Members Present: Brenda Merriweather, Eric Bersh, Jay Spitulnik, Danny Sands, John Grohol, Melanie Albanese, Amanda Joseph, Kevin Freiert, Dan Halpren-Ruder, Sarah Krug

Welcome: Mary Hennings

Approve minutes from last meeting: Vote

• Skipped

Review of reports (found here)

• Review of expeditures. Little change from last month

Index major workstreams

• Finance
  • Description of package sent to Board
  • Starting with value proposition (working with Samantha Dougherty)
  • Researching foundations and organizations interested in value based care
  • Looking at possibility of consultant in funding area
• Marketing and Communications
  • Reviewed charter
  • Working on short, medium, long term strategies
  • Looking to how to keep communications flowing
  • Liz suggests adding life sciences to the list
  • Mary wants group to look at Beryl data (priority #1)
• Development
  • Need clarity about funding and business case
  • Concern about how groups will interact
  • Looked at Beryl data and “weighting” (priority #1)
  • Need to show “What does it take to make collaborative medicine happen?”

NEU Conference Update

• Jay’s review of conference
• Budget
  • About 500 in ticket sales
  • Revenue slightly over 2K
  • Negative $1,844 overall to SPM
• Many strong positives (including panels, patients’ journeys)
• Format can be improved
• Can we incorporate AI in future?
• No CEU’s offerred
• Need to start planning much earlier
• MS patients don’t want to be treated as “pitiable”
• Goals generally were met re: content, but not visibility, attendance or budget
• Kevin describes what he did with Rare New England
• Mary will try and assemble a blog post

Finn Partners

• Discussion re: implementing “Collaboration is the best medicine”
  • CJ Kaplan recommended to help SPM integrate the phrase in our materials
    • Cost in $800 – $1,200 range
  • John G. suggests Kaplan’s costs are high; we should get 2 – 3 other quotes
  • Liz will check with freelancer she knows

Blog

• No response from last two potential bloggers
• We don’t have open blog policy but maybe should have (no attention to this until later)

Travel Awards Allocation

• Get the award/create a blog
• Possibly replace blog with doing an interview
• SPM received a grant for travel
  • Need to decide what 2025 budget should be
  • Motion to support 10 awards (EB); Liz seconds. Unanimous

Other 2025 priorities

• Skipped

Board Nomination

• Julianne Bride
  • Jay motions; EB seconds; unanimous

Journal Update

• Danny’s article admitted for publication in Journal
• Danny to send preprint to Board

Adjourned at  7:25 p.m. EDT.  Next meeting: May 20, 2025, 6:00 – 7:30 pm ET

Respectfully submitted,

Eric N Bersh, SPM Board Secretary