SUMMARY OF ACTIONS TSA BOARD OF DIRECTORS SEPTEMBER 11, 2016
- Recognized attending resident members Jared B. Brown, MD-UTHSCSA, Henry Huang, MD-Baylor College of Medicine, and Brett A. Rebal, MD-UT Southwestern.
- Recognized Mr. Gerardo Trejo, Texas Society of Anesthesia Technologists and Technicians (TSATT) President.
- Approved the minutes of the May 1, 2016 TSA Board of Directors’ meeting as written.
- Continued sponsorship of $1000 each to three Texas anesthesia programs, to send residents to the ASA 2017 Practice Management Conference. The three programs will be Texas Tech Lubbock, UTMB Galveston, and UT-San Antonio.
- Recognized Drs. Anna Allred and Michelle Koehler for being selected to participate in the TMA Leadership Class of 2017. TSA is the sponsoring organization for Dr. Koehler.
- Approved motion to sponsor an additional table at this year’s ASA Gala. The ASA Gala benefits the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation, ASA Charitable Foundation, Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research, and the Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology. The TSA previously purchased two tables. Seating will be offered to the TSA Delegation to the ASA on a first come first serve basis. The TSA will contribute $200 per seat; members attending will be responsible for $150 for each seat they purchase.
- Appropriated a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. in memory of 911 victims, recently deceased members, and all members listed in Report 403 of the TSA House of Delegates Handbook.
- Approved motion to ask Mr. Art Laffer, an economist, to provide TSA with a proposal to perform a study as to the effects of all issues around network adequacy, fair coverages, narrow networks, and potentially the results of out-of-network balance billing that exceed from it in the state of Texas; and that the TSA ask other entities to assist with financial funding. However, lack of financial assistance will not prevent the TSA from moving forward if financially feasible. The Board of Directors will review the proposal from the Laffer Group prior to proceeding. Mr. Jaime Capelo stated he would have a final bid from the Laffer Group by the end of the week.
- Informed the Board members that during Dr. Debbie Plagenhoef’s term as President, Chris Bacak should be copied on all communications.
- Created the Ad-Hoc Committee to Develop Strategy in Addressing Encroachments on Practice Decisions by Hospital Systems. Appointed Dr. George W. Williams as the Chair of the Committee, other members of the Committee are Drs. Asa C. Lockhart, Sam D. Gumbert, Benjamin D. Harvey, Scott A. Lindberg, Stacy L. Norrell, Thomas J. Oliverson, John S. Scott, and Sherif Z. Zaafran. The Committee is to coordinate its efforts with the TMA, AMA, and ASA and report back to the TSA Board in January 2017.
- Announced that the first meeting of the Out-of-Network Billing Texas Component Coalition will be held on September 26, 2016.
- Informed the members that the next annual Texas Public Policy Foundation Orientation meeting is scheduled for January 11-13, 2017.
- Reminded members that Anesthesiologists Days at the Capitol are scheduled for February 26-28, 2017.
- Announced that CPR Day Training at the Capitol is scheduled for March 29, 2017.
- Informed the Board that the TSA Governmental Affairs Committee (GAC) has created a Task Force within the GAC to review CRNA scopeissues. Dr. George Williams Vice-Chair of the GAC will serve as Chair of the Task Force.
- Stated that the GAC will work with the TSA Communications Committee to develop a communications emergency tree for quick distribution of important issues to Key Contacts, GAC members, and members of the Communications Committee.
- Announced that attendees to the ASA Legislative Conference will continue to be selected as they have in the past. However, members attending and participating at the State level will be given priority when selecting additional members to attend the ASA Legislative Conference.
- Announced that members are able to self-nominate for appointments to ASA Committees and anyone interested in serving on a committee should notify Dr. Scott Kercheville or Chris Bacak. The deadline for nominations is December31st; requests for letters of support should be submitted to Dr. Kercheville by December 15th.
- Invited anyone interested in being an ASA Annual Meeting speaker or serving on a panel at the ASA to visit the ASA website for additional information.
- Announced that this year’s TSA Annual Meeting had the highest attendance ever, 602 and counting!
- Approved motion to allocate up to $8,000.00 for a portable booth to be used by the TSA. Prior to purchasing, the TSA Executive Committee (EC) will be presented with a document outlining the plan for the usage of the booth. Final approval will be made by the EC.
- Announced that the TSA office has two new staff members. Social Media Assistant Claire Foster joined the TSA team on July 18th; she is part-time at 20 hours a week. And Administrative Assistant Jessica Shepherd joined the TSA on August 15th and is full time.
- Informed the Board members that due to upcoming government mandates for minimum salary rates paid to exempt employees, salary adjustments will be made for Judy Garcia Bigger and Jessica Shepherd.
- Recognized the TSA Office staff for their support.
- Recognized and applauded Dr. Margaret “Peggy” Wilson for her past service as the Chair of the Administrative Affairs Committee.
- Accepted the Finance Advisory Committee’s advice to maintain the current philosophy for the funds in the TSA reserve account.
- Referred to the TSA Treasurer the issue of a possible dues increase for the TSA.
- Approved motion to schedule the first Board Meeting of 2017 on Saturday, January 14th, in Austin.
- Requested that Bonnie Bruce not be contacted for any business related items until further notice.
