ASA Moves Into Its Second Hundred Years With Increasing Membership, Service and Value

Peter L. Hendricks, M.D.

Membership
It was less than a month ago that I was writing a special NEWSLETTER article to share the exciting news that ASA membership had gone over 25,000 active members and 40,000 total members — both all-time records. As you can see by the “ASA at a Glance” article on page 13 of this NEWSLETTER, the numbers have continued to grow with respect to both the April 2004 and the more current February 2005 numbers. The significance of this year’s numbers as compared to last is that ASA has an increasing number of active and resident members in the face of an increase in the number of retired members. That is not to make light of any membership category as “every” member in his/her way is an important part of the lifeblood of this great Society. (Of note: medical student membership increased by 25 percent, and they, too, are an important part of the future of this Society). The active and resident members, however, have the primary responsibility of carrying forward the renowned work and achievements of those who came before as well as advancing the future of this distinguished profession to new heights in patient care and safety, anesthesia research and professional integrity.

The bottom line for our Society is that our strength and ability to “make a difference” is in our numbers, so every member in our new all-time record counts and contributes to that strength. To the Membership Department at the ASA Executive Office in Park Ridge, Illinois, to each component and to every member who has “bugged” his/her group or another anesthesiologist to join, thank you for a job well done. It is indeed a special record coming in our centennial year. In the words of an old advertisement, “We’ve come a long way, baby”; and we still have a wonderful journey ahead in this magnificent profession.

Service
Over the last year, ASA has done some exciting things to improve service to its members.

1. ASA is developing online membership applications to assist anesthesiologists to:

a. More easily join the ASA and its components as an active, affiliate or resident member;
b. More easily change components within ASA;
c. More easily become a retired member of ASA; and
d. More easily join ASA and its active military component (Uniformed Services Society of Anesthesiologists).

These simplified online applications will be sent electronically to the appropriate component for expedited consideration.

2. The ASA Committee on Membership, with the concurrence of the 2004 House of Delegates, will work with all the ASA component officers to reach an understanding or agreement to:

a. Standardize membership requirements among components;
b. Reduce the turnaround time for all application requests to 60 days or less; and
c. Agree to dues reciprocity for all members changing components, i.e., if an ASA member has four paid months remaining in his/her former component, he/she will be given credit for four months’ dues in the new component.

When enacted, these agreements or understandings are designed to make it easier for all anesthesiologists to join and remain a member of ASA and its components.

3. Additional items of interest for future discussions between ASA and its components will be to:

a. Expand Web-based component information;
b. Explore enticements for residents to quickly join components; and
c. Develop ground rules for members whose dues have lapsed to “return to the fold” more easily.

4. The 2004 ASA House of Delegates authorized ASA to provide administrative assistance to components of less than 100 members. The pilot components selected were Puerto Rico and Alaska. It is with pleasure that I tell you this has been asked for and given under the terms of the House of Delegates — another way that ASA and its components help each other to be strong.

Value
Last but not least, ASA and its components continue to provide “value” far beyond the level of dues paid. Two years ago, I listed in my “Administrative Update” the items of value provided to each member that far exceeded the dues paid. Items included were a world-class Annual Meeting, the journal Anesthesiology, the NEWSLETTER and all the benefits and information received from an extensive committee and task force system. An additional value is the money you save and the benefits your patients receive by having an aggressive and effective Washington Office staff who fight tirelessly against Medicare reimbursement cuts and onerous regulations.

You receive value for each dollar of your dues that supports our foundations, whose good works advance our science, our safety information, our research and our history. If that were not enough, ASA standards, guidelines and practice parameters — developed and updated by your fellow members who give literally thousands of volunteer hours — save you thousands of malpractice liability dollars. The value at the component level is variable but extremely important because it provides the necessary structure and representation.

Taken together and throwing in friendship and camaraderie, there is truly no way to calculate the value of ASA and its components. Certainly the monetary value to each of us far exceeds our combined ASA and component dues.

Etc.
A bit of follow-up trivia to my May 2005 article. If you examine the dues paid in terms of 2005 dollars, you might consider the possibility that your dues are actually coming down (see box below).

The Bottom Line
Now a member? Stay a member!
Not a member? Join now — it is easy!
Want to be a member? Call ASA — we are ready when you are.

Again, well done to all, and may each of you enjoy a wonderful journey in our magnificent profession.



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