MINUTES
SMA Council Conference Call
Thursday, February 9, 2012
The meeting was called to order at 7:03 p.m. CT, Thursday, February 9, 2012, by the
President, Michael Gosney, MD. Dr. Gosney welcomed Council members to the call and
thanked everyone for their participation. Dr. Gosney also thanked the three individuals who ran
for the office of President-Elect Designate for the interest and support they showed for SMA.
Roll Call
Members of the Council present: Michael Gosney, MD, President, Muscle Shoals, AL;
Eric E. Lindstrom, MD, Immediate Past President, Laurel, MS; Stuart Goodman, MD, PresidentElect Designate, Potomac, MD; Mark Williams, MD, Indian Springs, AL; Steven Strode, MD,
Sherwood, AR; Ajoy Kumar, MD, St. Petersburg, FL; Donald Swikert, MD, Edgewood, KY;
Fayez Shamieh, MD, Lake Charles, LA; James Conant, MD, St. Joseph, MO; Mason Jett, MD,
Oklahoma City, OK; Wesley Eastridge, MD, Kingsport, TN; Robert Kruger, MD, San Antonio,
Texas; Alonzo Myers, MD, Roanoke, VA; and Lawrence Wyner, MD, Charleston, WVA.
Members of the Council absent: Gary Delaney, MD, President-Elect, Orangeburg, SC;
Jeffrey Brant, MD, Cartersville, GA; Shakaib Rehman, MD, Savannah, GA; Steve Muscoreil,
MD, Thomasville, NC; Mrs. Rose Kuplesky, SMA Alliance President, Simmesport, LA; and G.
Richard Holt, MD, Editor, SMJ.
SMA Staff present: Ed Waldron, Chief Executive Officer; Luke Hartsfield, Chief
Operating Officer; Randy Glick, Chief Information Officer; and Pamela McDonald.
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Approval of Minutes
November 2, 2011
The minutes of the Council Meeting held November 2, 2011, Williamsburg, Virginia,
were distributed prior to the conference call.
ACTION: Motion was made and seconded that the Minutes from the Council Meeting
held November 2, 2011, Williamsburg, Virginia, be approved as printed. The motion passed
unanimously.
It was noted that Minutes from the Council Meeting held November 5, 2011,
Williamsburg, Virginia, had not been included with the Council call material. Those minutes
will need to be approved at the next Council conference call.
Financial Report
Luke Hartsfield
In the absence of Don Casey, Chief Financial Officer, due to his wife’s recent surgery,
the Financial Report was given by Luke Hartsfield, Chief Operating Officer.
The Financial Statements for December 31, 2011 were reviewed. As of December 31,
2011, the Consolidated Net Loss was $(288,000), compared to a Budgeted Net Loss of
$(135,000). SMA had a Net Loss of $(423,000), which was $203,000 in excess of the Budgeted
Net Loss of $(220,000). SMA Services, Inc. is operating with a Net Profit of $135,000, which is
$50,000 ahead of the Budgeted Net Profit of $85,000.
The primary divisions of SMA that contributed to the Net Loss being in excess of the
Budget were:
Annual Meeting – The Net Loss after Overhead was $(218,000), compared to a
budgeted Net Loss after Overhead of $(76,000). Revenues were $197,000 less than budgeted.
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You will note that SMAS Sponsorship for the 2011 Annual Meeting was reduced from $150,000
to $100,000. This was done due to the size, type and number of individuals attending the
meeting.
Other Educational Activities, primarily Seminars and Conferences, had a Net Loss after
Overhead of $(87,000), which was $169,000 less than Budgeted Net Income of $82,000.
Explanation of Variances – Actual versus Budget
Other Educational Activities: Revenues were $265,000 less than budgeted and expenses
were $96,000 less than Budget.
Corrective Action: Other Educational Activities – the only Seminars and Conferences
scheduled for the last half of the fiscal year are two profitable programs done in partnership with
Auburn University.
Membership revenues were budgeted for a 20% increase. Membership decreased by
9.5%. Membership expenses are much less than budgeted. At this time, it was also interjected
that over the last seven (7) years over four (4) million dollars in grant support has been lost from
Pharma. This presents a great deficit. It would take approximately 2,200 members per year to
make up for this loss in revenue.
To date, publication expenses are less than budgeted.
The Endowment Fund revenues are over budget due to the success of the Society of 1924
contributions.
Alliance revenues are under budget because 500 new members were budgeted for this
fiscal year and to date 250 should have paid, but only 132 have been received. Alliance is
$24,000 under expenses.
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In an effort to more closely monitor SMA/SMAS financials, the Coordinating Committee
on Budget and Administration will meet more frequently.
Recap of Sale Assets and Corporate Relocation
Ed Waldron, Chief Executive Officer
The sale was successful. Everything we said we would do was brought to fruition. With
the exception of approximately $20,000 in legal fees which were not anticipated, it was the right
move, at the right time, with the right buyer. A copy of the Final Closing Statement will be
attached as part of these minutes.
Until SMA can support itself stringent measures will be in place. We need to be revenue
neutral based on SMA’s performance.
Future Directions
Michael Gosney, MD, President
Dr. Gosney reviewed his vision of the direction of SMA during the coming year.

