COMMONLY USED TERMS
For purposes of interpreting these by-laws, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
Executive Board: All Officers and Directors
Association: All members of the organization including the members of the Executive Board
Officers: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer
Associate Member(s): Any member whose primary business or business interests is that of serving members of the Association. By way of example, and without limitation, Associate Members are generally individuals and entities not engaged in providing health care services directly to patients, but whose primary business is providing services to members whose primary business is providing health care services to patients.
ARTICLE I
Name
The name of this Association shall be the Central Ohio Patient Account Managers.
ARTICLE II
Purpose
The object of this Association shall be to encourage the development of members through educational programs and the exchange of experience and ideas.
ARTICLE III
Membership
Section 1. The membership of this Association shall not be limited.
Section 2. Any person employed by a Healthcare Provider, or in a related business including but not limited to: Financial Services, Registration, Medical Records, and Billing and Utilization review, shall be eligible for membership in the Association. Any person in a related business shall be eligible to be an Associate Member. An application for membership shall be completed and submitted to the Secretary who shall have the responsibility of adding the new member to the mailing list. The Secretary shall notify the President of new members and introduce the new member to the Association. Any person or entity having completed an application for membership and fulfilling membership requirements shall be declared a member of the Association upon payment of the annual dues for the year.
Section 3. The amount of annual dues for any year shall be determined by a majority of the Executive Board by October 31st of the preceding year. Dues shall be payable during the time period of December 1st through January 31st. The Secretary shall report to the Executive Board any outstanding accounts receivable of members or sponsors. Dues shall be waived for any members serving as an Officer or member of the Executive Board.
Section 4. Honorary Membership in COPAM is limited to a retired person who has demonstrated dedicated service to the Association or in the Healthcare field; honorary membership shall be granted upon recommendation of the Executive Board or by any Full Member of the Association. Upon approval by the Executive Board, honorary members shall be exempt from dues and shall not be entitled to vote or hold office, nor serve as a committee Chairman, but may serve as a committee member. To be considered, a current COPAM member may request Honorary Membership for himself/herself or another member may request Honorary Membership on behalf of another.
ARTICLE IV
Officers and Directors
Section 1. The Officers of the Association shall be a President, a Vice–President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. In addition, there may be up to five (5) Directors. These Officers and Directors shall perform the duties prescribed in these bylaws and by the parliamentary authority adopted by the Association. The length of terms of service for the Officers and Directors, along with their primary responsibilities, shall be as follows:
- President: There shall be one President who serves a one (1) year term. The President shall be responsible for calling meetings of the Executive Board, shall presides over meetings of the Association and the Executive Board, may appoint members to committees, and may sign contracts, approved by the Executive Board, on behalf of the Association.
Vice-President: There shall be one Vice-President who serves a one (1) year term. The Vice-President shall be the chair of the membership committee and performs the President’s duties in his/her absence(s). The Vice-President shall also be responsible for the Association’s compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Secretary: There shall be one Secretary who serves a two (2) year term. The Secretary shall be in-charge of the official registration log and communications to the members. The Secretary shall also be responsible to keep the official minutes of any and all meetings of the Executive Board, and maintain a binder of the Associations governance.
Treasurer: There shall be one Treasurer who serves a two (2) year term. The Treasurer’s primary responsibilities will be to account for, control, report on, and control Association funds, and manage accounts receivable and accounts payable for the Association. The Treasurer shall be responsible for all lines of credit held by the Association, if any. By March 10th of any year the Association is in existence, the Treasurer shall, with the assistance of an accountant paid for by the Association, present the tax return for the prior year. The Treasurer shall ensure all tax filings for the Association are completed and submitted to the proper taxing authorities.
Directors: There may be between one and five Directors. Directors shall serve a two (2) year term, may participate in organizing Association events, assist in engaging speakers for Association meetings and Directors shall have voting rights during meetings of the Executive Board. Directors may or may not include most recent Past President.
Section 2. At the regular Association meeting held in October a nominating committee shall be appointed by the President. It shall be the duty of this committee to nominate candidates to serve as Officers and Directors on behalf of the Association for the following year. The committee’s nominations shall be announced at the November meeting, and Association members may make additional nominations at the November meeting. Following the November meeting and after all nominations are taken, a ballot shall be sent to the members of the Association. Positions shall be filled by popular vote. In the event of a tie, the tie shall be broken and the position filled by a majority vote of the then serving Executive Board.
