Standard Operating Procedures

AANS/CNS JOINT SECTION ON PAIN STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES

  • Purpose: These Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) were created to guide the Joint Section on Pain Executive Council members on the daily procedures needed to fulfill the Section mission in conjunction with the Bylaws
  • Scope: This document will help keep track of regular procedures pertaining to Pain Section elections, meetings,
    awards, membership, bylaws, guidelines, liaisons, and the like
  • References: The Pain Section Bylaws and other resources are available for review on the website,
    www.painsection.org
  • Definitions:
    • Executive Council (EC)
      • Comprised of 4 officers and 4 members-at-large
    • Officers
      • There are 4 officers: President, Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer, and Past President
      • Term is 2 years in each office
    • Members at Large (MAL)
      • There are 4 MALs to manage the Section affairs in conformity with the Bylaws
      • Term is four years
      • Two new MAL will be elected every two years
  • Responsibilities:
    • President
      • Presides at all meetings. He/She appoints all committees not otherwise provided for, is in charge of all committees with the right to vote, and supervises the execution of all Society rules. He/She represents the Society at relevant EC and Board meetings of the AANS and CNS, or appoints another officer to do so as needed.
    • Vice President
      • Performs all duties of the President in the case of his/her absence, death, resignation or inability to act. He/She assists the President in such manner as necessary.
    • Secretary/Treasurer
      • As Secretary, he/she is responsible for providing notice to the members of the Section of relevant Section business per the Section Bylaws, including but not limited to Pain EC meetings, Pain EC Nominations/Elections, Bylaws amendments, and other relevant information. At the Pain EC meetings, he/she will present a membership report and distribute prior meeting minutes to the group for approval.
      • As Treasurer, he/she will arrange for the billing and deposit of annual dues and for the payment of Society expenses. He/she will be responsible for the funding of Society awards. He/she will report on the financial condition of the Society at all meetings of the EC. The Secretary/Treasurer will assume the responsibilities of the Vice-President in the event of his/her absence, death, resignation or inability to act.
      • The Secretary/Treasurer will also fulfill all responsibilities detailed in the Procedure Steps below.
    • Past President
      • Serves as advisor to the Section and President.
  • Procedure steps:
    Nominations/Voting

    • MAL Nominations
      • A call for nominations for MALs of the EC will be sent to all Pain Section members in early May of an election year
        • The Secretary/Treasurer will be responsible for coordinating/executing this call for nominations with the AANS/CNS staff, which will be distributed to all membership via emails/eblasts and/or other outreach mechanisms in early May of an election year
        • At least 30 days will be given for nominations to be submitted
        • Nominations are expected to include a statement of less than 200 words as to why the nominee would be a good member of the Executive Council. Self-nominations are acceptable
        • EC officers will review the nomination applications to confirm that the eligibility of candidates fulfills Bylaws requirements

     

