SNMMI Board of Directors Meeting
Saturday, January 24, 2015
Grand Hyatt San Antonio, Texas
Minutes
Members in Attendance: Peter Herscovitch, MD, FACP, FRCPC; Hossein Jadvar, MD, PhD, MPH,
MBA, FACNM; Sally Schwarz, MS, RPh, BCNP; Michael L. Middleton, MD, FACNM; Gary L. Dillehay,
MD, FACNM, FACR; April Mann, MBA, CNMT, NCT, RT(N), FSNMMI-TS; Hazem Chehabi, MD, FACNM;
Vasken Dilsizian, MD; Leonie Gordon, MD, FACNM; Jon Baldwin, DO; Munir Ghesani, MD, FACNM;
Satoshi Minoshima, MD, PhD; Helen R. Nadel, MD; Alan Packard, PhD; Todd Peterson, PhD; Aaron
Scott, CNMT, NMAA, FSNMMI-TS; Anthony Sicignano, BS, CNMT, RT(N); Virginia Pappas, CAE.
Members Not in Attendance: Cindi Luckett-Gilbert, MHA, CNMT, PET, FSNMMI-TS; Jeffrey P.
Norenberg, PharmD, PhD
Guests: Kevin Donohoe, MD; David Brandon, MD; Katherine Zukotynski, BASc, MD, FRCPC, Adam
Kesner, PhD; George Segall, MD, FACNM.
Staff in Attendance: Sukhjeet Ahuja; Judy Brazel; Sue Bunning; Bonnie Clarke, Matt Dickens; Ann
Latham; Mary McMahon; Rebecca Maxey; Vince Pistilli, CPA; Joanna Spahr; Nikki Wenzel Lamb;
Catherine Castrence; Erin Shearin; Helen Leonard
1. Welcome and Call to Order
Peter Herscovitch, MD, FACP, FRCPC, SNMMI President, called the meeting to order at 7:15pm
2. Establishment of a Quorum
Michael Middleton, MD, FACNM, SNMMI Secretary/Treasurer confirmed that a quorum was present.
a. Approval of Agenda and Standing Rules
A motion was made to approve the January 24, 2015 SNMMI Board of Directors agenda.
It was moved, seconded and voted to approve the January 24, 2015 SNMMI Board of
Directors agenda.
A motion was made to approve the standing rules.
It was moved, seconded and voted to approve the standing rules.
3. Committee on Finance
Dr. Middleton presented the SNMMI financials for FY14. For FY14, SNMMI achieved an operating
surplus of approximately $56,000 compared to a budgeted surplus of $152,284. FY14 revenue and
expense were below budget by approximately $566,000 and $281,600, respectively. During FY14,
approximately $188,000 of unrestricted net assets was used as seed capital to fund the startup of the
Dept. of Evidence and Quality.
a. Approval of Audit Report
Dr. Middleton reported that the audit of the FY14 financial statements has been completed
and the financial statements have received a clean opinion.
A motion was made to approve the Audit Report for FY2014.
It was moved, seconded and voted to approve the Audit Report for FY2014.
b. Update on FY2015 Year-to-date Financials
Dr. Middleton reported that as of October 31, 2014, SNMMI was at $1,131,239 (revenue) and
$641,565 (expenses) totaling a net change of $489,674 compared to a budget of $492,140.
c. Approval of No Dues Change for FY2016
A motion was made to not increase the dues for FY2016
Discussion included the comment that not raising dues was a positive step in membership
retention.
It was moved, seconded and voted to not increase membership dues for FY2016.
4. Report from SNMMI-TS President
April Mann, MBA, CNMT, NCT, RT(N), President, SNMMI Technologist Section (TS) reported on the
Joint Commission proposed revisions to diagnostic imaging services and how the SNMMI is most
concerned with Standards 19 and 21 of the proposed revisions related to CT exams and SPECT. . In
addition, the Technologist Section is excited to announce a new ARRT/SNMMI-TS Grant to support
nuclear medicine technologists pursuing additional educational opportunities. The grant consists of
thirteen, $500 awards for each of the SNMMI Chapters. This grant is funded by the American
Registry for Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) and will launch in February 2015 for four weeks.