Section 3. The Treasurer, and Vice-President shall be elected by ballot. At the end of the Vice-President’s one-year term, (s)he will assume the role of President for the following year. The term of office shall be from January 1 to December 31. Any member of the Executive Board may also co-chair or chair a committee. The Secretary’s position will be appointed by the Executive Board.
Section 4. Directors may be elected in an election upon a popular vote of the members, or by appointment from an Officer. Any appointments must be approved by a majority of the then-serving Executive Board. Directors may serve for one year or until a successor is appointed.
Section 5. Associate Members shall be entitled to all of the privileges including those of making motions and voting. However, Associate Members are only eligible to hold the office of Secretary, Treasurer or serve as a member of the Executive Board as a Director.
Section 6. No member shall hold more than one office at a time, and no member shall be eligible to serve more than two consecutive terms in the same office without the majority vote of the membership.
Section 7. Any Officer or member of the Executive Board desiring to resign from his or her position must submit his or her resignation in writing to the Secretary, who shall present it to the Executive Board. The Officer or Director will be replaced by majority vote of the Executive Board.
Section 8. Any person serving as a member of the Executive Board may not be held personally liable for his or her actions, absent fraud, while duly serving for or on behalf of the Association. The Association, shall have the duty to indemnify and defend any member of the Executive Board for his or her action while acting on behalf of the Association.
ARTICLE V
Meetings
Section 1. The regular meeting of the Association shall be held each month from January through December excluding the months of June, July and August.
Section 2. Special meetings can be called by the President or by the Executive Board and shall be called upon the written request of ten (10) members of the Association. The purpose of the meeting shall be stated in the call. Except in cases of emergency, at least three (3) days notice shall be given.
ARTICLE VI
The Executive Board
Section 1. The Executive Board shall consist of the Officers of the Association, including the Directors. The outgoing President of the Association shall serve one term on the Executive board. If the past President is no longer a member, the President may appoint a new healthcare provider member to the board. Open positions of the Executive Board shall be elected by the Association during the annual election of the officers and any honorary member of the board.
Section 2. The Executive Board shall have general supervision of the affairs of the Association between its business meetings, fix the hour and place of meetings, make recommendations to the Association, and shall perform such other duties as are specified in these bylaws. The Board shall be subject to the orders of The Association, and none of its acts shall conflict with the action taken.
Section 3. Except as set forth below in Section 4 and unless otherwise ordered by the Board, meetings of the Executive Board shall be called by the President. Special Executive Board meetings can be called upon the written request to the President of three (3) members of the Board.
Section 4. The meetings of the Executive Board shall be open to any member of the Association and the public. Meetings of the Executive Board shall follow monthly meetings of the Association or may be held upon request of a member of the Executive Board and after a three (3) day notice is issued to the members of the Association. Official action may be taken by the Executive Board whenever a quorum is present. For purposes of these by-laws, a quorum shall be found to exist when at least four (4) members of the Executive Board are present. All actions on behalf of the Association must be approved by a majority of the Executive Board constituting a quorum.
ARTICLE VII
Finances
Section 1. The Treasurer of the Association shall prepare a detailed report for each meeting of the Association. The report shall include a listing of all expenses paid by the Treasurer for the previous month, and a total of all income received in the previous month. A photocopy of the Account Ledger shall be furnished to the President of the Association upon request of the President. All paid invoices and receipts shall be kept and maintained in order by the Treasurer’s office for a period of two (2) years.
Section 2. At the direction of the Officers and Board Members, an external audit will be performed at the end of the Treasurers term and will be reported at the first Executive Board Meeting of the next year.
ARTICLE VIII
Parliamentary Authority
The rules contained in the current edition of the Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised shall govern the Association in all cases to which they are applicable in which they are not inconsistent with these by-laws and any special rules of order the Association may adopt.
ARTICLE IX
Amendment of By-Laws
These by-laws can be amended at any regular meeting of the Association by fifty percent (50%) plus one member in attendance, provided that the amendment has been submitted in writing at the previous regular meeting.