Marriott Hotel
Boston, MA
October 27, 1996
The meeting was called to order by Dr. Aronson at 4:00 pm on Sunday, October 27, 1996 at the Boston Marriott Hotel. Dr. Aronson introduced the guests and welcomed those present.
The minutes of the April 14, 1996 executive committee meeting were approved as written.
Dr. Aronson introduced Patience White, MD, Council on Sections, who attended a portion of the executive committee meeting. Dr. White indicated that she was visiting each section's executive committee meeting to keep apprised of issues that were affecting sections. The managed care environment was discussed as well as state level representation. Discussion ensued regarding the lack of section representation at Board level.
Dr. White also updated the executive committee on the survey of sections. She reported that The Task Force of Pediatric Education II is updating the 1978 report entitled, "The Future of Pediatric Education." The new document will contain recommendations that will shape the type of graduate and continuing medical education needed to prepare the pediatric workforce of the future. Five workgroups will each tackle a specific topic to provide an in-depth analysis of key issues. The workgroups are:
As part of the latter taskforce, the AAP will be surveying all the members of the Medical and Surgical Sections over the next two years. This will include Section members as well as members of sibling societies. One portion of the survey instrument will be generic across all subspecialties; the second portion will be specific to a given subspecialty.
Dr. Aronson thanked Dr. White for her report and proceeded by reviewing the action items from the section's April meeting. He noted that Advisory Committee to the Board on Membership agreed to include members' e-mail addresses in the 1997 AAP Fellowship Directory.
Staff presented a budget report to the committee. The Section had a positive variance in its core budget of $912 which was returned to the Academy at the close of the 1995-1996 fiscal year (June 30, 1996). The non-core budget ended with a positive variance and a total bottom line of $8,398.
Staff included in the agenda books the most recent edition of "Statements in Progress," a twice yearly report which outlines all of the policy statements that the national committees and Sections are currently drafting. Staff emphasized the importance of this report as it represents an opportunity for Section executive committee members to request draft statements that relate to their specific specialty. She noted, however, that the statements which are at the Board level may not be available for comment as they are, at that point, near publication.
It was also noted that the Council on Sections (COS) would hold their annual meeting in Chicago on February 8-9, 1996.
The Section continues to present well-attended, high quality programs for both the Section members as well as the general pediatrician. Topics presented at the Annual Meeting include:
The Section will be organizing a computer lab during the 1997 Spring Session. Dr. Weinberg solicited volunteers to assist with the lab and to make presentations. The following persons agreed to volunteer their time: Drs. Paperny, Spooner, Stetson, and Zurhellen.
| ACTION: | Drs. Paperny, Spooner, Stetson, and Zurhellen will assist with the SCOT Computer Lab at the 1997 Spring Session. |
Discussion ensued regarding email access at future AAP meetings. It was agreed that making terminals available in the exhibit area where members could access their email would benefit meeting participants. Dr. Weinberg agreed to contact the Division of Meetings and Travel to pursue the arrangements.
| ACTION: | Dr. Weinberg will contact the Division of Meetings and Travel to pursue providing email access to meeting participants at future AAP meetings. |
The executive committee discussed proposals for the 1997 Annual Meeting. Topics for consideration included virtual reality in regard to patient education, managed care profiles, and internet/intranet in the office setting. It was agreed that Drs. Feldman and Zurhellen would submit program proposals to the Academy.
| ACTION: | Drs. Feldman and Zurhellen will solidify the 1997 Annual Meeting proposals and submit to the AAP prior to November 6, 1996. |
The executive committee was also interested in the results from the recent membership survey regarding educational interests and directed staff to circulate the membership report.
| ACTION: | Staff will circulate the recent AAP membership survey delineating the members' educational interests. |
Dr. Weinberg requested that the section spend some of its noncore funds to purchase equipment for the Computer Lab. It was noted that a Zip drive would aid in the installation of computer lab software. The executive committee agreed to allocate $1,000 to purchase this equipment.
| ACTION: | Staff will make available $1,000 of the Section's noncore funds to purchase equipment for the computer lab. |
It was also reported that traffic in the Lab was good and that attendees were "scanned" using the exhibit floor card reader. Information on these visitors will be downloaded to a disk and provided to Academy staff to conduct a membership recruitment mailing.
| ACTION: | Staff will coordinate a membership recruitment mailing using the information that is scanned during the 1996 Annual Meeting. |
Beginning in the year 2000, the Academy's Spring Session will combine with the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS). The AAP has been invited to submit programming ideas to the PAS for their 1998-1999 annual meetings in anticipation of the merger in the year 2000. The intent for involving Sections/the Academy is to broaden the clinical focus of the presentations so that the AAP co-sponsored events would have increased appeal for the general pediatrician. PAS topic areas include educational workshops, educational symposia, topic symposia and state of the art plenaries. A special programming submission form will be developed and sent to the Section and Program Chairs.
Dr. Aronson reiterated that the recent AAP bylaw change had been approved and that all section executive committee terms would be extended to three years from two. The executive committee will hold elections in 1997 and staff will provide Dr. Aronson a list of vacant positions prior to the spring meeting.
| ACTION: | Staff will provide Dr. Aronson a list of vacant executive committee positions prior to the spring meeting. |
The executive committee discussed potential recipients of the 1998 Byron B. Oberst Award. Inviting Bill Gates to the section's program at a future Annual Meeting was suggested and discussed. Mr. Gates could speak on his concepts of the future of computers and medicine and could be chosen as the recipient of a future Oberst Award. Criteria and description of the Oberst Award were discussed.
The executive committee reviewed demographic information on the section membership provided by the Academy. Sixteen membership applications were reviewed and approved by the group, bringing total membership to 337. It was noted that the section had few west coast applications.
