he ASA Board of Directors held its annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois, on Saturday and Sunday, August 21-22, 2004. The Board committees on Administrative Affairs, Finance, Legislative Review and Scientific Affairs met as Review Committees on Saturday to review reports for consideration by the Board of Directors on Sunday. Among the actions taken by the Board of Directors were the following:

Statement on Safe Use of Propofol
Approved a proposed statement prepared by the Committee on Ambulatory Surgical Care to supplement the earlier AANA-ASA Joint Statement Regarding Propofol Administration, dated April 14, 2004 <www.ASAhq.org/news/propofolstatement.htm>. The newer proposed statement is subject to ratification by the House of Delegates.

CME in Anesthesiology
A monthly, Web-based continuing medical education (CME) product will be offered for category 1 credit (up to 12 CME credits per year) through the journal Anesthesiology. Each month one article or publication and perhaps an accompanying editorial or commentary will be chosen for the CME program. Submission will be available via the Internet, and credit will be awarded by successfully answering a series of questions (at least 50 percent). This program is set to be launched by the journal early in 2005.

Ad Hoc Committe on Anesthesiology in Trauma and Emergency Medicine
Approved a recommendation that an ad hoc committee be appointed to consider the role of anesthesiology in trauma and emergency medicine, particularly as it relates to terrorism, mass casualties and biological and nuclear weapons. This committee will report to the March 2005 meeting of the Board of Directors with the expectation that a standing committee dealing with these areas would be created by the House of Delegates in October 2005. Testimony indicated that ASA should coordinate efforts regarding disaster preparedness with the American Medical Association.

Task Force to Study Payment Methodology
A special Reference Committee has been added to the House of Delegates schedule in October to address this issue. The task force has reviewed possible advantages/disadvantages of changing from the current coding and valuation of anesthesiology services to a system that would integrate into the current Resource-Based Relative Value Scale.

2004 and 2005 Budgets
Approved amendments to the 2004 budget to provide for total expenditures of $21,556,875. The 2005 expense budget of $23,035,160 was approved and will be forwarded to the House of Delegates for adoption. The 2005 budget includes funding for the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF), the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) and the Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology (WLM) as follows:

APSF	$400,000
FAER	$1,050,000
WLM	$400,000

Medical Student Delegation
Approved the following resolution from the Resident Component recommending a medical student delegation for more formal representation of the medical student members in the activities of ASA.
RESOLVED, that

1. A Medical Student Delegation consisting of five members be created to represent the Medical Student Members of ASA within the ASA Resident Component House of Delegates.

2. ASA assist with the creation of a listserve to facilitate communication among Medical Student Members.

3. ASA establish a Medical Student Forum, where medical students may meet and discuss concerns specific to them, to take place annually at the ASA Annual Meeting.

Monitored Anesthesia Care and Conscious Sedation
Approved a recommendation to adopt a statement called “Distinguishing Monitored Anesthesia Care (MAC) From Moderate Sedation/Analgesia (Conscious Sedation)” to address the issue of conscious sedation by a second provider. This statement does not replace the current “Position on Monitored Anesthesia Care” approved by the House of Delegates in 1986 and last amended in 2003. The supplemental statement is subject to House ratification.

Public Policy Fellowship
Approved a new governmental affairs program that would award an ASA member a public policy fellowship of up to 12 months in Washington, D.C., working in a congressional or federal executive branch office for the purpose of gaining an understanding of national health policy issues and how they are addressed by the nation’s political system. The fellowship would be awarded once every other year.

ASA’s 100th Anniversary
ASA’s 100th Anniversary Celebration (1905-2005) will be launched at the ASA Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, with activities and promotions scheduled for the entire year. A new centennial logo will appear on ASA documents and correspondence (see inset). “ASA100” lapel pins will be distributed to all registrants at the Annual Meeting, with other commemorative items to be offered through an online Centennial Store. ASA also will work with FAER on a project to raise funds for the four ASA-affiliated foundations as well as raise public awareness of the medical specialty of anesthesiology.

Committee on Governmental Affairs
Approved a bylaws change that creates a new committee membership status for the Committee on Governmental Affairs and by allowing the addition of “component members” to the committee. These nonvoting members would represent their state components in matters related primarily to state legislative issues.

Committee on Practice Parameters
Several new practice parameters are being created. They will address the following topics (with expected completion date and task force chair noted in parentheses): Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices (October 2004, James R. Zaidan, M.D.); Obstructive Sleep Apnea (October 2005, Jeffrey B. Gross, M.D.); Perioperative Blindness (October 2005, Mark A. Warner, M.D.); and Brain Function Monitoring and Intraoperative Awareness (October 2005, Jeffrey L. Apfelbaum, M.D.). Also being revised are the Practice Guidelines for Blood Component Therapy (October 2005, Gregory A. Nuttall, M.D.).

Simulator Training Program
Approved a proposal from the Section on Education and Research that a task force be established to formally pursue a set of recommendations and a formal business plan for the development of a standardized national anesthesiology human patient simulator training program, with a report back to the Board of Directors by August 2005.

Support for Component Societies
Approved an administrative procedure to provide administrative assistance to component societies of 100 or fewer active members that do not have such assistance available through their state medical society. Support would include routine membership and dues collection activities with an hourly fee charged by ASA for providing this support.

Liaison Representatives
Mark J. Lema, M.D., Ph.D., and Richard W. Rosenquist, M.D., were elected to two-year terms as representatives to the Pain Care Coalition. Joseph P. Annis, M.D., and Robert K. Stoelting, M.D., were elected to three-year terms as representatives to the Perioperative Council on Patient Safety initiated by ASA, the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) and the American College of Surgeons. Steven R. Rettke, M.D., was elected to serve a three-year term, beginning in October, as a representative to the United Network for Organ Sharing.