    • Officer Nominations
      • Nominations for new, incoming EC officers will be conducted by the EC officers, who comprise the Nominating Committee, in early May of an election year
        • The Secretary/Treasurer will be responsible for arranging a meeting among officers to discuss incoming officer nominations in early May
        • Officers will ascend in line of succession as per the Bylaws (President becomes Past President, Vice President becomes President, Secretary/Treasurer becomes Vice President), unless extenuating circumstances require the replacement of an officer
          • In such a case, succession will occur by the existing EC officers as outlined by the Bylaws
        • Nominations for the incoming Secretary/Treasurer (and/or any other officer member positions that need to be filled) will be put forth and voted upon by existing EC officers
          • EC officers will review and discuss the list of nominations and will vote as a group on the officer(s) selection
    • Voting
      • Starting in approximately mid-June of an election year, an email and/or other outreach modality will be sent to all Active and Senior members of the Pain Section announcing the opening of election voting ballots on the MyAANS website
        • The Secretary/Treasurer will be responsible for coordinating the messaging to Active and Senior membership about the voting ballot with AANS/CNS staff via emails/eblasts and/or other outreach modalities in mid-June of an election year
      • Elections will remain open for 3 weeks
        • A second email and/or other reminder will be sent to Active and Senior Members 2-4 days prior to the close of elections
      • New officers and members at-large of the Executive Council will begin their terms after the CNS meeting of that election year
      • Slate of officer candidates
        • The voting ballot will contain the slate of candidates for officers (President, Vice-President and Secretary/Treasurer) as determined by the Nominating Committee
          • Officer positions on the ballot will be voted “for” or “against” by Active and Senior Members
          • If the majority of votes are against the candidates for President, Vice President and Secretary/Treasurer, the EC will serve as the Nominating Committee for a different slate of candidates; a new round of voting will occur with the election center being open for an additional 3 weeks
      • Slate of MAL candidates
        • The voting ballot will contain the slate of candidates for MALs (including nominated candidates who meet eligibility criteria per Bylaws) as determined by the Nominating Committee
        • Active and Senior members will be able to vote for the number of open positions for MALs, e.g., 2 votes if there are 2 open slots
          • Nomination statements for each candidate will be available to view on the MyAANS website at the time of voting
          • candidates with the greatest number of votes will be elected \
    • Nominations for CNS and AANS officers
      • CNS officers comprising the Nominating Committee will nominate and/or endorse individuals for officer positions on the CNS and AANS boards
        • Pain EC officers will review and discuss the list of nominations and will vote as a group on the selection
          • This will be done in January for CNS officers
          • This will be done in August for AANS officers
        • The Pain President will submit the nomination/endorsement to the AANS and CNS when requested by the parent organizations

    Meetings

    • Pain Section EC Meetings
      • The date, place and time of meetings of the Executive Council shall be determined by the EC
      • The EC shall meet no less than 2 times per year, usually to correspond to the annual meetings of the AANS and CNS
        • The Secretary/Treasurer will be responsible for coordinating/executing the messaging of the date/place/time of the EC meeting with the AANS/CNS staff, which will be distributed to all membership via emails/eblasts and/or other outreach mechanisms within 1 month of the scheduled meeting
        • The Secretary/Treasurer will be responsible for coordinating with the AANS/CNS staff a room for the EC meeting during the AANS and CNS meetings (typically within the headquarter hotel) with call-in options, food/drink, and AV needs that fit within the Pain Section budget
        • Special meetings may be called by the President or a majority of its members
        • The Secretary/Treasurer will be responsible for submitting the agenda of the EC meeting to participants and for taking minutes during the meeting. He/She will also send previous meeting minutes ahead of time for attendant to review. He/She will also have documents pertaining to meeting finances available to review and uploaded to the myAANS website
          • It is advised that the Secretary/Treasurer meet with AANS and/or CNS staff prior to the EC meeting to clarify any outstanding budgetary questions or concerns
    • Pain Section Membership Meetings
      • The Pain Section Scientific Programming Committee (SPC) will be responsible for scientific programming at the AANS and CNS annual meetings and for the additional Pain Section meetings/courses that are planned
        • This includes the line-up/content/speakers of talks, courses, plenary sessions, seminars, and/or any other scientific programming required
          • This includes the selection of the Loeser Lecture at the AANS meeting
          • This includes coordinating Abstracts and Abstract Awards with the assigned MAL for Awards
        • The SPC will be required to submit all meeting programs to the AANS and CNS SPC Chairs according to their respective timelines
          • This will be April for the CNS SPC schedule
          • This will be September/October for the AANS SPC schedule
        • The SPC will be required to similarly develop curricula for stand-alone Pain Section meetings (ie the Pain Biennial meeting or other Section meetings if this collaborative approach is taken)
          • This will be a joint effort with CNS EC leadership
      • The SPC will be led by 1 senior MAL for 2 years and will be overseen by the Secretary/Treasurer
        • The assigned MAL will be primarily responsible for creating the programming
        • The Secretary/Treasurer will serve as Section memory of past programming and will be able to assist with industry/sponsorship (eg devices/costs for courses) and with the awards and associated lectures at each meeting

    Membership/Recruitment

    • Pain Section membership and the recruitment of new members will be managed by 1 senior MAL for 2 years and will be overseen by the Secretary/Treasurer.
      • He/She will be responsible for creating efforts to increase Section Membership
        • Examples include but are not limited to: formal mentorship, webinars, collaborations with CNS and AANS boards, Pain Section Think Tank