Member benefits were also discussed by the executive committee. Suggested benefits included pediatric radiology cases on diskette and medical clip art. It was agreed that a flyer offering the diskettes free of charge would be provided to new section members. The importance of member communication was reiterated and executive committee members were encouraged to provide articles to AAP News and to SCOTe News. The executive committee reconfirmed their commitment to publish two newsletters a year.
| ACTION: | Staff will oversee production and distribution of the print version of the section's newsletter. |
Deb Fischer, Director of the Division of Computer Services, joined the executive committee to discuss computer initiatives at the Academy. It was noted that development and installation of the new core business system was on schedule. The accounting software implementation was planned for October 1996 and membership and meetings/travel were projected to be complete June 1, 1997. It was also noted that a web editor and a web master would be hired to establish a home page for the Academy.
The executive committee discussed the importance of the world wide web initiative and voiced concern over the lack of a strategic plan and corresponding business plan addressing the site's architecture, implementation, and goals. The Section also agreed that guidelines needed to be established regarding the following issues:
The executive committee recommended that a task force be established to address these issues.
| RECOMMENDATION: | That the Academy establish a task force to develop a strategic plan and corresponding business plan that addresses the architecture, implementation, and goals of the Academy's web site and addresses guidelines for linkage to and from other web pages, member/nonmember access, content guidelines, and an editorial process. |
The Academy's activities on POL were discussed. The executive committee discussed the Academy's decision to use POL and noted that POL provided a secure environment for physicians while also addressing proprietary issues. The committee hoped that the increased technical support from the web editor and web master would allow materials to be posted on POL properly and in a timely fashion. The section executive committee recommended modifications in the arrangements with POL to allow resident access to POL. Furthermore, it recommended that the AAP web page content be included on POL to allow the AAP membership the ability to access Academy information on both POL and through the internet.
| RECOMMENDATION: | That the Academy modify its arrangements with POL to allow access to Resident Section members. |
| RECOMMENDATION: | That the AAP web page content be included on POL to allow AAP members the ability to access Academy information on both POL and through the internet. |
Dr. Ken Hayashida was introduced as the section's liaison to the Resident Section.
It was reported that the statement, "Facsimiles and Medical Record Privacy ", jointly sponsored by the Committee on Practice and Ambulatory Medicine, was currently at Board level pending approval.
The current status of the statement the minimal record set for electronic transfer of computerized medical records was unclear. It was believed that the now disbanded Task Force on Medical Informatics had been charged with its completion. Staff will investigate the status of the statement.
| ACTION: | Staff will investigate the status of the statement "The Minimal Record Set for Electronic Transfer of Computerized Medical Records" and report to the section executive committee. |
The Academy initiative to review and evaluate practice software was applauded by the executive committee. It was reported that the Council on Pediatric Practice was implementing a process by which vendors could submit their software for review. The Academy would evaluate demo disks of the products, on-site, live usage of the software, and interview users of the products to establish a numerical score for each product. A written commentary would be provided by the Academy for those requiring additional software information. It was also noted that SCOT members were encouraged to assist with the reviewing process.
It was planned that the software review group would consist of 20-25 people who would receive honoraria for their participation on the software review group. Reviewers would be required to complete a course that would address the criteria and evaluation process at the 1997 AAP Spring Session in San Diego, California.
Background: "Bright Futures" is the standard for pediatric preventive care and anticipatory guidance for children and adolescents. "Bright Futures" is endorsed by the AAP and many public and private organizations. The National Center for Maternal and Child Health (Pam Mangu, Project Manager) has a contract to disseminate "Bright Futures" standards and to educate the public on their use. The National Center is funded, in part, by grants and contributions, including but not limited to Pfizer Corporation.
"Youth Health Advisor" is a multi-media, interactive preventive care software product developed by SCOT Executive Committee member David Paperny MD for teens and young adults. Dr. Paperny's research, based upon Youth Health Advisor, has been presented at AAP meetings and elsewhere on numerous occasions. "Youth Health Advisor" strengthens and facilitates the physician-patient relationship and improves the efficiency with which patients can be seen for preventive care. Data clearly demonstrates significant and positive behavior change by participants due to use of the program. Dr. Paperny reports that the software "engine" used by Youth Health Advisor is easily customized to permit different text and video messages, as needed. Therefore, an opportunity exists to modify "Youth Health Advisor" as "Child Health Advisor." At the Spring 1996 SCOT Executive Committee meeting, Dr. Paperny was requested to develop a limited prototype a "Child Health Advisor" using text from "Bright Futures." The development of innovative, multi-media, interactive preventive care software products for sale by AAP is consistent with the business plan of the AAP. The SCOT Executive Committee makes the following recommendation:
| RECOMMENDATION: |
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The executive committee addressed the following resolutions:
Resolution #15
Insurers to Allow Fax/Electronic Communications to Replace Need for Voice Phone Contacts for Referrals and Verifications
Resolution #16
Access to Patient Data
Resolution #75
Legislative Assistance to Chapters Provided by SCOT and COSGA
The executive committee discussed electronic referrals, resolution #15, and felt that it was not a significant problem; SCOT is not at this time addressing the resolved of this resolution. The executive committee addressed resolution #16, Access to Patient Data, but agreed that the resolved of this resolution was not within SCOT's purview. With regard to resolution #75, SCOT is addressing the resolved of this resolution through many efforts that will increase the ability of AAP chapter and members to use electronic communications for all issues including legislative affairs. The Section's educational programs and the Computer Lab at the AAP annual and spring meetings help members become familiar with and utilize electronic communication options.
The next meeting of the Section on Computers and Other Technology Executive Committee Meeting will be at the 1997 AAP Spring Session in San Diego, California, May 10-13, 1997.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:00pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Anne McGhiey
Sections Manager, Department of Education