Finally, the Technologist Section continues to plan for the 2015 SNMMI Annual Meeting and, for the
first time, the SNMMI-TS will partner with ASNC to host a full day session entitled, Nuclear Cardiology
in 2015: Achieving Quality, Safety and Dose Optimization. Rosemary Gibson, MS., will be the
plenary speaker.
5. Report from House of Delegates Meeting
Leonie L. Gordon, MD, SNMMI Speaker of the House of Representatives, spoke about the new
online reporting form that each council and center used to report their goals as they relate to the
SNMMI strategic plan, and progress to date.
6. Report from Guidance Oversight Committee
Kevin Donohoe, MD, gave a brief report of the Guidance Oversight Committee. The Committee is
tasked with researching and writing its own appropriate use criteria for the guidelines document (four
appropriate use criteria in the next 6-9 months). As of now, the committee needs to look at how to
incorporate the current guidelines into clinical support tools This is a very important business decision
as the Secretary of Health and Human Services will be involved in deciding which guidelines are
accepted if there are competing guidelines.
7. Alternate Nuclear Medicine Training Pathway Proposal from ABR
Dr. Herscovitch informed the board that the alternate pathway proposal will be discussed during an
Executive Session towards the end of the meeting.
8. 2022 Annual Meeting “Narrowing Down” Resolution
Alan Packard, PhD, General Program Chair gave a brief background for this resolution to approve the
cities of Phoenix, Arizona and Vancouver, BC (vs. San Diego) as the final two cities to be considered
for the 2022 SNMMI Annual Meeting.
A motion was made to approve Phoenix, Arizona and Vancouver, BC Canada as the final two cities to
be considered for the 2022 Annual Meeting.
It was moved, seconded and voted to approve Phoenix, Arizona and Vancouver, BC as the
final two cities to be considered for the 2022 SNMMI Annual Meeting.
9. Membership Committee
Vasken Dilsizian, MD, Chair of the SNMMI Membership Committee explained that the Membership
Committee would like to offer in-training residents and scientist students a tiered dues structure. The
reason for the resolution is because residents in training are having difficulty finding jobs. The new
dues structure will allow in-transition residents and scientist students to pay dues via a yearly tiered
dues program based on the regular dues rate that is in effect. During the tiered dues period, the
member will continue to receive an online subscription to the JNM. The resolution was previously
approved by both the SNMMI Membership Committee and Finance Committee.
A motion was made to approve the Tiered Resident Dues Structure Resolution.
It was moved, seconded and voted to approve the Tiered Resident Dues Structure Resolution.
10. Membership Task Force Report
Munir Ghesani, MD, FACNM and Helen Nadel, MD, Co-chairs, SNMMI Membership Task Force
presented the report. The Membership Task Force had several working groups : full SNMMI
members, ABNM certified, young professionals, international, scientists, radiologists, annual meeting
attendees, women in nuclear medicine, and cardiology. Each of these groups were surveyed about
SNMMI membership and some common themes and issues were: pricing of the annual meeting vs.
membership dues, the need to re-evaluate the dues model, perceived value and benefits, limited
funds, personal connection with SNMMI, job market, annual meeting, and aging membership.
The overarching discussion in all groups surveyed focused on membership dues and annual meeting
registration fees. The Task Force recommends reviewing the dues structure to “bundle” costs in
various combinations taking into account socioeconomic factors.
The SNMMI Board of Directors agreed to start implementing some of these initiatives now.
11. Education and Research Foundation Update
Hazem H. Chehabi, MD, FACNM, President, Education and Research Foundation for Nuclear
Medicine and Molecular Imaging (ERF), thanked the SNMMI Board of Directors for working hard to
maintain positive communication and a respectful relationship between the SNMMI and ERF Board of
Directors. A series of joint leadership meetings between the SNMMI and ERF will take place to
discuss SNMMI’s Fundraising Plan of Work and ERF’s proposed Joint Communications Plan. The
ERF has created the Walter Wolf Memorial Fund to provide grants to young professionals in the field .
12. New Business
There was no new business.
13. Adjourn
The SNMMI Board of Directors went into executive session at 9:02pm.