WASHINGTON HEALTHCARE ACCESS MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION 

Article I

Membership, Admission, Resignation and Expulsion 

Section 1.

 

There shall be three categories of membership in the Association:  Active Membership, Business Partner membership and Honorary membership.

 

A.                  Active Membership:  Persons having responsibility for managing, training or consulting within the healthcare access continuum and other healthcare professionals interested in patient access services.  These members are entitled to one (1) vote, to serve as a member of a committee and when also certified, hold office or serve as a Chair of a committee in accordance with these Bylaws.

  

B.                  Honorary Membership:  Limited to a retired person who has demonstrated dedicated service to the Association or the patient access services field.  Upon approval by the Board of Directors, these members shall be exempt from dues and shall not be entitled to vote or hold office, nor serve as a committee chair but may serve as a committee member.

  

C.                  Business Partner Membership:  Individuals working with business who serve the healthcare industry with particular relevance to patient access services.  These members are not allowed to vote or hold office, but may serve as committee members.

 

Section 2.

 

Active and Business Partner Membership shall become effective upon receipt by the WHAMA Office of the specified dues and upon approval of the completed application form by the WHAMA Office.  Renewal of membership requires meeting current membership qualifications and payment of annual dues.

 

Section 3.

 

There shall be no proxy voting on matters to be voted upon by the membership.

 

Section 4.

 

Any member in good standing may resign by submitting his/her resignation in writing to the Treasurer.  Under these circumstances dues will not be refunded.

 

Section 5.

 

Any member of the Association charged with conduct detrimental to the objectives or interests of the Association, or violation of its Constitution, Bylaws or Rules and Regulations, may be suspended or expelled form the Association by vote of the Board of Directors.  Prior to such action, the member will be provided with a copy of charges preferred against him/her and have the right to a hearing.

   

The Rules contained in the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern the Association in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are no inconsistent with these Bylaws or any special rules of the Association may adopt.

 

Article II

Membership Dues 

Section 1.

 

The annual dues for the forthcoming calendar year shall be determined by the Board of Directors.

 

Section 2.

 

All membership dues shall be billed annually.

 

Article III

Meetings of the Association 

Section 1.

 

The Annual Meeting of the Association shall be held each year at a site determined by the Board of Directors.

 

Section 2.

 

Special meetings of the Association may be called at any time by the President and must be called by the President or in his/her absence by the Vice President or Secretary, on the written request of a majority of members of the Association.  Ten (10) days notice of any special meeting must be given to the members of the Association, and the notice must state the subject of the meeting.

 

Section 3.

 

There is no quorum for meeting of the Association.  Resolutions to be submitted to the Active membership for vote will require a majority vote of all Active members in attendance and voting.

 

Article IV

Officers 

Section 1.

 

The officers of the Association shall be President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer.

 

Section 2.

 

The President, Vice President’s and Secretary’s term of office will be for a period of one (1) year. The Secretary may be reelected for a second consecutive one-year term.  The Treasurer’s term of office will be for a period of four (4) years and be limited to one term. 

 

Section 3.

   

Section 4.

 

The officers of the Association and their respective duties are as follows:

 

A.                  President: The President shall be responsible for conducting business of the Association and shall preside at all meetings and shall be a member ex-officio on all committees.  He/She shall appoint all committee Chairs with the approval of the Board of Directors, shall appoint all Ad Hoc Committees and in general shall perform all duties incident to the office of President.  The President shall make interim appointments to fill vacancies of office when no other specific procedure is provided by these Bylaws. 

  

B.                  Vice President:  In the absence of the President or in the event of his/her inability or refusal to act, the Vice President shall have all of the powers of and be subject to all the restrictions upon the President.  When a vacancy occurs in the office of President, the Vice President will automatically become President.  The Vice President shall perform such duties as may be assigned to him/her by the President.

 

 

C.                  Secretary:  the Secretary shall keep minutes of meetings, carry out all orders, votes and resolutions of the Association and shall perform such other duties as are incident to the office of Secretary or are delegated to this person by resolution of the Board of Directors.  The Secretary shall ascertain that records are maintained for all meetings of the Association and the Board of Directors.  The Secretary shall maintain the Association Policy and Procedural Manual.  The secretary shall also supervise the nominating process of officers in conjunction with the WHAMA Office.

