TASA Meeting Minutes June 16th-17th, 2010
Holiday Inn Express, Lebanon
President Rowe opened the meeting up at 15:17.  Members present were Doug McQuary PSP, Brandon Ward VP, Larry Billingsley TR, Dennis Rowe PR, Paul Anderson R1, Chad Graham R6, John Fitzsimmons MG, Lis Henley R5, Derek Merritt R7/8, and Chuck Latimer WG, and Keith Douglas WEBMASTER.
Reading of the minutes of the previous session were deferred to the next meeting as the Secretary has had serious illness in his family.
Larry Billingsley gave the treasurers report; we will have about 10,000 dollars after incoming bills have been paid.
Brandon reported on an audit webinar given by PWW EMS Law on June 23rd.  TASA has asked PWW if we could sponsor holding the webinar in six big groups across the state.  PWW said yes after initially refusing.  This was discussed if we wanted to do this and pay. We called Joe Phillips and asked if we could have this in conjunction with the state EMS board meeting since everyone could be there.  This would be 125$ per site, and we would need six sites.  Derek Merritt put this in form of the motion, Doug McQuary seconded the motion.  Mr. Phillips called during the discussion of the motion and said that we could use the Poplar room next to the Board room.  The motion was passed unanimously.
John Combs is the new Region 3 Rep.  He is the assistant chief of Hamilton County EMS.
John Fitzsimmons introduced the idea that we add Medical Director of the Year to the annual TASA Awards.  We are going to find out who was a pioneer of TASA and also was a physician.  John wanted to discuss this with the award committee and bring it back to the next board meeting. Derek Merritt made a motion that we go ahead and add medical director to the awards committee; this was seconded by Brandon Ward.  All voted in favor.  The committee will look for a sponsor and a legacy name.
The website was discussed. A motion was made to ask John Fitzsimmons to revisit the website and to get with Keith to find out the functionality.  It was agreed the Keith was doing a very good job; we were just not sure that he has what he needs to improve our website.
It was agreed that we schedule the next meeting on August 5th, 2010.  We also scheduled meetings for the rest of the year – September 2, October (during the conference), November 4, December 2nd, January 6th, and February during the Mid Winter.
Individual memberships were discussed in detail.  Pros and cons were discussed and how it would cause a major overhaul of our by-laws.  This was deferred to the individual membership committee.
Not for profit status was discussed.  Everyone agreed that TASA will not be eligible for a 501 C3.  It was discussed what we might be eligible for.
Billing conference was discussed.  The times and dates that the officers should be there prior to and after the conference were set.  We should be there the Sunday before and expect to stay until Wednesday afternoon.  Doug advised that we have not received an agenda for the Medical Director’s Conference from the State.  We discussed on how to get CEUs for the Billing Conference.  TASA will at least issue certificates to conference attendees.
EMS Day on the Hill 2011 was scheduled and discussed.  Wednesday March 9th, 2011 is the tentative day in Nashville at Legislative Plaza.  Our agenda for next year also discussed.  The TennCare crossover will be one thing for sure.  TASA is going to put together a packet with information about EMS and give to the legislature.  This was done in Washington and was very informative and attractive to the representatives.
National EMS Day on the Hill 2010 was discussed.  Larry Billingsley, John Fitzsimmons, Doug McQuary, Dennis Rowe, and Chuck Latimer attended the first national concerted effort.  Several visits were made to Tennessee Congress and Senators.  The major item in Washington was creating a national office and national agenda.
Annual (Mid Winter) Conference will be held February 17-18th.  Officers should be there on the 16th early.  Topics were discussed.  Chad proposed that we have someone present how to gather and measure data.  Right now in Tennessee there are no benchmarks for costs in EMS.  There is no standard formula on cost per trip, for example.  These benchmarks are not all necessarily based on costs, but response times, etc.  It was discussed on how we could get something like this off of the ground.  There are several groups that will educate directors, but the higher tiered ones are very expensive.  It was asked if the regional directors associations would supplement the cost.   Wage and hour laws need to be revisited.
June 17, 2010
Having a pre-conference at the Mid Winter was discussed in detail.  The topic of this pre-conference is benchmarking/management.  There was much discussion on whether or not this needs to be a two or three day conference.  Doug McQuary made a motion that President Rowe speak with the companies who routinely hold pure EMS management tracts, and see if what time frame they can actually hold this tract; and that President Rowe hold a conference call in July when this information is finalized.  This was seconded by John Fitzsimmons.   All voted in favor.
The board discussed on how to improve communications with the members, especially concerning conference registrations.  President Rowe appointed a committee consisting of Larry Billingsley, Brandon Ward, and Paul Anderson to study on how to improve communications.  This might be an office, phone line, or communication service – anyway to bridge and improve communication.
Paul Anderson made a motion that we send a representative or two to the Annual Republican statemen’s dinner on June 25th in Nashville.  Paul also included in his motion that we send someone to the Democrat equivalent if asked.  The invitation needs to be addressed to TASA.  John Fitzsimmons seconded the motion.  Dennis Rowe will attend and Doug McQuary most likely also.  All voted in favor.   The next major Democrat
Brandon brought up the issue of allowing members to call in on a conference line and listen to the monthly board meetings.  President Rowe deferred this to the Communication committee and added Keith Douglas, the TASA webmaster, to the committee as well.
We also discussed rotating the TASA board meeting to each grand division once per year.  The communication committee is also going check into this as well.
The Bylaws committee was charged with reviewing those and the possibility of individual membership.  The bylaws will most likely have to be a re-write.  Since the bylaws cannot be amended until the annual meeting, this can wait until later in the summer; but will be done before the time to send the changes out to the membership.
Locations for the Page, Wolfberg, and Wirth webinar were discussed for June 23rd.  Johnson City, Nashville (EMS office), Jackson, Memphis Fire, Bedford County EMS, and Knoxville have been finalized.  Larry is going to try and get ones for Chattanooga and Crossville as well.
Members present for day two of the Board meeting:Â Â Larry Billingsley, Brandon Ward, Doug McQuary, Chuck Latimer, Derek Merritt, John Fitzsimmons, Paul Anderson, Dennis Rowe, and Keith Douglas.
Location for the August 5th meeting was set so that we could have members call in on a conference line and attend the meeting electronically.  This will either be in Sumner County or Wilson County.
Meeting was adjourned at 11:00.