Resolutions may now be submitted for consideration at ISMA’s 175th Annual Convention, scheduled for Sept. 6 to Sept. 8 at the Embassy Suites in Plainfield. It’s not too early to begin—the ISMA Bylaws require resolutions to be submitted no later than 90 days before the convention, which means the deadline to submit resolutions is Sunday, June 9. Once again, we will be using our online resolution submission form this year.
About resolutions
Resolutions written by members and adopted by the House of Delegates can drive ISMA’s public policy, determine ISMA’s formal position on issues, or make structural and procedural changes to our organization. They can also reaffirm the positions taken in resolutions that will expire in 2024 unless reintroduced.
Typical resolutions encourage ISMA to take a position supporting or opposing a specific health policy issue or piece of legislation. Resolutions may also call on ISMA to actively seek (introduce) legislation on an issue. Introducing a resolution is a unique opportunity to make a difference for Indiana physicians and patients.
Resolutions may also call on ISMA to support education efforts and public health initiatives, or to work with other stakeholders in the health care industry to help support the health of Hoosiers and make Indiana one of the best states to practice medicine.
Submitting resolutions
The resolution submission form, available at www.ismanet.org/resolutionform, explains the different parts of a resolution and guides you through the writing process. The form can accommodate most resolutions, but there are exceptions.
Footnotes in resolutions will not be included in the published version of your resolution. Accordingly, the form will not accept footnotes, other citations or special text formatting, such as superscript, bold, italics, underlines or strikethroughs.
If your resolution includes citations, please submit the plain text of the resolution using the online form (omitting the citations). However, please ALSO submit a Word document of your resolution that includes the citations via email to policy@ismanet.org, The version with citations will be included in as an official background document on the Pulse. Note that citations are NOT required for a resolution to be considered by the ISMA HOD.
If special text formatting (such as underlines or strike-throughs) is needed, please email a Word document version of your resolution to policy@ismanet.org. DO NOT also submit your resolution through this online form.
If you resolution includes both citations and special formatting, please do NOT submit your resolution in this form. Instead, please email it to policy@ismanet.org.
Other resources
ISMA has developed additional resources to help members write effective resolutions. If you’re thinking about introducing a resolution, please read the online article, “How to write and submit a resolution to influence ISMA or AMA policy,” In addition, a downloadable template for creating a resolution is available at www.ismanet.org/ResolutionExample.
If you still have questions about the resolution process, email them to policy@ismanet.org. Also, be sure to watch your email and ISMA Reports for more details on the resolution process and convention.