Governor's Newsletter, Summer 1998

Governor’s Report


ACP/ASIM Merger
Transitional Governor
Governor-Elect
1998 Virginia Clinical Meeting
Regent’s Corner
Leadership Day
Members Elected to Fellowship
1999 Virginia Annual Clinical Meeting
Future Locations/Dates for Annual Sessions
Virginia Chapter Website Updates
Fill Out and Send the Attached July 1998 Communication Sheet

 

ACP/ASIM Merger

It is now a reality. At the meeting of the ACP Board of Governors and the Board of Regents on March 30 and 31, the final vote occurred to authorize the merger agreement. The ASIM had previously voted its approval. As of July 1, 1998, we will be one organization that for at least the next three years will be called the ACP/ASIM.

It now falls to the state level to bring the chapter and component societies together.

In Virginia, we have a merger team made up of representatives from VA ACP and VSIM. The team members are R. Ron Clark, MD, FACP, Paul Dallas, MD, FACP, Oscar E. Edwards, MD, FACP, Jeffrey P. Harris, MD, FACP, Mohan M. Nadkarni, MD, FACP, and I. The team has met and begun to plan the structure of the new organization.

We are following a model used in Missouri to bring about a successful merger of ACP/ASIM.

The Task Forces and their responsibilities are listed below.

  1. Bylaws
    Members: Oscar Edwards (Chair), Verdain Barnes, David Gardner, Larry Monahan, Phil Rodilosso
    Duties: Utilize templates of national ACP/ASIM bylaws, proposed template for state bylaws, and current (dated) bylaws of Virginia ACP and ASIM and make recommendations regarding:
    • Governance mechanism
    • Structure of governance body
    • Mechanism of council selection/election including electorate if election option chosen in whole or in part
    • Recommendation (not bylaw) how to accomplish initial transition from current Council-Board of Trustees
    • Prerequisite for candidates for office
    • Formation of Nominating Committee
    • Standing committees
  2. Health and Public Policy
    Members:Mohan Nadkarni (Chair), John Daniel, Russ Evett, Kellogg Hunt, Gene Temple, Nelson Richards
    Duties:Define how merged organization will deal with issues of access to care
    • Political action mechanism
    • Third party relations
    • Relationship with MSV
  3. Communication
    Members: Jeff Harris (Chair), Sarah Corley, Laurel Tschirgi
    Duties:
    • Define appropriate communication techniques for the membership, i.e., Newsletter, Web site
    • Consider how to achieve grassroots communication and feedback including use of newsletters to contain ballots of election of officers and council (need to coordinate with bylaws group)
  4. Finance
    Members:Munsey Wheby (Chair), Ben Lewis, Mohan Nadkarni, Bob Pryor, Mike Rein
    Duties:
    • Plan orderly merger of budgets, funds and assets
    • Determine dues structure
    • Review all sources of income
  5. Staffing
    Members: Munsey Wheby (Chair), Paul Dallas, Jeff Harris
    Duties:Determine staffing needs and an orderly plan to meet those needs
  6. Education
    Members: Ron Clark (Chair), Mike Edmond, Rich Ingram, Mike Rein, Rich Scranton, Mark Schroeder, Larry Stein
    Duties:
    • Define issues of state meeting, how many, when, format
    • Determine how organization will incorporate residents and students
  7. Committees
    Members:Paul Dallas (Chair), Bill Atchley, John Cary, Mike Hattwick, Bill Powers
    Duties:
    • Merge existing committee structure of the Virginia ACP/ASIM into an efficient non-redundant group of committees to facilitate the ongoing activities of the organization
    • Define mechanisms for committee appointments; determine how they are staffed and selected
    • Discuss the concept of official committee reporting to the council
    • Discern the need for new committees, i.e., Communication Committee, Community Based Teaching Committee

As you can see, every aspect is being reviewed.

The plan is to have the reports of the Task Forces completed and sent to the VA ACP Council and the ASIM Board of Trustees prior to their joint meeting on July 25th. The expectation is that at that time the Virginia merger will be completed.

If you have comments or suggestions, please contact any of the Task Force members or me.

I believe that our new organization will be very successful. It will gain new strength and energy by combining the best features of the former two organizations. As a result, it will should be more helpful to Virginia internists and their patients.

Transitional Governor

As part of the merger agreement, twenty transitional governors were appointed from ASIM. We were fortunate that Paul Dallas of Roanoke, VSIM President, was appointed for a two-year term. Paul and I are working together to make his governorship advantageous to our chapter.

