Board Meeting Minutes

American Academy of Emergency Medicine
Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting
San Francisco, California
March 14, 2002
 
IN ATTENDANCE: Robert McNamara, MD; Joseph Wood, MD, JD; Drew Fenton, MD; Carol Barsky, MD; Howard Blumstein, MD; William Durkin, Jr., MD; A. Antoine Kazzi, MD; Geoffrey Mitchell, MD; Raymond Roberge, MD, MPH; Tom Scaletta, MD; Scott Weiner, MD; Leslie Zun, MD. Staff: Kay Whalen.

Dr. McNamara welcomed everyone to the meeting including the guests in the room and turned the Board's attention to the first agenda item.

Approval of January 9, 2002 Board Conference Call Minutes

As the Board reviewed the January 9, 2002 draft minutes, Dr. McNamara reminded the Board that during the January conference call, the Executive Committee had been empowered to review budgetary information for the proposed San Diego Naval Medical Center educational meeting in November. He reported that, after reviewing this further information, the Executive Committee had approved the request to jointly sponsor this meeting.

Dr. McNamara then asked for a motion to approve the minutes. Dr. Wood moved and Dr. McNamara seconded that the January 9, 2002 Board of Directors conference call minutes be approved. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

President's Report

Dr. McNamara reported that he had recently spoken at the Portsmouth Naval Residency Program in Virginia, as well as in Tucson and in Kansas City. In the next few months, he is also scheduled to speak in Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Florida.

Treasurer's Report

Dr. Fenton then reported on AAEM's 2001 financial experience. Although the organization lost $41,000 in 2001, the loss is largely attributable to two factors. The first factor is that AAEM was extremely successful in attracting resident members. Therefore, Journal subscription rates were higher than expected. Second, AAEM has not yet been reimbursed for expenses for the 2001 meeting in Stresa. This money may still be forthcoming.

For the benefit of those in the audience, Dr. McNamara reported that the $14,000 of Stresa expenses did not include travel for the Board to attend the meeting. Rather, each Board member was given a $700 stipend for the Stresa meeting. The stipend covered the cost of expenses of the average Board meeting held in the United States. Board members were responsible for the rest of the expenses.

AAEM has approved a budgeted net income of $46,950 for 2002.

The cost of printing Common Sense was then discussed. These costs had increased due to the fact that the size of the publication had increased. The Board agreed that the Executive Committee should determine whether to increase the budget in this area or to reduce the size of the newsletter.

Next, the Board turned its attention to staff's request to increase the budget by $3,000 in order to reorganize the website. This reorganization would include a Members Only section. Dr. Blumstein moved and Dr. Scaletta seconded that the AAEM website be reorganized to allow the visitor to more easily navigate the site. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Dr. Scaletta then moved and Dr. Blumstein seconded that the Treasurer's Report be accepted. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Membership Report

The Board then turned its attention to the Membership Report. Ms. Whalen noted that paid full voting members are 6.2% ahead of last year's pace. In addition, associate members are 58% and resident members are 21% ahead of last year's pace. Dr. Mitchell commented that the increase in the associate member category clearly demonstrates AAEM's ability to retain members who join during their residency.

Next, the Board reviewed the request for emeritus membership. Dr. Scaletta moved and Dr. Barsky seconded that Emmanuel C. Morales, MD, be granted emeritus membership. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

AAEM in India

Kumar Alagappan, MD, then addressed the Board. Dr. Alagappan requested endorsement of a Congress he is organizing in India from October 25-27, 2002. Dr. Barsky moved and Dr. Fenton seconded that AAEM endorse the October, 2002 Emergency Medicine conference in India. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

AAEM Resident Section Report

Dr. Weiner reported that the Resident Section has been active during the past year recruiting members. In addition, this section has been extremely successful in recruiting medical student members. Once again, this section will be presenting a program during the SAEM meeting.

The major project of the Resident Section, however, has been the Student Rules of the Road publication. This document is nearing completion. The Resident Section would like to publish this book on-line as well as have 1,500 hard copies printed. Dr. Weiner moved and Dr. Fenton seconded that the Resident Section be allocated $3,300 for on-line publishing and $12,000 for print publishing of Student Rules of the Road. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Firearms Task Force Report

Dr. William Durston then addressed the Board. He noted that Dr. McNamara had appointed him as the chair of an ad hoc committee to prepare a draft position statement on firearms. A year of working on the evidence-based project, which included conference calls and a private website, culminated in a 2-day session in San Francisco. At the end of the 2-day session, the Task Force was unable to reach a consensus. The Task Force felt that it would not be fruitful to continue and has disbanded.

Dr. Durston did report, however, that much information had been compiled. This information may be beneficial to the AAEM membership. The Board felt that it would be worthwhile to post this information on the website as long as the information already approved by the Task Force could be compiled within the next 30 days.

