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Board Briefings – Summer 2018

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The following is a synopsis of issues, policies, and positions that the Board of Trustees has acted on since the last reporting.

2018 Board of Trustees Election Results

Ballots for the 2018 Board of Trustees election have been counted and the election results ratified. Newly elected trustees are:

2018 Election Results

The newly elected trustees will be installed at the Annual Business Meeting Luncheon held in conjunction with the 2018 ASET Annual Conference, August 16 – 18, in New Orleans, LA.

ASET Board Adopts ASNM Positon Statement on Business Practices

This past spring there has been an increase in reporting in certain parts of the country on the trend in surgeons taking ownership stakes in small LCC subsidiaries through which they are able to profit from the IONM that they refer on their own surgical cases. In response, the American Society of Neurophysiological Monitoring (ASNM) adopted a new position statement on business practices relating to neuromonitoring. The statement reads in part:

“It is the position of the ASNM that business practices related to the provision of IONM should be performed in accordance with the AMA Code of Medical Ethics. By extension, it is the position of the ASNM that the existence of certain financial arrangements (i.e., kickbacks or self-referrals) between an IONM provider and a referring physician/surgeon, whether direct or indirect, have the potential to endanger patient safety. Specifically, kickbacks and self-referrals create the potential for over-utilization and substandard patient care when a physician/surgeon refers a case to an IONM provider based on financial considerations. The ASNM does not condone kickback arrangements, irrespective of whether or not 1) patients give informed consent for their healthcare provider(s) to engage in these practices and 2) the kickback arrangement is technically considered legal in any state or jurisdiction. Self-referral arrangements should be structured properly with the advice of counsel and with patient care always foremost.”

Read the complete position statement here.

While ASET’s Statement of Professional Ethics calls to “Maintain professional integrity by avoiding circumstances where there may be compromise of professional conduct or where incidence of fraud, deception, and conflict of interest may arise,” the Society does not have a position statement on the specific topic of referrals by physicians who may have a financial interest in a monitoring service. Hence, during its May 23, 2018 quarterly monitoring webinar, the ASET Board of Trustees unanimously endorsed ASNM’s position statement.

ASET Board Endorses AAST Polysomnography Job Descriptions and Competencies

As has been reported in previous issues of this newsletter, the ASET Standards & Practices Committee has been revising and updating the job descriptions for neurodiagnostics personnel. Rather than reinvent the wheel, the committee requested review and recommendation from the Polysomnography Interest Section leaders and committee’s subject matter experts (SMEs) as to whether ASET should continue to maintain its own set of job descriptions and competencies for sleep technologist or consider endorsing the job descriptions and national competencies promulgated by the American Association of Sleep Technologists (AAST). As a result of the SME review, the Standards & Practices Committee recommended, and the ASET Board of Trustees voted unanimously, to endorse the following AAST job descriptions for polysomnography: Sleep Trainee; Sleep Technician; Sleep Health Educator; Sleep Center Manager/Director; and Sleep Program Ancillary Staff. The board also voted unanimously to approve the Standards & Practices Committee recommendation to endorse the following AAST core competencies: Age Specific Care and Evaluation; CO2 Monitoring; Home Sleep Apnea Testing (HSAT); Maintenance, Cleaning, and Safety Procedures; PAP Titration; Patient Assessment and Vital Signs Measurement and Documentation; Polysomnography; Pulse Oximetry; Scoring Sleep States and Clinical Events; and Supplemental Low Flow Oxygen Titration.

Policy on Criteria for Including Programs on List of Neurodiagnostic Schools Adopted

In order to provide clarification to interested parties as to what criteria must be met in order to be included on ASET’s website listing of formal neurodiagnostic programs, at its May 23, 2018 quarterly monitoring webinar, the Board unanimously adopted the following policy, “ASET maintains a list of formal Neurodiagnostic Technology Programs on its website to promote the growth of a qualified neurodiagnostic workforce. The listings include both seated programs and on-line programs, CAAHEP accredited programs and those that have not obtained CAAHEP accreditation.  ASET requires that the minimum length of the program be 12 months to be included on the list, with the exception of CAAHEP accreditation for a program shorter than 12 months. The amount of knowledge and skill required to meet basic competency is significant and any less time spent in a formal program would be insufficient to produce an adequately trained technologist.”  Questions about the new policy should be directed to ASET’s Director of Education Faye Mc Nall, MEd, R. EEG T., FASET, at [email protected] or 816.931.1120, ext. 108.

