'I feel pretty comfortable taking the lead.'

LARGO VISTA, Texas - Provider Michele Gunn will step into a two-year term as president of NRRTS come August, but she's not new to NRRTS leadership. Gunn, who also works at Browning's Pharmacy and Health Care in Melbourne, Fla., has sat on the board for a while and has been involved in several of NRRTS' recent initiatives, including a separate benefit for complex rehab and collecting outcomes data. She took some time before assuming her duties to talk to HME News.

HME News: What made you want to take this position?

Michele Gunn: I've been on the board eight or nine years and we look for some consistency in the executives. It made sense that I would take the reins, so to speak. I know a lot of the history and a lot of the things we've been working on and feel pretty comfortable with taking the lead.

HME: What are you hoping to accomplish?

Gunn: The project that is near and dear to my heart is the one we're working on with the University of Pittsburgh (collecting patient outcomes data with a Functional Mobility Assessment tool). That's kind of been my baby. We haven't really done the best job we could proving our value. And now it's really time to put up or shut up.

HME: What could that outcomes data do for complex rehab?

Gunn: Hopefully we'll have case studies about why someone needs a power seat elevator and how it changed their lives and why the tilt in space actually works. There's a lot of funding sources that won't pay for those things because they say, "That's what you say it does, but where's the proof?" And we're going to go get it.

HME: What challenges do you see NRRTS facing?

Gunn: Employers do not want to share the burden of education and dues. Things are tight. But we've done a lot of things with NRRTS to increase its value. We're giving webinars and basically giving them free education to be able to get their CEUs that they need to be able to do their job. We've made sure that we're at the table for anything that has anything to do with complex rehab and we're representing members and making sure that their voices are heard.