he ASA Board of Directors held its interim meeting in Chicago, Illinois, on Saturday and Sunday, March 4-5, 2006. Steven J. Barker, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Academic Anesthesiology, announced to the Board that the Society of Academic Anesthesiology Chairs/Association of Anesthesiology Program Directors (SAAC/AAPD) have amended their bylaws to require that all members of SAAC/AAPD also be active members of ASA.

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:

Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief
ASA members were commended for their efforts in assisting those affected by the Hurricane Katrina disaster in the Gulf Coast states since last August. Contributions totaling $301,243 were collected and have since been distributed to donor-designated charities and to the Anesthesia Foundation for grants and loans to anesthesiology residents who were devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Bylaws Amendment for Disaster-Related Delays
Subject to House of Delegates ratification, amendments to the ASA Bylaws were approved that would 1) allow ASA to suspend or cancel the Annual Meeting Scientific Program and postpone the ASA House of Delegates and elections in the event of a natural or manmade disaster and 2) permit ASA officers to serve continuously between annual meetings of the House.

2006 Budget
The Board approved an amended 2006 budget to provide for income of $23,824,925 and expenses of $24,425,890 and approved a recommendation from the Section on Fiscal Affairs that Blackman Kallick Bartelstein, LLP be approved as ASA’s auditor for 2006.

Statement on Deep Sedation Credentialing by Nonanesthesia Professionals
A proposed statement on credentialing nonanesthesia professionals who provide deep sedation was referred back to the Executive Committee. The Board has asked that revised guidelines be developed with clear criteria 1) that differentiate between credentialing and privileging; 2) that can be used by medical facilities who privilege and credential nonanesthesiologists to administer anesthetic drugs for deep sedation; and 3) that can be used by a department of anesthesiology for practice oversight and review of the sedation practices throughout a medical facility. These revised deep sedation credentialing guidelines are to be presented to the Board in August.

ASA Position on Changes in Residency Program Requirements
The Board approved an Administrative Procedure that would have the Committee on Academic Anesthesiology study changes proposed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and recommend a position to the Board. The Board will consider and may modify the response submitted in the committee report. The Board-approved response will be considered ASA’s position on the proposed changes and will be submitted to ACGME. This will allow ASA to make meaningful comments within a reasonable time frame.

ASA Representatives to Other Organizations
The Board approved a number of appointments, including nomination of James P. Rathmell, M.D., and renomination of Audrée A. Bendo, M.D., to terms on the ACGME Anesthesiology Residency Review Committee starting January 1, 2007

House of Delegates Reference Committee Appointments
The Board heard a report from an ad hoc Committee on House Reference Committee Appointments and approved “Guidelines for the Appointment of Reference Committees.”

Anesthesiologist Assistant Education and Practice
Subject to House of Delegates ratification, the Board approved the following statement proposed by the Committee on Anesthesiologist Assistant Education and Practice regarding the scope of practice of anesthesiologist assistants (AAs):

“The policy of ASA regarding the performance of regional anesthesia is governed by the ASA Statement on Regional Anesthesia. In their practice, anesthesiologists should be given the discretion to determine the extent of participation of AAs in the performance of regional anesthesia and invasive monitoring in accordance with their hospital’s policies and state’s regulations. In this regard, ASA encourages component societies to support this concept when helping state regulators either to draft new or to modify existing rules and regulations regarding AA practice.”

The Board, however, disapproved a second proposal from the committee that ASA initiate discussions between the leadership of the Ohio Society of Anesthesiologists and the Ohio Academy of Anesthesiologist Assistants related to a scope-of-practice case currently pending before the Ohio Supreme Court.

Intraoperative Awareness Registry
The Board approved a recommendation from the Committee on Professional Liability to begin work on creating a registry for patients who have experienced awareness under general anesthesia, provided that such a Web-based registry could include technological features to ensure anonymity of registrants. The goal is to gather detailed and relevant information with the aim of increasing our knowledge about intraoperative awareness and its risk factors.

Physician Participation in Executions
The Board referred a resolution from the California Society of Anesthesiologists which asks that ASA declare its opposition to physician participation in legally authorized executions, either by direct action or by performing ancillary functions. The matter has been referred to the Committee on Ethics for a report to the Board in August.

Conflict-of-Interest Form
ASA is creating a new conflict-of-interest form with more specific questions than ASA’s past form so that individuals more readily can identify those personal, business or individual affiliations that might constitute material conflicts of interest with their ASA responsibilities. The disclosure statement was referred to the Administrative Council with suggestions for improvement, and a revised form will be presented to the Board of Directors in August. Signed conflict-of-interest forms are required of officers, committee members and key staff members.

ASA officers and directors met on March 4-5, 2006, in Chicago during the Board of Directors interim meeting.