Bylaws Amendment To Be Voted On At Annual Business Meeting

Per Article 18, Section 2, of the ASET Bylaws, amendments to the bylaws that “effect a re-definition or cancellation of all or part of the membership categories” require a full vote of the membership in order to be adopted. Amendments requiring a vote of the membership are to be circulated to the membership at least thirty days in advance of the annual business meeting of the Society. The following Bylaws amendments as already unanimously approved by the ASET Board of Trustees will be placed before the membership for a vote at the 2018 Annual Business Meeting of the Society. The business meeting will be held in conjunction with the ASET 2018 Annual Conference on Thursday, August 16, beginning at 12 noon in the Celestin DE Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency New Orleans:

ASET Bylaws –

Article 5, Members

Section 2 Qualifications, Rights and Privileges of Membership

d.    Charter/Lifetime: Any person who participated in the organizational meeting in Atlantic City in June 1959 is considered a lifetime member. In addition, the past presidents of ASET shall be deemed lifetime members. As such, they maintain a Lifetime Active Membership and shall be entitled to all membership privileges including the right to vote, to hold office and committee appointments and receive the official publications of the Society. Lifetime Active members shall not be eligible to serve as an officer, and will be ineligible to serve for trustee for twenty (20) years upon their expired term as Immediate Past President.

Article 8, Officers

Section 3, Eligibility

a.     Only Active members in good standing, with recent experience [preferably within the past five years] on the ASET board, shall be eligible to serve as officers of this Society. Lifetime Active members are ineligible to serve or be appointed as officers.

Article 9, Board of Trustees

Section 9, Eligibility

a.     Only an Active member in good standing who has maintained membership for three out of the five years immediately preceding the election shall be eligible to serve as a trustee. Lifetime Active members are ineligible to serve or be appointed as trustee for twenty (20) years upon their expired term as Immediate Past President.

Key: Strikethrough text represents current bylaws language proposed to be deleted. Bold text represents new language proposed to be adopted.

It is important to note that the proposed bylaws amendments are based on the belief that for past presidents there should be more time between service on the board than just the current three years specified in the bylaws for trustees at-large so there is greater opportunity for more members to serve as trustees.

ASET Members Have Free Access to OSET E-Learning Portal

As an organization member of the International Organisation of Societies for Electrophysiological Technology (OSET), members of ASET are provided free access to the OSET E-leaning portal, located at osetedu.org. ASET members will need to register one time in order to first gain access to the portal. You also will need a password. The password for access to the portal for 2018 through January 2019 is 2018@NeuroTech. The E-learning portal includes discussion forums, newsletter exchange, and courses on the various neurodiagnostic modalities based on lectures presented at the OSET Congress held in 2015 in Turku, Finland.

This article was written by Arlen Reimnitz, Executive Director at ASET.

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Board Briefings – Spring 2018

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Board Updates Mission and Vision Statement; Tweaks Core Values 

In keeping with its three-year strategic planning cycle, the Board of Trustees held a day-long facilitated strategic planning session on March 1st in Kansas City, MO, in conjunction with its mid-year meeting. The session included revisiting ASET’s mission, vision and core values statements; identification of critical customer categories; description of the current external environment and SWOT analysis; examination of current strategic ends and whether they should be validated, refined, or replaced; and identification of key success measures for each strategic end identified for the period 2018 – 2021. As a result of the session, numerous actions were taken by the board.  

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ASET’s mission statement was simplified and edited to be more direct. A mission statement should answer the question why the organization exists. It should be clear, understandable and specify the role the organization serves and for whom. ASET’s new mission statement reads, “To provide leadership, advocacy and resources that promote professional excellence, and patient safety and quality care, in neurodiagnostics.”