SMA needs to minimize expenses and costs of face-to-face meetings

Place any available money into internet activities, including multi-media presentations
for educational and informational issues important to physicians

The new website is up and running

Councilors need to explore and probe to comment on the site and make suggestions for
improvement.

Increase visibility of SMA through – website; multi-media presentations of important
issues affecting physicians and patients; Healthcare Summit in Nashville

Place SMA on the radar of physicians and healthcare stakeholders.
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Expectation of Councilors:
Participation:
Board Meetings with attendance, read information, ask questions
Ask that each Councilor supply each month:
One (1) opinion on a pressing issue
One (1) position on an issue important to physicians
One (1) article we should highlight or feature
Look at website and make suggestions on how to improve your experience
Participate in meetings and programs:
March – Medico-Legal Aspects of Medicine (12 Councilors are attending)
June – Comparative Healthcare Systems
July – Female Patient
September – CME Rafting Trip, Idaho
November – Healthcare Summit in Nashville; South Regional Burn Conference
December – Medical Dilemmas, New York, New York
Implement Board education on financial statements and non-profit and for-profit financial
issues. We will preview this at the next Budget and Administration meeting and schedule a
webinar for Council in March or April.
Implement education on duties a Board Member owes to the organization. This will start in
March at the Medico-Legal Aspects of Medicine Meeting on Sunday evening.
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Budget and Administration will meet monthly to closely review finances and make changes
to the present budget and ongoing activities to avoid or minimize any losses this year and plan
for the coming year.
Board Meetings – plan every two (2) months and at least once a quarter; may have webex or
webinar meetings.
Plan a monthly newsletter from Ed and me on the activities of the Association to keep the
Council more informed between meetings.
Last three (3) months:
We have made progress in:
Reassessing and revamping the December Medical Dilemmas Meeting – reviewing the
financials, attendance, and relooking at venue contracting to make this meeting more
attractive than first thought in November.
Selling the property
Relocating the association to the top floor
Reworking and launching the website
Developing an adventure CME program
Initial planning on the Summit with Nashville location being selected
Medico-Legal Aspects Conference in finalized form except for a couple of speakers
Developing Board educational sessions for financial matters and Board legal
responsibilities.
Developing ideas on how to promote the value physicians and physician families bring to
society.
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As Ed says, we want to let physicians know that we at SMA have their backs on issues
important to them.
We will look at partnering with, promoting and including other physicians and
organizations that can provide synergy to our association, issues and message.
Want to build an organization that physicians want to belong to and participate in.
SMA must stand for something and express an opinion or a position. We must get physicians’
interests and excited about things to promote membership and viewership on our website.
This year is going to be about defining our positions, identifying our market, and promoting
SMA and its ideals as best we can to this market.
We have a window of opportunity to present ourselves as a multi-specialty organization
that can represent many physicians and issues that are important and vital to the medical
profession. That we can give individual physicians a collective voice and give their issues a
direction and a focus.
Old Business
Luke encouraged Council members to participate in the SMA IRA program. Information
on the program will be sent to all Council members on Friday.
The app for SMA is available on iTunes and the app store; the journal app was launched
February 8, 2012. We are working on a CME mobile app.
Adjournment
There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, the meeting was
adjourned by Dr. Gosney at 7:50 p.m. CT.
Submitted by Pamela McDonald in accordance with the Newly Revised Robert’s Rules of Order
February 13, 2012 (recording on file)
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