Board of Directors

August 7, 2003

Minutes

The following are informative minutes of the August 7, 2003 meeting of the WCA Board of Directors. Please note that these minutes may not cover all of the subjects discussed or motions passed by the board. The portion of the minutes dealing with confidential attorney-client communications, personnel issues, legislative strategies, communications with legislators, communications with government employees, political contribution strategies and specific complaints or information about individual practitioners is considered confidential by the board. WCA members may obtain detailed minutes by contacting the WCA office.

The meeting was called to order at 8:30 a.m. by WCA President Sherry Walker, DC at the WCA building in Madison. Board member absent Dr. Adams

Motion: Moved by Bronston, seconded by Henrichs to approve the minutes of the June 5, 2003 meeting. Motion carried.

Motion: Moved by Varish, seconded by Bronston to approve the following:

Applicants seeking regular membership:

Kati L. Havel, DC Franklin

Daniel R. Olien, DC New Richmond

Applicants seeking student membership:

William E.S. Aps Parker

Motion carried.

Financial Report

The board discussed the Infectious Diseases in Pediatrics program which will cover some of the more common conditions and diseases seen in the pediatric population. Many of the ailments of the pediatric population respond favorably to conservative treatment protocols. Dr. Frank Strehl will teach the program.

The board will also spend a considerable amount of time at its next meeting discussing chiropractic public awareness ideas and ideas to improve the responsiveness of the WCA to member problems and concerns.

Examining Board Lawsuit

The board received a report on the legal status on the WCA’s lawsuit against the Chiropractic Examining Board. The examining board has passed emergency rules which WCA’s legal counsel believe are improper. The WCA will testify against the emergency rules when examining board holds their public hearing.

PACE

The board discussed the proposal by the FCLB to create a service entitled Providers of Approved Continuing Education (PACE). FCLB believes PACE is necessary to develop a uniform CE approval process. The WCA strongly disagrees with the concept of PACE because it adds significant cost to continuing education without the fundamental reforms necessary to insure the integrity of chiropractic continuing education.

PACE does nothing to address a fundamental problem of chiropractic post graduate education – the proliferation of credentialed post graduate programs without uniform standards or centralized accountability. PACE does not appear to significantly address the methodology to improve continuing education quality. Without this basic accountability for program content and speaker competence, the WCA cannot support this tremendously expensive regulatory process.

Motion: Moved by Bronston, seconded by Lyne to move into executive session for the purposes of discussing legislative strategy. Motion carried.

Worker’s Compensation Bill

The staff updated the board on the latest negotiations over the 2003 WC bill. Management and labor have reached preliminary agreement on a bill that will not have a significant negative impact on the chiropractic profession and will offer positive relief on some long standing problems. As soon as the final details are agreed to, the WCA will announce the results to the members.

Medicare Remark Codes

The WCA has been asked by Medicare to participate in a project to revise the remittance/remark codes used on patient’s explanation of benefit forms. The WCA has made an initial recommendation to Medicare and will work to improve EOB language. The process is national in scope and is not likely to yield a result for at least 12 – 18 months.

Motion: Moved by Bronston, seconded by Masche to move into executive session for the purpose of discussing the WCA 2003 Awards. Motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:50 p.m.