  

D.                  Treasurer:  The Treasurer shall keep an account of all monies received and expended for the use of Association, subject to the approval of the President and in accordance with the budget adopted by the Board of Directors.  The Treasurer shall review Association expenditures and financial status on a regular basis to ensure overall fiscal integrity and shall be in charge of the annual budgetary process. Association funds, property, books and vouchers in the hands of the Treasurer and/or Executive Director shall be subject to the inspection and control of the Board of Directors at any time. At the expiration of his/her term of office, the Treasurer shall deliver to the President all Association books, monies and other property in his/her possession within thirty (30) days.

  

Section 5.

 

Article V

Suspension or Removal of an Officer 

Section 1.

 

Suspension from office for cause may be initiated at any time by the President or Executive committee pending removal action.  Such suspension action shall be reviewed by the Executive Committee.  Removal from office shall be enacted by the Board of Directors or by a majority vote of the Active Members of the Association when concurred with by the Board of Directors.

 

Article VI

Board of Directors 

Section 1.

 

The Association shall be governed by a Board of Directors consisting of all elected officers and the Associations immediate Past President.

 

Section 2.

 

The Board of Directors shall be empowered to act for the membership in the management of the Association and shall have an exercise all powers not inconsistent with any provisions of the Bylaws.  The Board of Directors shall (1) have an exercise general supervision over activities of all committees; (2) represent and act on behalf of the membership, subject to such limitations as may be imposed by the membership; (3) coordinate the activities and general policies of the Association; (4) received and act upon committee reports; (5) implement policies of the Association not otherwise the responsibility of other committees; (6) ensure the membership is kept abreast of Association actions and activities; (7) take all reasonable steps to ensure that the activities and endeavors of the Association are professional and ethical; (8) report at every membership meeting; (9) have such other functions as are provided in these Bylaws or may be assigned to it from time to time by the membership.

 

Section 3.

 

The Board of Directors shall at a minimum meet immediately prior to the Annual Meeting of the Membership.

 

Section 4.

 

Special meetings of the Board of Directors may be called by the President at any time.  A special meeting must be called on the written request of thirty percent (30%) of the Board of Directors and the notice must state the subject and purpose of the meeting.

 

Section 5.

 

A quorum for action of the Board of Directors shall be a majority of its voting members in attendance, by mail, or by conference call.  No proxy voting is permitted.  Action may be taken by majority vote.

 

Section 6.

 

In discharging its duties, the Board of Directors, when acting in good faith, may rely upon financial statements of the Association represented to them to be correct by the Treasurer.   

   

Section 7.

 

The assets of the Association may be used in accordance with the directions of the Board of Directors.  The Board of Directors shall not, however, incur any debt or liability, or a combination of debts or liabilities, exceeding the net assets of the Association

  

Article VII

Committees  

Section 1. 

 

The following committees shall be standing committees of the Association.  Committee Chair will be appointed annually and shall serve for a term of two (2) years and not exceed two consecutive terms and may service again following a one (1) term interim. The committee Chair shall be appointed by the President pursuant to these Bylaws.  The role of the committee Chair is to direct the members and activities of the committee as defined in position description.

 

A.                  Education Committee.  The Education Committee shall develop, implement and coordinate all Association education activities.

  

B.                  Program Committee. 

  

C.                  Publications/Communications Committee.  The Publications/Communication Committee shall develop publications and coordinate production of publications that promote WHAMA mission, objectives, and goals and communicate WHAMA activities.

 

Section 3.

 

All standing committees of the Association shall meet as defined in position description to carry out their defined duties.  The rules pertaining to quorum, etc. of the Board of Directors shall pertain to meetings of standing committees of the Association.

 

Section 4.

 

The President may appoint Ad Hoc Committees for specific purposes.

   

Article III

Amendments 

In order to amend these Bylaws, a majority vote of the written ballots cast by the Active Members of the Association is required. Suggested amendments to these Bylaws shall be submitted to a member of the Board by an Active Member of the Association in good standing and shall be approved by the Board of Directors prior to submission to the Active Membership for vote.  The Secretary shall submit the proposed amendment(s) in writing to each Active Members not more than six (6) weeks prior to the closing date determined by the Board for return of votes.  Votes shall be returned by mail to the principal office of WHAMA, and only those received on or before the closing date shall be counted.  Votes received shall be validated for member vote eligibility and tallied in the principal office; the tallied report shall be forwarded to the Board of Directors within two (2) weeks of the closing date of the vote.  Amendments to the Bylaws shall be binding on all members.