A vision statement is a description of what the world would be like if the organization achieved its mission. It is a picture of the desired future and should be inspiring, ambitious, yet realistic. ASET’s vision statement was refined to be more aspiring. The new vision statement reads, “Neurologic health and quality of care is improved globally.”  

Core values and guiding principles are statements of what is expected of an organization, in terms of behavior. They are descriptions of the desired environments in which members, volunteers, and staff operate. They also are helpful tools for making decisions. The board unanimously reaffirmed the following core values and tweaked the guiding principles: 

Values and Principles

Integrity: Transparent, ethical and trustworthy 

Excellence: To be outstanding in all that we do 

Responsibility: Accountability and stewardship of resources and upholding the public trust 

Respect: Honoring the worth and dignity of all individuals  

The strategic goals for the period 2015 – 2018 were either reaffirmed or refined for the period 2018 – 2021: 

  • Goal: To engage Neurodiagnostic professionals in the growth of the profession and the Society. (Refined from previous goal. The Membership Committee has continued primary responsibility for development of work plans and identification of key success measures and milestones.)  
  • Goal: Enactment of licensure in one or more states. (Refined from previous goal. The Governmental Advocacy Committee has continued primary responsibility for development of work plans and identification of key success measures and milestones.) 
  • Goal: Awareness of the value of Neurodiagnostic professionals is increased. (Reaffirmed previous goal. The Neurodiagnostic Awareness and Patient Advocacy Task Force was assigned primary responsibility for development of work plans and identification of key success measures and milestones.) 
  • Goal: The education system supports the development of an adequate and qualified workforce. (Reaffirmed previous goal. The Formal Education Task Force has continued primary responsibility for development of work plans and identification of key success measures and milestones.) 

Status reports on each goal will be published in the Committees Corner section of each ASET newsletter issue. 

Updates to Job Descriptions Approved 

As part of the Standards & Practices Committee’s cycle of reviewing and updating the neurodiagnostic job descriptions every three years, the board unanimously approved the committee’s recommended updates to the following job descriptions:  

  • Long-term Monitoring for Epilepsy (LTME) Specialist I 
  • Long-term Monitoring for Epilepsy (LTME) Specialist II 
  • Intensive Care Unit/continuous EEG (ICU/cEEG) Specialist I 
  • Intensive Care Unit/continuous EEG (ICU/cEEG) Specialist II 

The updated job descriptions will be published in the third edition of ASET’s “Handbook of Neurodiagnostic Job Descriptions and Competencies” as well as in the next release of the individual compilations of the LTM and ICU/cEEG job descriptions.   

Board Approves Prepaid Lifetime Membership Option 

In response to a member request for a lump sum payment option for a lifetime membership, rather than having to renew every year, the Board of Trustees charged the ASET Membership Committee to analyze and undertake a feasibility study of what a pre-paid lifetime membership might look like.  The committee presented a recommendation to the board at its March 2, 2018 mid-year meeting, which the board subsequently adopted.  

The prepaid lifetime membership program is a one-time lump-sum payment based on the age of the member at the time he/or she purchases the lifetime membership, and the number of years to the retirement age of 67. The payment amount is based on the annual member dues at the time of enrollment, and locks in that amount in an actuarial calculation to derive the total discount rate. For a member 18 years old enrolling in the program, the one-time lump sum payment is a savings of 56 percent compared to making dues payments annually.

In addition to never having to worry about making a dues payment each year, an advantage of a prepaid lifetime membership is that if dues are increased after a member purchases the lifetime membership, he or she is insulated from those dues increases and effectively realizes a larger discount savings. If you are interested in the prepaid lifetime membership option, contact Kathy Wolff, ASET Membership Manager, at [email protected] or 816.931.1120, ext. 107 to find out what your lump sum payment would be. The prepaid Lifetime membership program only applies to the active and associate member types.

This article was written by Arlen Reimnitz, Executive Director at ASET.

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