zoom platform. And so many people are already familiar with that. And for those that aren't, we'll be covering that on the advanced prep webinar to make sure everyone is comfortable.
Bill Noelting:
I don't have to worry about setting up any meetings. That'll all be taken care of once I register.
Don Clayback:
Exactly.
Bill Noelting:
And, Weesie, what do you want listeners of this to do?
Weesie Walker:
First of all, think of it as, obviously, as Don said, for people that have participated before they know the drill, right? But we're hoping to increase the numbers of people participating this year, because it is virtual and easy. You can do it from your living room in your pajamas if you wanted to. And so that should translate into more people participating. And what we're hoping is that as they gain confidence in communicating with their members of Congress, they will take that throughout the year and maintain contact with their Congressman, whether it's via email, phone call, another zoom meeting on their own, or the local offices.
Weesie Walker:
That is a very effective way to get to know the member, meeting with them in where you live. Until we have the masses of people doing that, it just makes the fight a little more difficult. We need more people that carry the load if you will. And we're always brainstorming on ways to engage more people. It's such a small segment of the population that uses CRT, but it is so vitally important to each and every one of those people. So, that's our challenge is get people involved, whether it's the first time or 10th time and keep them involved throughout the year.
Bill Noelting:
Don said there are going to be some prep meetings. I'm not good at talking to people, nor am I experienced in trying to convince a legislator of anything. Will there be a group leader? I mean, obviously there will be 10, 20, 50 different meetings, and I might be part of a couple of them. Is somebody going to help me get ready for that?
Weesie Walker:
Yes, just like in our previous conferences, the groups are divided by State, and there'll always be someone with a person, that nobody's going into it on their own. And the preparation is going to provide you with the talking points and the leader will set up a meeting with just that group from that State. And you'll actually have an opportunity to talk together. I actually spoke with Andrew Davis yesterday, who's an advocate from Georgia. And he was on the United for CRT call the other night. And he called me, he wanted to know how it would work. And after we talked, he was reassured that it's different, but it's the same. We're still meeting as a group with that member or that aid. And we're going to know what we're going to say ahead of time. In my experience, usually when people have an opportunity to talk about something as vital to them as the access to complex rehab technology, appropriate technology, they can be very talkative about them, given the opportunity.
Bill Noelting:
Well, we got about two months, I guess. Mickae, how do I register? When will I be able to register?
Mickae Lee:
That's a great question, Bill. So, we expect registration, we're finishing up just the final touches on the event website right now, and should be able to get that open next week, along with registration. So, folks can be expecting to hear from us via email and social media, and they'll be able to register as soon as that's open. So, we expect by the end of next week to start beginning the registration process, those appointment requests will start going out and about mid-August to congressional offices to start the scheduling process. So, yeah, we're looking forward to it. It shouldn't be too long now.
Bill Noelting:
How many participants are you expecting?
Mickae Lee:
Oh, well, everything that we've heard based on conversations we had, as we've been planning this event over the last couple of months, is that organizations who have switched over to a virtual format are seeing increases in participation, simply because people don't have to worry about planning their travel, finding hotels, taking off of work or finding someone to look after the kids while they're out of town, things like that. So, we are expecting to see or hoping to see more folks have a usually do like Weesie said, getting involved in this opportunity to advocate for complex rehab. Normally for an in-person event, we would see somewhere around 220 attendees. So, we are very optimistic that we'll see over 300, 350. And if we can get more than that, Bill, we'll certainly take it. But we're really looking forward to seeing how many folks get involved in this chance to share complex rehab and the related messaging with Congress.
Bill Noelting:
Don, have you already been doing this virtual thing, have you spoken with legislators and prepped them for this new way of communicating?
Don Clayback:
Yes, we have, Bill. And that's a great question that they have been doing it. And frankly, in some ways it's a positive from their perspective because they can typically have more meetings when they're doing it remotely. It's a little easier to manage. And also, I think, frankly, we also maybe have more undivided attention because we're going to have them on camera, along with our group. So, it certainly brings with it a little different kind of operating protocol. And once we've got everybody comfortable with the Zoom technology, I think it'll make for productive meetings. We certainly think we'll be back hopefully in person next year, but for this year, I think being able to do it remotely. And the fact that the congressional staff really had been meeting remotely with other constituents for the past 12 months or so, they're pretty adept at that. And I think they've gotten used to how they want to handle those meetings.
Bill Noelting:
And since it's all being recorded, it would appear to me that there'd be significant residual benefit to having all of this recorded so that it could be used a bunch of different ways.
Don Clayback:
Exactly. We'll have that opportunity to, again, use the technology to capture messaging and sound bites and use those as we move forward.
Bill Noelting:
And I love the accountability aspect of it too. I noticed on the artwork that Mickae shared, it says hosted by NCART and NRRTS. What does hosted mean?
Don Clayback:
We do all the work it means, right Weesie?
Weesie Walker:
I guess that's what it means.
Bill Noelting:
There's no cocktail party or anything.
