The AANS Board of Directors met on two occasions during the 1996 AANS Annual Meeting in Minneapolis. The highlights are presented here.
Membership. The Board of Directors welcomed 14 new Active members; 31 Active (Provisional) members; 36 transfers from Active (Provisional) to Active membership; and 53 Associates. In addition, the Board approved 20 nominations for International Associate membership, as all met the requirements for that category as set forth in the Bylaws.
It was recommended and approved that a subcommittee of the Membership Committee be established to promote and encourage ongoing communication with the neuroscience nurses, physician assistants and others who are Associate members of the Association. It was proposed that this subcommittee be named the Subcommittee on Health Science Professionals.
Annual Meeting Fees. Nearly every year, in response to member inquiries, the Board reviews the various fees charged for Annual Meeting attendance. Although the leadership always tries to be cognizant of the concerns of the members, it was decided that a reduction in Annual Meeting registration fees for retirees and/or those who attend only a portion of the meeting, are not feasible. Therefore, the current Annual Meeting fee structure will remain in place. It should be noted here that every effort has been made to reduce the overall expenses at Annual Meetings while continuing to make it attractive to attendees.
Relationships with Orthopedic Surgeons. The Board of Directors, recognizing the importance of maintaining a cooperative relationship with the orthopedic surgery community, accepted the suggestion that neurosurgery occupy three seats on the Council of Spine Societies’ (COSS) Board of Directors. The AANS, the CNS, and the Joint Spine Section will each appoint a representative to the Council. It is expected that the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation will also become members of the COSS Board.
Four principles were set forth by the Board to govern the relationship with COSS: 1) COSS should function as coordinator for its member organizations, assisting with collaboration between medical and the surgical specialties that treat disorders of the spine. COSS should also coordinate outcomes studies; 2) The COSS role should be educational, advisory, and scientific; 3) Each specialty’s Residency Review Committee, under the aegis of the ACGME, should continue to guarantee quality of education, but should remain independent; and 4) Since neurosurgeons are, by definition, spine surgeons, the treatment of complex spinal disorders, including instrumentation, must be part of an accredited residency program.
Quality Assurance Committee. CNS President Stephen Haines, MD, presented a comprehensive proposal for the future operation of a new Quality Assurance Committee. The proposal addressed the importance of doing quality assessment through sound methodology while adhering to high standards throughout the process. The proposal was carefully reviewed, and enthusiastically endorsed by the Board of Directors. Sidney Tolchin, MD, noted that the Quality Assurance Committee will be joint with the CNS, and its new Chairman will be Robert Florin, MD. If a proposed Bylaws amendment is approved by membership in the July balloting, this committee will be renamed the Quality Assessment Committee.
Task Force on Quality of Neurosurgical Practice. James Bean, MD, reported to the Board on the conclusions and recommenda tions of the Task Force on Quality of Neurosurgical Practice of which he is Chairman. The Task Force stressed the following: 1) The importance of collecting standardized practice outcome data; 2) The submission of that data via Internet access to a central repository; 3) The development of database elements and field design for specific conditions; 4) The trial and verification of initial databases by the Sections; 5) The eventual development of software that would be compatible with individual offices, hospitals, etc.; and 6) All pertinent information should be provided to the membership through AANS and CNS publications and through the JCSNS. The Board directed that the report of the Task Force be forwarded to the Quality Assurance Committee for their input, and assured Dr. Bean of its commitment to implement these important recommendations.
Joint Washington Committee. Chairman Russell Travis, MD, and consultants Katie Orrico and Charles Plante apprised the Board of the current activities in Washington in such areas as pallidotomy, managed care, and the various legislation under consideration at this time. Ms. Orrico presented a proposal for establishing a Political Action Committee (PAC) for neurosurgery. This proposal was extensively debated, and members of the Board had many questions about the feasibility of this endeavor. It was decided that no action would be taken at present.
Professional Conduct Report. As recommended by the Professional Conduct Committee, a notice of censure can be read elsewhere in the Bulletin.
Joint Council of State Neurosurgical Societies (JCSNS). Several JCSNS Resolutions were presented to the Board for consideration by the Council’s Chairman, Stanley Pelofsky, MD. These resolutions involved the following areas: a means to analyze the marketing needs of neurosur gery; adding information about the Expert Witness Transcript File to our home page NEUROSURGERY://ON-CALL®; asking the Washington Committee to support legislation opposing gag clauses in managed care contracts; and changes in the election procedures of the JCSNS.
Task Force on Pain Medicine. Roberto Heros, MD, related the points which the Task Force discussed, and asked for Board approval of the resulting recommendations. Prior to voting, discussion illustrated that Board members held disparate opinions about pain medicine. However, they did approve the following elements: 1) Increase education and professional development opportunities in pain medicine for neurosurgeons; 2) Strengthen RRC and ABNS requirements in pain medicine; and 3) Promote and encour age basic and clinical research in the field of pain. There was a motion to refer the recom mendation to support a conjoint board in pain medicine back to the Task Force regarding an alternative to a conjoint board.
Nominating Committee. In compliance with the Bylaws, John Kusske, MD, resigned from the Nominating Committee because of his election to the Board of Directors. Therefore, at the Adjourned meeting, the Board voted to select Robert Florin, MD, to serve the remaining year of Dr. Kusske’s term on the Nominating Committee.
New Board Members. At the Adjourned Board meeting, J. Charles Rich, Jr., MD, welcomed four new Board members: Edward Laws, Jr., MD, President-Elect; Arthur Day, MD, Director-at-Large; John Kusske, MD, Southwest Quadrant Director; and Robert Schwetschenau, MD, Northwest Quadrant Director. In addition, Russell Travis, MD, moved from Director-at-Large to the position of Vice President.