Professional Organizations: Who Should Join?

113 Medical expenditures are rising faster than any other sector of the economy (Feldstein, 2001). More dollars are being spent on health care than ever before, yet health care providers are realizing lower profits. The explosion of medical spending in the 1960s led to constraint in the 1970s. As a result, clinicians, who are facing cutbacks in demand for and reimbursement of their services, are looking for ways to cut overhead. Many are asking themselves, “Is supporting my professional organization worth the cost?” The issue is: cutting overhead by not supporting the very organization that is advocating for higher and broader reimbursement, ultimately will cost professionals more than they’ll save. The purpose of this commentary is to explore how declining reimbursement, changes in legislative policy, and the trend towards outcomes-based performance measures are effecting the occupational therapy profession, and how the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), in turn, is mediating the impact.