Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Present: Chair – John H. Armstrong, MD, FACS; Chair-elect -- William H. Huffaker, MD, FACS; Secretary – Thomas Whalen MD, FACS; Treasurer -- Charles Drueck, MD, FACS; Member At-Large – Randolph Gould, MD, FACS; ACS Delegate -- Richard Reiling, MD, FACS; RFS Representative Ross Goldberg, MD.; and Jon Sutton, SCAMA Administrator. Absent: Member At-Large --Willard S. Stawski, MD, FACS; Member At-Large – Michael Deren, MD, FACS; YPS Representative -- Scot B. Glasberg, MD, FACS.
Call to Order – Dr. Armstrong called the meeting to order at 3:15 p.m.
Approval of Minutes – A motion was passed approving the minutes of the June 13, 2006 Executive Committee meeting in Chicago.
Reports of the Officers – Dr. Armstrong noted the considerable success of the SCAMA business meeting and educational session, with over 130 surgeons and other physician leaders in attendance. He also pointed out that the three hours allocated for resolution and report review on Saturday morning was an appropriate amount of time for comprehensive and collegial review of the critical issues facing surgery during the HOD.
Dr. Drueck, treasurer, reported that the SCAMA checking account had a balance of $4,797.25 as of November 30, 2006. Mr. Sutton noted that meeting expenses for the Interim meeting would be approximately $800-1000, with postage costs for the September dues mailing of $127.
Dr. Reiling, ACS Delegate, noted that the AMA was asking for recommendations from Council on Medical Education members as well as the College and other surgical societies with regard to names of thoracic surgeons to serve on the American Board of Thoracic Surgery (the AMA representative’s term expires for 2008). He stated the College was soliciting the Advisory Council on Thoracic Surgery to gather some names together, and that the ACS delegation was also pulling together some names as part of this effort. It was suggested that once a list is available, that it be circulated to the SCAMA Executive Committee to give the SCAMA an opportunity to indicate support (or not) for some of these individuals as well. The sense was this could provide some unified recommendations among surgical interests, all of whom have an involvement in the AMA HOD.
Plans for June 2007 Meeting – Considerable discussion took place regarding the SCAMA meeting arrangements for the June 2007 meeting, and focused on the following:
- Schedule – There was general agreement that even though some schedule conflict exists with SSS, the current schedule should be maintained. As such, the Review Meeting will be held on Saturday, June 23, 2007 from 6:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m., and the General Session will commence that afternoon from 1:00 p.m.-2:45 p.m. The final agenda for the afternoon meeting will include Caucus review of reports and resolutions, as well as any SCAMA business. The educational session will be held at this time as well unless the HOD Speakers approve a time slot during the Monday morning educational sessions. In addition, efforts will be made to request a meeting room in close proximity to the SSS meeting room so that surgeons may easily participate in both.
- Topics/Speakers – Many topic ideas were suggested for the consideration of the SCAMA Planning Committee (Doctors Gould, Whalen, and Armstrong) including: electronic medical records and surgical practice; reimbursement relating to reconstructive surgery following breast cancer surgery; ethical and business issues focused on surgeon interaction with industry; stem cell research and application to surgery; ethical issues surrounding facial transplantation; health care coverage; pay for performance; and workforce issues related to contract negotiations with hospitals or hospital systems and employed surgeons. The Planning Committee will meet by conference call to finalize and flesh out a topic, with input from the Executive Committee on any proposal.
- SCAMA Executive Committee Meeting – The general consensus among the Executive Committee was that having a conference call following the November Interim meeting makes sense and seems to work out quite well. However, the June meeting should be a face to face meeting considering some of the Caucus election issues that arise at that time, and arrangements will be made for such on Tuesday, June 26 at 6:30 a.m.
Executive Session – The Executive Committee went into a brief executive session to discuss administrative and management issues. During this session, the Executive Committee approved a $1000 honorarium to Mr. Sutton for his service to the Caucus and management of a well-run meeting.
Adjournment – There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 3:50 pm.
Respectfully submitted by
Thomas Whalen, MD, FACS, Secretary
