AMDA and State Chapter
Best Practices

At the annual symposium in Dallas, state chapter representatives from around the country met with AMDA staff. The result of the meeting was a compilation of best practices to help guide the development of new chapters and increase the overall activity level of existing chapters.

State Chapter Meetings

Texas Medical Directors Association
Finding sponsors for state chapter meetings can be daunting but it does not have to be. The Texas Medical Directors Association offsets meeting expenses by maintaining a list of local sponsors who can offer financial support for their meetings. The sponsor covers speaker fee and/or food. The state chapter also plans meetings a year in advance giving them ample time to secure sponsorship, speaker(s), and location. This also allows time for creating and distributing marketing materials, posting information on the state chapter web site, and sending out press releases.

Alabama Medical Directors Association
To promote upcoming meetings, the Alabama Medical Directors Association produces a brochure. The brochure includes the meeting location, schedule, registration information, and credit hours. The brochure is mailed to current members, potential members, and other groups.

American Medical Directors Association
The national office also provides assistance to state chapters in organizing meetings.

The national office is available to assist with the following:

• Contacting potential sponsors to identify local representatives for financial support.
• Providing list of appropriate hotels.
• Mailing lists of current AMDA members in state.
• Providing speaker suggestions, model letters, and forms (i.e. faculty disclosure, audio/visual request, and evaluation).
• Posting meeting dates on www.amda.com.
• Providing application for CME and/or CMD credit.

Forming a New Chapter

Accessible from the AMDA web site, the AMDA State Chapter Handbook: New Chapter Development http://www.amda.com/chapters/resources/guides.htm provides information and resources for establishing a new state chapter. A revised version of this manual will be available in June 2006.

In brief, individual and groups wishing to form a chapter must (1) inform the national office of the chapter’s existence by sending a copy of the bylaws and articles of incorporation, (2) elect delegates to the national House of Delegates meeting held yearly at the annual symposium and (3) provide the names and addresses of all physicians belonging to the state group at the time of application and an annual update.

Recruiting New Members

Florida Medical Directors Association
New members are vital to an organization. They provide new ideas and enthusiasm. With a focus on membership recruitment, the Florida Medical Directors Association (FAMDA) waives first year dues for new members. New members are allowed to participate in FAMDA’s meetings and other activities and network with members. Current members also get involved by contacting other individuals who might want to join.

American Medical Directors Association
The national office does one joint marketing mailing per year per chapter to promote membership in AMDA and the chapter. State chapters are invited to participate in this membership recruitment drive by sending an e-mail to ngermain@amda.com.

State Chapter Newsletters

Pennsylvania Medical Directors Association
Accessible from the Pennsylvania Medical Directors Association web site (http://www.pamda.org/), the chapter newsletter covers legislative issues, notable chapter activities, upcoming meetings, and reports from the state chapter committees. The newsletter is mailed to members and posted on the chapter’s web site.

Georgia Medical Directors Association
The Georgia Medical Directors Association’s newsletter includes articles on long term care issues and how it affects medical directors in their state, upcoming meetings, message from the president and recognizes newly certified medical directors in their state.

American Medical Directors Association
The national office provides state chapters with a newsletter template that state chapters can customize to fit their needs. (Read more on page 2)

These are just some of the ways an active chapter can strengthen a specific area that has been historically weak. AMDA will periodically compile a list of the most successful ideas and activities related to chapter organization, promotion, technical activities, and meetings in State Network News. E-mail your best practices to ngermain@amda.com.

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