From the April 2011 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine


DMBN: As association president, what kind of goals have you set for your term?

Rhynus: I have three points I’m pursuing. The first actually came about when I went to Washington, D.C. last August for our annual meeting. I got there a day early and toured the area. I saw so many pieces of our heritage on display and it made me wonder: how many schoolchildren are familiar with all of it? Then, I drew the analogy to our association — how many members know our history?


So, that became my first point — bringing forward heritage members to hear what they’ve done for the association and how their involvement has impacted their careers.

My second point is to keep the foundation/contribution side strong. We have OEMS as major supporters. To keep the relationship strong, I want to show the OEMs that our own members contribute to the AHRA Education Foundation, so they should too . . . that it’s a resource well-received and supported, so it’s contributions well-placed.

Finally, I’ve been in strong support of growing the association beyond our typical boundaries. The AHRA has been about a 4,000 member association as long as I can remember. In part, it’s due to the radiology leaders having limited time to dedicate to an association and in part, it’s a perception of value. That’s another place our heritage members are a great asset. By sharing their success stories, the value is displayed. We’re also highlighting the fact that we’re an international organization. For instance, in my recent president’s column in AHRA’s monthly newsletter – I wished people a nice fall . . . for our members in Australia.




DMBN: How strong is your international contingent?

Rhynus: At last count, we were at 67 international members. We’ve actually had very active participation from Australia. Dennis Wynn has helped grow that branch. The meeting in D.C. had more than 20 international members in attendance.

DMBN: Can you give some details about your upcoming meeting?

Rhynus: To put it simply, it’s an incredible networking opportunity. There are so many facets to radiology imaging administration and we’re trying to be many things to many people. Any time I run into a challenge, the first thing I think about is whether a colleague has had a similar problem and having a good relationship, I’m able to call them to figure out how they solved it. That’s our strength. That’s what we want all our members to be able to do. We want everyone to get to know each other. The value of the association then becomes, “I’m part of this association because these people are friends and have knowledge that can help me and I have knowledge that can help them.”
No matter where you are, it’s who you know. If you know the right players, they can help provide you with solutions, or tell you the right people to speak with. If you’re slogging through a problem and you have a friend next to you, you expand your knowledge. The more people you know, the better off you will be.

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