Weesie Walker:
We would love to be able to do that. That would certainly be a in person event. But I also want to acknowledge the sponsors. Can't list them all right now off the top of my head. But I think it's important to note that last year people had pledged money for sponsorship. And we had some that were willing to donate the money towards advocacy and others that put that towards this year's sponsorship. And without this, these sponsors, we wouldn't be able to do this. The cost of doing it virtual is certainly significantly less, but it's still a significant cost to engage this group that I think I read yesterday that today they've done 117 Virtual Fly-In conferences. So, we're confident that it'll be handled very professionally and without too many issues, maybe no issues. But there's a significant cost in doing that. And we want to let people know that this is because the CRT stakeholders, they rally when we ask them. They're there to support it. There's no question. And it's important for our tiny little industry to keep our voice out there.
Bill Noelting:
Well, it's certainly nice to have these sponsors and to be a sponsor. And we're really fortunate to have people that are interested in doing and helping to fund this meaningful work. But as a sponsor, what do I get?
Weesie Walker:
Well, what you're getting is a lot of recognition throughout the process on the, I think this is the right term, it's an app, right, Mickae? That each attendee will have that helps them with the log-in information, the scheduling and the talking points. And one of those are going to be part of that. Also they will get recognition and DIRECTIONS, publication of NRRTS. But I don't think necessarily that's why they do it. It's because they know it's the right thing to do and it's necessary.
Don Clayback:
Yeah, I think, Bill, they’ve got…, as Weesie said there's different levels. And we've got, we certainly are going to widely publicize the support that we're getting from these sponsors, because as Weesie said, that really is what enabled us to do this. There certainly is a lot of man hours that goes into it behind the scenes. But the fact that we've had a loyal group of industry supporters throughout kind of the history of the event has been great. And we do want to make sure we give them recognition on the website and the preparation webinar that we'll have, on the DIRECTIONS magazine, as Weesie mentioned. So, we don't want to be shy about giving people thanks for weighing in and helping us put this on.
Bill Noelting:
Well, we've covered a lot of ground talked about a lot of things. Don, is there anything, a final message you'd like to share?
Don Clayback:
No, I would just thank everybody for considering attending. Again, NCART, NRRTS are really committed to making this a successful event. I know sometimes we get questions. People say, well, it seems like we have to go to Washington every year. When are we not going to have to do that? And the reality is we always are going to have to do it. I mean, if you look at any industry or organization, you need to be in contact with Congress so that you don't get lost in all the other issues that are going on within DC.
Don Clayback:
And Congress plays such a big role, whether it's legislation or working with CMS or even working with Medicaid programs. So, it's critical that we stay in contact and not just once a year, but really this event is the one time every year that we go to educate Congress and it's having an effect. We've had some good wins over the past few years. We certainly have more to go. And that's why it's even more important for people to invest their time. And we're hoping this year it's going to be less cost, less time. And we're optimistic that we'll get a good reception and thank everybody in advance for taking a look at this.
Bill Noelting:
Mickae, Any final words?
Mickae Lee:
Not many, Bill. I think I just to reiterate what Don said, we hope that folks will consider joining us this year. Registration fees. We didn't cover that, but they are significantly reduced. Registration for attendance is $30 per attendee to be involved in this event and to take advantage of the opportunity. And for individuals who utilize CRT, for our CRT consumers, it's only $15 to participate. So, we're very excited. As Don mentioned, there's a lot of man hours that have gone into getting this prepared. As Weesie mentioned, we're grateful to our sponsors for giving us the support needed and certainly recognize them for continuing to assist us as we hold this event from year to year. Yeah. I think that's probably all I really have to add, Bill, is that we're looking forward to seeing it all come together. I'm excited about the new platform and adapting to the times as it were. Yeah, I think that's all I've got.
Bill Noelting:
Weesie, you have anything?
Weesie Walker:
No, I hope that people listening to this, if they have any questions, they can certainly reach out to any of us. So, NCART or NRRTS for questions to be answered. But I hope that you'll also consider reaching out to your friends, family, coworkers, whatever, and share this them, because we need more numbers. And that's going to be the gauge of success is how many people are participating. I think it will be very interesting to see how it works. I have to admit on a personal level, I miss the in-person conferences that we've had in the past, because they've been so inspiring is sort of ... I hate to even use that word, but it kind of gives us all that sense of a common purpose that we all have. It doesn't matter what company you work for, that we're all there on-board and trying to make these changes. It does seem daunting if you've never done it before, but everyone will tell you that it's an easy process. Come find out for yourself.
Don Clayback:
And, Bill, one last thing just to add is, as Mickae mentioned, we're going to be doing a lot on social media and people will be hearing a lot more about this in terms of sign-up. As Weesie said, we'll have plenty on the NCART website and the NRRTS website. So, as listeners, if you haven't seen something, certainly reach out to us or you'll be hearing more through the social media venues. So, thanks again.
Bill Noelting:
Okay. Thank you, Don and Mickae from NCART. Thank you Weesie from NRRTS for your time today and for honchoing this Virtual CRT Congressional Fly-In. Don't forget to ink it in your calendar. September 21st. Keep on the lookout for the registration site, which should be opened by now or any day. Watch your social media channels. Visit the NCART website. NCART, N-C-A-R-T.us and then NRRTS website, N-R-R-T-S.org. We need your help and we need your participation. Tell your neighbors, tell your relatives, your workmates, friends, Romans, countrymen and country women lend us your help. Well, that's all for now. From Talk Rehab, I'm Bill Noelting. Thanks for listening.