2020-10-29 OMA Agenda - Board of Trustees

Obesity Medicine Association State Chapters Program – Initial Assessment Katrina Crist, OMA Executive Director October 26, 2020

Keeping in mind, I have only been on board six weeks and was not part of the initial analysis and development of strategy, I offered the following observations and initial assessment on the State Chapter Program. Conclusions: 1. OMA does not currently have the infrastructure to adequately support the services stated as benefits for being an OMA Chapter. 2. COVID-19 has changed the environment and we may need to reassess timing. 3. Unclear if the primary interest to organize locally is affiliation with and support from the national organization or simply access to free/cheaper CME credits to fulfill board certification/licensure requirements and some local networking. 4. OMA needs to be better at providing support and a quality experience as part of the setup phase and in serving chapters on a regular basis than any other obesity related organization or stakeholder in the field of obesity medicine. If we move forward, it should be one of the top three priorities over the next 3-5 years. Recommendations and Points for Discussion: 1. Evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this strategy. Is now the right time to be launching? 2. Evaluate if primary interest in organizing locally is driven by access to free or cheaper CME credit or interest in being affiliated with OMA. 3. Evaluate level of investment needed over the next two years to support this initiative assuming no revenue generated. See my rough estimate of $260,000 in 2021 to roll out at same level as projected in 2020. 4. Move forward in mid-2021 with a small focused roll out of up to 5 chapters to reduce investment needed and to provide a high-quality experience. Background and Supporting Information: There has been a lot of great work done to develop the benefits for chapters to be OMA-affiliated and the “how to playbooks” that can be rolled out to incentivize and educate those interested in forming an OMA state chapter. OMA has grown and increased its credibility. One of the driving forces should be that members want their chapter to be affiliated with OMA as an extension of that credibility. In addition to what has already been mapped out some of the reasons I’ve seen that drive members to want their chapter to be affiliated with the national association are 1) national advocacy efforts that they can organize chapter members around, 2) help from national on state issues, 3) engagement (more opportunities to serve as board members and committee members – develops pipeline to serve at national level), 4) quarterly calls with national (they want to be in the know/access to information), 5) opportunities to participate in chapter-related experiences and recognition at national conferences