IDA Holds First Virtual House of Delegates

18 Jun IDA Holds First Virtual House of Delegates

IDA made history on Saturday, June 13, when it held its first remote House of Delegates meeting via a Zoom web conference.

“Certainly it was different and there were some minor technology glitches, but overall the meeting went incredibly well,” noted Executive Director Doug Bush.

The virtual meeting was necessitated by COVID-19 meeting restrictions. Indiana is not alone in its steps to find creative ways to conduct meetings. Dental association representatives from California, Ohio, Minnesota and Mississippi sat in as observers as they contemplate how they will conduct their House meetings in upcoming months. The ADA is also considering changes to how it will conduct its House of Delegates this fall.

The meeting served as culmination of Dr. Steven Ellinwood’s year as president. Acknowledging that his year was disrupted, he stated his legacy will always be associated with the year of the COVID pandemic. He extended his thanks to the IDA staff and also the COVID Task Force stating, “This group was instrumental in getting us over the hump and back into our offices. I will never be able to thank them enough for the burden they lifted from me and the IDA team.”

Dr. David Wolf (IDDS) assumed his presidency at the close of the meeting. Dr. Steve Hollar (NC) advanced to President Elect, Dr. Jill Burns (EI) advanced to Vice President. Dr. Thomas Blake (IK) prevailed in a two-man race for the office of Vice President Elect. Dr. Rebecca De La Rosa (IDDS) was unopposed and will be the 2020-21 Speaker of the House. Dr. Jenny Neese (BH) was unopposed and will be the 2020-21 Vice Speaker.

Other actions of the House included:

• New members of the IDA delegation to the 2021 and 2022 ADA House of Delegates were elected: Drs. Lorraine Celis (NC), Steve Ellinwood (IK), Vanchit John (IDDS), Matt Kolkman (IK), Heather Maupin (IDDS), and Daron Sheline (NC) were elected to two-year terms; Dr. Mark Mihalo (NW) was elected to a one-year term for the 2021 meeting.
• The House approved a proposal that aligns IDA’s dues structure with changes made by the ADA in 2019. This reduces the graduated dues structure for new graduates from four to two years, and removes the 25 percent dues discount for Active Life Members.
• Peer Review and Well Being were designated programs of the IDA Board of Trustees, moving them from subcommittees of the Dental Practice Committee and bringing them under direct oversight of the Board.
• The House voted to join the Coalition for Modernizing Dental Licensure, an organization that has the goals of replacing single encounter, procedure based license exams with modernized clinical assessments, and increasing licensure portability.
• The House referred IDA’s existing policy on Best Management Practices for non-accredited dental assisting programs for additional study and a report to the 2021 House.
• The House also referred IDA’s existing policy on Mid-Level Providers for additional study and a report back to the 2021 House.
• The House called for legislation that will allow teledentistry to be a reimbursable service.
• The House called for legislation that will allow dentists to administer certain vaccines.
• An amendment to the Constitution and Bylaws was passed that established Vice President Elect as an IDA officer.

The House of Delegates’ next scheduled meeting is May 14-16, 2021, in Indianapolis, in conjunction with the Midwest Dental Assembly.