Governor-Elect

Congratulations to Jeff Harris of Winchester for his election to the Governorship in January.

Jeff deserves much credit for his work on the ACP Scientific Program Subcommittee. With the cooperation of the Chairs of Medicine at the medical schools and Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, Jeff planned twelve sessions entitled "Multiple Small Feedings of the Mind". These sessions were a tremendous success and drew overflowing numbers of internists. In fact, they were so successful that Jeff has been asked to plan another set of sessions that feature speakers solely from Virginia.

1998 Virginia Clinical Meeting

We had a very informative and enjoyable annual meeting February 13-14 in Richmond. The speakers were good and the topics quite varied. Dr. Ron Clark and the Program Committee deserve a lot of credit for planning the event.

Special thanks go to W. Benton (Ben) Lewis, MD, FACP of Martinsville. Ben was a dynamo in securing exhibitors for the annual meeting. As a result, the revenue generated met the chapter expenses.

Regent’s Corner - Oscar E. Edwards, MD, FACP

Congratulations to Munsey Wheby - our current governor. His election as Chair- Elect of the Board of Governors makes him a voting member of the Board of Regents (BOR), thus giving Virginia two votes on the BOR.

National Association of In-Patient Physicians (NAIP)
The College is providing a secretariat to the NAIP, 85% of whose members are internists. In exchange, the bylaws of the NAIP are subject to review and approval by the BOR - as are any policy statements. Both the BOR and the NAIP oppose the mandating of hospitalist care, either to physicians or to patients.

Certainly, the advent of hospital-based care has evolved differently from one area of our state to another, as well as nationally. We are all hopeful that we can continue to make patient-centered care the cornerstone upon which this new specialty grows.

General Internist - Subspecialty Relationships
Since the College remains 50% subspecialists and 50% generalists, it is key that we work hard to maintain a successful and professional relationship between ourselves. A Task Force of the Board of Regents is actively considering several suggestions including combined educational meetings, mutual involvement in shared public policy goals (E/M guidelines as one example), and discounted dues for specialists to belong to both the ACP/ASIM and their subspecialty society. Further, a statement is being developed on the "Etiquette of Consultation" to underscore the need for good communication, good transfer of information and for mutual decisions about ongoing care of the patient.

Leadership Day

On May 12 and 13, ACP Governors and members from a number of states assembled to discuss legislative issues with their senators and representatives.

  1. The focus was on:
  2. Tobacco legislation
  3. Quality of care issues
  4. Fraud and abuse

Efforts on the political scene can be productive but difficult to measure. The recent decision by HCFA to delay the Evaluation and Management Documentation Guidelines was an example of a good response to our serious concerns expressed by a number of organizations including ACP and ASIM.

Members Elected To Fellowship

Congratulations to the following members elected to Fellowship January 1, 1998:

Mary L. Blumberg Virginia Beach Robert A. Kravetz Fredericksburg
James P. Brodeur Richmond Jing W. Liu Salem
David M. Cundiff Virginia Beach Paul H. McClain Fairfax
Michael B. Edmond Richmond Lawrence K. Monahan Roanoke
Craig B. Froede Norfolk Marcus C. Rice Norfolk
Roderick E. Haithcock Richmond Glenn S. Ross Newport News
Ava A. Kaufman Fairfax Mrinal Sharma Vienna

1999 Annual Virginia Clinical Meeting

The 1999 Annual Virginia Clinical Meeting will be held March 12-13, 1999 at the Omni Hotel in Charlottesville. Check our website at http://www.acponline.org/chapters/va/ over the coming months for details of the meeting and registration information.

Future Locations/Dates for Annual Sessions

1999 New Orleans April 22-25 2002 Philadelphia April 11-14
2000 Philadelphia April 13-16 2003 San Diego April 3-6
2001 Atlanta March29-April 1

 

Virginia Chapter Website Update - Sarah T. Corley, MD, FACP

Over the next several months, we hope to have all members of the Virginia Chapter listed on our website. Once the occurs, we would like for each member to add their email address to the listing. Our goal is to be able to disseminate information quickly to as many of our members as possible especially time-sensitive information such as position papers, legislative issues, etc.

We also hope to have links to other educational, governmental, and medical societies added to our site in the very near future.

If you have position opportunities in your practice that you would like to advertise on our website, please send the information to me and I will post it. Address: 4840 South 31st Street, Suite A, Arlington, Virginia 22206 Email: sarouche@aol.com