Dr. McNamara thanked Dr. Durston and the Task Force for their efforts. He reminded those in the audience that AAEM was willing to establish task forces such as this one if AAEM members are interested in doing so.

Anti-Trust Opinion

Dr. McNamara then turned the Board's attention to the legal opinion on anti-trust issues that AAEM had received. He noted that the report validates much of what AAEM is doing. The report stated that while there is always risk, AAEM may comfortably exclude those organizations that do not adhere to AAEM's democratic principles from AAEM activities. Dr. McNamara then moved and Dr. Wood seconded that AAEM accept the report dealing with anti-trust policy issues as presented. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

This report will be summarized in Common Sense and posted on the AAEM website in its entirety.

Next, Dr. McNamara moved and Dr. Kazzi seconded that AAEM move forward to draft a list of ethical ED staffing standards which will be brought back to the Board for approval. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. Dr. Scaletta agreed to lead this initiative.


Position Statements

tPA
Dr. McNamara reported that the AAEM tPA position statement had created controversy that was anticipated. Most (75%) of the correspondence that AAEM received on this issue was positive. The 25% of negative responses came from academics.

Dr. Barsky questioned whether AAEM should be producing position statements. The Board felt that this should be discussed during the Board retreat in May.

Hospital Coverage Statement
The Board briefly discussed the proposed Hospital Coverage Statement. Dr. Blumstein volunteered to chair a committee to draft such a statement. Drs. Roberge and Scaletta also agreed to serve on that committee.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Dr. McNamara then turned the Board's attention to the request from Keith Van Meter, MD, to adopt a position statement on hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The Board agreed to endorse this idea in concept. Since AAEMLa has already adopted a position statement on this issue, AAEM will request a copy of the AAEMLa position statement and proceed from there.

AAEM Referral Network

Next, the board addressed the request from Everett Stephens to establish a referral network. The Board was concerned with furnishing AAEM's membership list to other members without first obtaining permission. One option would be to post members names on the Members Only section of the website. Only those members who have given their permission on the 2002 dues forms would be listed. Dr. McNamara moved and Dr. Wood seconded that AAEM post a membership directory on the Members Only section of the website after obtaining permission from the members to do so. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Malpractice Insurance Proposal

Dr. McNamara then reported that the Executive Committee had met via conference call earlier in the week and recommended that AAEM endorse the MGIS malpractice insurance proposal included in the agenda packet. The Executive Committee put forth the motion that AAEM endorse the MGIS malpractice insurance proposal. MOTION PASSED 8-4.

Emergency Medicine and Critical Care Medicine


Dr. McNamara then presented the request of David Huang, MD, that AAEM physicians who complete an ACGME certified fellowship be allowed to sit for the critical care medicine boards. Dr. McNamara noted that the Executive Committee would be meeting with the ABEM leadership during this meeting and would discuss this issue.

Dr. Wood moved and Dr. Mitchell seconded that AAEM adopt the following statement:

The American Academy of Emergency Medicine believes that ABEM/AOBEM certified emergency physicians who complete an ACGME certified critical care fellowship should be allowed to take an American board examination in critical care medicine. We urge the ABEM and ABMS to strongly consider creating an exam for such emergency physicians.

Dr. McNamara moved and Dr. Scaletta seconded that the previous motion be tabled. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Relationship with Residency Coordinators

Dr. McNamara reported on this informational item. The Emergency Medicine Residency Coordinators have expressed an interest in affiliating with AAEM. They have been invited to hold their meetings in conjunction with AAEM meetings.

Support for EmCare Suit

The Board then discussed the request from an AAEM member for support in a suit against EmCare. Although the Board supported this suit in concept, more information is needed from the member before AAEM can develop a position.

Election Procedure

Dr. McNamara noted that the last time the Board adopted an official election procedure had been in 1997. We used this precedent for this election as well. Dr. McNamara moved and Dr. Wood seconded that the election procedure established in 1997 be approved in perpetuity. After a brief discussion, Dr. Wood moved and Dr. Barsky seconded that this motion be tabled until the spring meeting. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

New Business

Dr. McNamara then turned the Board's attention to HR 3897, the Health Care Antitrust Improvement Act of 2002. Dr. McNamara moved and Dr. Fenton seconded that AAEM endorse HR 3897. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Dr. Zun then announced that this was his last meeting as an AAEM Board member. He was pleased with AAEM's success and felt that the organization is continuing to move forward in the right direction. Dr. Roberge thanked the Executive Committee for their leadership and dedication to AAEM.

There being no further business, the Board meeting then went into executive session.

Respectfully submitted,
 

Kay Whalen
Organizational Director