Board Meeting Minutes

American Academy of Emergency Medicine
Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting
Chicago, Illinois
May 15, 2007

In Attendance:  Tom Scaletta, MD; Larry Weiss, MD, JD; Howard Blumstein, MD; Joseph Wood, MD, JD; Robert McNamara, MD; William Durkin, Jr., MD; Stephen Hayden, MD; David Kramer, MD; Kevin Rodgers, MD; Indrani Sheridan, MD; Mark Reiter, MD; Andrew Pickens, MD, JD.  Absent: James Li, MD; Andrew Mayer, MD; Andy Walker, MD.  Staff: Kay Whalen and Janet Wilson.

President’s Report
Dr. Scaletta welcomed everyone to Chicago and called the meeting to order. He reported that he and Dr. McNamara had recently spoken at the inaugural meeting of the AAEM New York state chapter. He had also spoken at Cook County and was scheduled to speak in California.

Dr. Scaletta then reported that he will be at the meeting at the Joint Commission later in the week to discuss rescinding the rule that requires pharmacist approval for drugs administered in the ED.

Dr. Scaletta also reported that he had recently been interviewed by EP Monthly and had recently written an article for EMRA.

Treasurer’s Report
Dr. Blumstein reported that the April financial statements included in the agenda materials were as expected. AAEM’s 2007 revenue was slightly ahead of the budgeted pace due to the increase in membership. He also noted that, on the expense side, AAEM will realize more expenses in postage costs for Common Sense due to the increase in postal rates.

Each board member received a copy of the 2006 final audit. Dr. Durkin moved and Dr. Rodgers seconded that the 2006 audit be accepted including the recommendations in the management letter.  MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The board then discussed the check signing procedure. Since the treasurer receives copies of all invoices paid, Dr. Scaletta moved and Dr. Reiter seconded that checks over $1,000 require co-signature by the AAEM treasurer as well as staff. Checks $1,000 and under may be signed solely by staff unless the check is written to a staff member.  MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Approval of March 11, 2007 Minutes
After a brief discussion, Dr. Weiss moved and Dr. Rodgers seconded that the March 11, 2007 board of directors meeting minutes be approved as drafted.  MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Executive Director’s Report
Ms. Whalen presented the membership report which indicated an 8.2% increase in full voting membership. She also suggested that at-large board members call randomly selected members prior to each board meeting to see if these members have any thoughts on AAEM’s activities. The board agreed that this would be a worthwhile activity.

IFEM
Next, the board reviewed the letter that AAEM had received from IFEM stating that AAEM did not qualify for full member status, but asking if AAEM would apply for affiliate status. Dr. Scaletta moved and Dr. Durkin seconded that AAEM apply for affiliate status with IFEM. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

At this point, Dr. Wood arrived.

SAE Update
Dr. Scaletta then presented the letter that he had recently received from SAE outlining the ways in which they would like to see AAEM involved in the 2008 Inter-America meeting. After much discussion, Dr. Wood moved and Dr. Rodgers seconded that AAEM endorse the 2008 Inter-America meeting in Buenos Aires, but not be involved in any official role.  MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

MEMC Update
Ms. Whalen reported that 662 abstracts for the Sorrento meeting had been submitted as of the previous day and that 285 abstracts were in draft form. The MEMC executive committee had agreed to extend the abstract deadline by two weeks. Abstracts received after that time would be eligible for poster sessions only.

Fundraising for this meeting is not as successful as hoped. Both Dr. Anderson and the Milwaukee staff were in frequent communication with Erreci, the Italian company that had been retained to do this type of work, but little progress has been made.

Dr. Scaletta also reported that EuSEM’s president, Dr. David Williams, had agreed to a contract between the parties that would give AAEM and EuSEM both 40% of the profits from the meeting and retain 20% of any net income to pay for advance payments for the 2009 MEMC.

Due Process Paper
Dr. Weiss then presented the draft due process paper that had been circulated via email. A few suggestions were made to the text. Dr. McNamara moved and Dr. Rodgers seconded that the draft due process position paper be approved in concept with the executive committee empowered to have the authority to approve the final draft. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

ENA Meeting
AAEM had been invited to participate in a summit on procedural sedation convened by the ENA. Drs. Larry Weiss and Fermin Barrueto will be representing AAEM at this summit.

