The initial survey of State professional association activities led to observations which formed the basis for a deeper analysis of the associations' operations. The study team determined the applicability of these observations to each State and to all professions as groups. In order to validate the appropriateness of these observations, each State professional association president and/or executive secretary/director who received the questionnaire or was interviewed was asked to provide the following: • Direct information on programs, communications, disciplinary and continuing education activities of the association or society • Review of initial study findings to assess their applicability to the official's association and its membership Evaluation of the desirability and possible difficulties of implementing the recommendations developed as part of this study. In the following three subsections, data obtained from the field and questionnaire surveys, and their results, will be presented in terms of (1) the operational characteristics of the State professional associations, (2) study findings and observations, and (3) the detailed recommendations for association participation in self-regulation and in the control of drug diversion (leakages) and controlled substances abuse. 6. OPERATIONAL STATE PROFESSIONAL Six State professional association questionnaires were developed for this study. In this and the following two sections, discussion of study results is followed by tables consolidating the responses to allow comparison of the responses from the six professions. Extensive data collection from the field surveys and literature review enabled the project technical team to obtain the operational characteristics of State health care professional associations. To obtain this information, the following issues were raised: • Role of appointment to board Communication with members Drug-related continuing education. The data collection presentation below addresses the preceeding characteristics of the associations' operations and presents those areas which give the reader an overview of the mechanisms which the associations might use to support the regulatory boards' efforts. The following data summarizes the levels of association interaction with the professional regulatory board nomination process, vehicles for information distribution to members, and the levels of activity in continuing education programs. In this section on operational characteristics, only one of the two possible representatives from each of the State professional associations was used, preventing double counting of sessions for continuing education. Table 1: Association Role in Regulatory Board Appointment The following are the actual responses represented by this table: • Yes, usually present or past association officials Yes, but present officials are not nominated Yes, but individuals other than association nominees may be appointed • Yes, only recommendations are made No, association role in appointment process. Table 2: Primary Means of Communication Between the State Association and Its Members Newsletters were the primary means of communication between associations and members in 76 percent (154) of the responses. The next most frequent means of communication was direct mail, with magazines or journals following. Nursing and pharmacy appear also to have a substantial number of other means of communication. Communication via information with license renewals was the least used form. Multiple responses indicate numerous opinions concerning communication methods. Overall, the most frequent interval of communications is monthly, with almost all State associations (societies) for physicians, MDs, and pharmacists communicating with their members on a monthly basis as indicated by a 9 percent (25) and 82 percent (36) response level respectively. (See Table 2.) |