Board Responds to COA Presidents’ Council Recommendations

The COA Board of Trustees (BOT) responded to recommendations made by the COA Presidents’ Council at its most recent meeting. Each year, the COA Presidents’ Council, comprised of COA society leadership, issues suggestions to the BOT for its consideration. These communications are valued for ensuring COA and its societies work together to maximize the delivery of services and benefits to members, as well as address opportunities or concerns. Below are the recommendations and the BOT’s responses. Comments or questions may be directed to your society leadership or Bill Howe, COA executive director. 
2015 COA Presidents’ Council Recommendations

Recommendation:

To the degree information is available, more quickly connect optometric school and college graduates to the societies in whose areas the future doctors intend to practice. 

Response:

As of January 2016, COA has more than 1,400 student members from around the nation. As they obviously represent the future of COA, the board agrees it is critical for the association to engage new graduates as soon as possible. COA has for many years included in membership rosters sent to societies those graduates who have located in their area. More recently, COA has provided societies with a supplemental, or individualized, list of these graduates. Further, as societies recall, AOA and COA bylaws were recently amended to provide for automatic active membership for student members upon graduation. To that end, AOA began this year collecting and sharing with the state associations locations at which the students nearing graduation intend to practice (COA has been collecting that information at COA-hosted 4th year student lunches for some time). For those student members who graduate and for whom neither AOA nor COA have information on where they intend to- or have - locate, COA aggressively attempts to obtain that information and share it with the relevant society. Finally, the COA Optometric Student Section is undertaking a project to collect information on where members believe they will practice upon graduation.

Likewise, it is very helpful to the entire association that on the occasions a society learns a new graduate locates in its area that it notifies and provides COA with the contact information. 

COA stands ready to assist societies in connecting with new graduates (as well as students intending on practicing in their area) in other ways that might be desired.

Recommendation:

Work with the deans of the California schools and colleges of optometry to assign a faculty member as a student liaison to COA.

Response:

As stated above, COA very much wishes to enhance the engagement of optometry students to ultimately instill the value of career-long membership in their professional association. Enlisting optometric school and college faculty to this end is an excellent idea. COA will approach the three California school and college deans about establishing such a liaison, as well as work with the COA Optometric Student Section in this endeavor.

Recommendation:

Explore providing members a tool to assess the value of an optometric practice. 

Response:

This is an excellent suggestion. A standing agenda item for the COA Sponsored Services Committee is to explore and work to develop member-exclusive programs that add value to a doctor’s dues investment. The suggestion will be referred to the COA Sponsored Services Committee to work to identify and secure a tool, firm or other mechanism on a member-only advantageous basis for the value assessment of optometric practices.

Recommendation:

Encourage faculty at California schools and colleges of optometry to promote to their students COA membership.

Response:

COA has an excellent relationship with the deans of the three California schools and colleges of optometry. Beginning last year, the deans and COA leadership have been meeting to discuss issues of mutual interest. COA will explore with the deans and the COA Optometric Student Section if and how faculty at the schools and college can be encouraged to promote to their students the value of COA membership, along with other campus-related mechanisms to encourage lifetime membership.

Recommendation:

Explore establishing a mechanism by which COA can track for individual member doctors all COA- and COA society-sponsored continuing education they earn.

Response:

This is a worthy goal, however, it can be fraught with complexities that would need to be addressed. COA will be launching a new database this year that will provide the capacity to store this information. The complexities arise in crafting careful coordination and verification processes between COA and the societies for gathering, transmitting and recording the necessary information correctly and timely. Also to be considered is the increase in COA staff resources (cost) potentially needed as well as potentially additional society volunteer resources that will be required to gather, transmit and record this information (which includes doctor’s name, license number, course title, COPE approval number, CE type, etc.). 

Another consideration is that COA’s new database, anticipated to be in place late this year, will allow individual members to update their profiles. This will include the ability to record the continuing education they earn.

In summary, in considering this recommendation, societies may want to view it again in the context of cost vs. benefit.

Recommendation:

Expand communication from COA to non-members and students relative to COA governmental affairs activities. 

Response:

Historically, the primary purpose – and member benefit – of COA’s existence is its comprehensive governmental and external affairs advocacy services that initiate opportunities and fight challenges in the legislative, regulatory and third-party arenas on behalf of the entire California optometric profession. Obviously, these activities cannot be undertaken without the support of members’ dues dollars. COA has long held out to non-member doctors with limited success (that includes having a voice “at the table” in dealing with these issues) the value of their professional association in expanding and protecting their practice rights legislatively, before regulatory agencies and third-party payers. What non-members do seem to want from COA is information about a new law, regulation or third-party payer policy. This information has historically been an exclusive member benefit. COA could consider communicating COA governmental and external affairs information to non-members, such as sending Governmental Affairs Weekly perhaps twice each year. But this recommendation seems to missing some elements, such as for what purpose would COA send member-exclusive information to non-members and how might that information be used to leverage these doctors to join COA. The COA Board of Trustees respectively suggests that the COA Presidents’ Council consider these factors and refine its recommendation accordingly.

As to students, COA is pleased to report it has more than 1,400 student members from across the nation. All student members receive all of COA’s communications, including Governmental Affairs Weekly, have access to the member’s only section of the COA website and access to staff and volunteer leaders. COA also is very aggressive in including students at its various functions, including the COA House of Delegates meeting, COA Legislative Day and a stipend to attend the AOA Congressional Advocacy Conference. Furthermore, COA visits the California campuses to educate and update students on legislative, regulatory and third-party issues; indeed, they are valued  messengers for local grassroots advocacy.

Recommendation:

Provide an annual summary of legislation enacted that impacts the practice of optometry. 

Response:

As stated above, the primary function of COA is to advocate for the optometric profession in the halls of government. An essential element to that advocacy – and demonstrated return on the dues dollar investment - is continuous communications with members, e.g., Governmental Affairs Weekly. A key component of that communication is an annual year-end summary of bills enacted that impact the practice of optometry. COA has for years published that information across its many communications channels, e.g., newsletters, magazine, website, etc. Click on the following link for the 2015 COA legislative summary: http://www.coavision.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageID=4235.

Recommendation:

Make the COA website mobile-ready. 

Response:

In 2016, as part of its new database referred to above, COA will contract for an entire redesign of its website to be fully responsive, e.g., fit on any mobile device or tablet, and more interactive for easy transaction of business or searches from those devices.

Recommendation:

Make links to COA society websites more visible on the COA website. 

Response:

As part of the COA website redesign mentioned above, the new website will feature the ability for societies to create template-based micro-sites accessible to society members that can hold governing documents, minutes, meeting announcements, rosters, etc. Links to these websites will be featured prominently on the COA website.

Recommendation:

Explore the establishment of template-based websites for COA societies that operate within sub-domains under the coavision.org domain.

Response:

See the response to the recommendation immediately above. Additionally, it is the intent of COA to allow for the establishment of society websites under a sub-domain of coavision.org.

Recommendation:

Create an online COA membership application. 

Response:

Among the many member interface enhancements promised by the new COA database will be a COA membership application that can be completed online along with payment of dues. Indeed, online transactions will greatly expand to include conference registration, purchase of products, etc. that include a secure portal for making payment.