CPOM
Dr. McNamara then outlined a case in Texas that he felt AAEM and the AAEM Foundation may want to be involved with. Since the board determined that the AAEM Foundation would find this case very interesting, Dr. Wood moved and Dr. Durkin seconded that the AAEM board of directors meeting be adjourned and the AAEM Foundation board of directors convene. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

After the Foundation board meeting, Dr. Scaletta, once again, called the AAEM board of directors meeting to order.

Washington Representative Contract
Ms. Whalen noted that AAEM’s Director of Governmental Affairs was currently working without a contract. Dr. McNamara moved and Dr. Durkin seconded that AAEM enter into a two-year contractual relationship with Kathleen Ream.  MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

AAEM Policy Manual
Ms. Whalen reported that the policy manual that the board had reviewed during its March meeting had been updated with the suggested changes of the board for approval. Dr. Durkin moved and Dr. Blumstein seconded that the AAEM Policy Manual be approved as presented.  MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Position Statement
Dr. Scaletta then turned the board’s attention to two possible statements on boarding. After discussion, Dr. Hayden moved and Dr. Kramer seconded that the following position statement be adopted:

AAEM Position Statement on ED Boarding

The practice of boarding patients in the ED is defined as holding admitted patients in the ED until a staffed, in-patient bed becomes available and this period usually lasts several hours (and sometimes days). Boarding is not in the best interest of the patient being boarded as it compromises their comfort, privacy and medical care. Boarding also delays the care of others, provokes ambulance diversion, and results in some patients leaving the waiting room before being seen by a physician. Boarding creates a significantly more stressful practice environment and contributes to professional dissatisfaction, burnout and high staff turnover. AAEM calls upon hospitals to seek options other than ED boarding to hold admitted patients. AAEM also calls upon regulating agencies to issue rules that forbid boarding.

MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

ACEP’s Response to Unity Proposal

After a lengthy discussion and by consensus, the board agreed to respond to ACEP’s counter proposal to AAEM’s Unity proposal in the following manner:

1. Each organization will send a representative of their choosing to the other’s board meeting at their Scientific Assembly to report on their respective organization’s activities.

2. The respective organization’s government affairs personnel will work together to draft legislation.

Bylaws Change
The board then discussed the proposed bylaws change that would allow those emergency physicians who were nearing the end of their careers to maintain their membership in AAEM after their ABEM or AOBEM certification lapsed. After much discussion, the board felt that a new category of membership should be created for these individuals. They asked that a bylaw change creating a new category of membership be presented at the next board meeting.

Society for Expert Witnesses
Dr. Blumstein reported that an AAEM member, Sean O’Mara, MD JD, is planning to begin a society for expert witnesses. The board felt that AAEM should wait for a formal proposal before making any decisions on AAEM’s support.

Senior Physicians Section
Dr. Kramer then presented the proposal submitted by Dr. Pollack. After discussion, Dr. Kramer moved and Dr. Rodgers seconded that the following be approved to explore creation of this new section:

MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Fall Board Meeting Date
The board discussed the feasibility of holding the fall in-person board meeting during MEMC IV in Sorrento, Italy. The board did not feel that membership dues dollars should be used to fund the trip and felt that board members should only be reimbursed for the cost of a similar meeting in the U.S. Dr. Wood moved and Dr. Hayden seconded that the board reaffirm their decision of February, 2006 that “the board be reimbursed up to $1,500 for all travel expenses to the fall board meeting during a Congress year,” and that the board meeting be held in Sorrento, Italy.  MOTION PASSED 10-1.

AAEM Services Update
Dr. Scaletta reported that the new templates should be ready soon and had been reviewed by various AAEM committees.

New Business
Dr. Li had suggested that AAEM increase its D & O limits and modify the coverages of the existing policy. Ms. Whalen reported that, unfortunately, our current carrier would not allow us to do either. Dr. Li had also asked about the board’s personal liability. Ms. Whalen noted that, since AAEM was incorporated in the state of Wisconsin, the board exposure was minimal as long as the members acted in good faith. She will forward the appropriate statute to the board.

Dr. Scaletta asked the board members if they preferred paper or electronic agendas. The majority preferred paper copies.

Dr. Kramer asked if AAEM should consider charging for the Scientific Assembly due to budget constraints. Ms. Whalen will forward the last membership survey results on this issue.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Kay Whalen
Executive Director