    Awards

    • Awards given by the Pain Section will be managed by 1 junior MAL for 2 years and will be overseen by the Secretary/Treasurer
      • The assigned MAL will be primarily responsible for ensuring/coordinating the promotion of applications for the award with AANS/CNS staff
      • The assigned MAL will be responsible for overseeing the receipt and review of applications for the awards
        • While the assigned MAL will ultimately be in charge of selecting the award recipients, all 4 MALs will help to review the applications for each cycle
      • The Secretary/Treasurer will be responsible for securing funding by industry for each of the awards by contacting the companies sponsoring the awards to request funding for each award prior to the start of each fiscal year
        • Ideally, requests to industry should be made in summer, with an update/confirmation of industry funding commitment/support for the subsequent year by the fall CNS Pain EC meeting
        • The Secretary/Treasurer will then report to Pain EC at the CNS Pain EC meeting whether industries have committed to funding the award for the upcoming year
          • This will help guide the Pain EC on decision-making pertaining to opening the awards each year
    • William H. Sweet Young Investigator Award
      • $1,000 award sponsored by Nevro, Inc. given for the best paper presented at the AANS Annual Meeting in the Pain Section by either a resident or a young neurosurgeon within 5 years of completion of his or her training
    • Ronald R. Tasker Young Investigator Award
      • $1,000 award sponsored by Abbott, Inc. given to the highest-ranked abstract submitted for the CNS Annual meeting concerning pain research. This award is open to a resident, fellow, or young neurosurgeon who is no more than two years out of from completion of training.

    John Oakley Fellowship

    • The John Oakley fellowship will be managed by 1 junior MAL for 2 years and will be overseen by a past mentor of this fellowship
      • The assigned MAL will be responsible for identifying 1-3 neurosurgeons who are Active members of the Pain Section and who are willing to mentor/train a clinical fellow at their institution for 1-3 months on behalf of the Pain Section
        • These identified mentors may be suggested to applicants, unless the applicant has identified/selected his/her own mentor to serve in this capacity
        • Guidance on this will be offered by the past mentor overseeing the fellowship
      • The assigned MAL will be responsible for determining the timing of the fellowship and helping to coordinate licensures/institutional requirements are fulfilled prior to the fellowship by the fellow in accordance with the institution(s) he/she will be attending
        • Guidance on this will be offered by the past mentor overseeing the fellowship and by currently selected mentors
      • The assigned MAL will be responsible for ensuring/coordinating the promotion of applications for the fellowship with AANS/NREF staff
      • The assigned MAL will be responsible for overseeing the receipt and review of applications for
        the awards

        • While the assigned MAL will ultimately be in charge of selecting the fellow, all 4 MALs will help to review the applications along with the Pain EC officers
      • The Secretary/Treasurer will work with NREF to ensure that funds are available for use to support the fellowship
    • The Oakley Fellowship supports a 2-3 month travel experience to learn neurosurgical pain techniques and/or refine their use
      • Eligible applicants are residents in their PGY-4 year or later, or young neurosurgeons within two years of finishing their residency training
      • Candidates should submit a 500-word proposal summarizing their goals and identifying the mentor(s) and institution(s) where the training will take place. Candidates should submit their up-to-date CV and their mentor’s CV, as well as a letter of support from their Program Director or Chairman. Help is available in identifying potential mentors and sites.

    Bylaws

    • The Bylaws will be managed by 1 junior MAL for 2 years and will be overseen by the Past President
      • The assigned MAL will be responsible for confirming that all activities/procedures of the Pain Section are in accordance with the Bylaws
      • He/She will be responsible for creating any amendments to the Bylaws
        • Amendments to these bylaws must be proposed in writing, endorsed by at least three members in good standing, and be submitted to the Secretary-Treasurer. The amendments must be emailed by the Secretary-Treasurer to the entire voting membership and posted on the Society website at least 30 days before online voting is completed
        • The affirmative vote of one half of the active and senior members shall be required for the adoption of an amendment
          • *This bylaws condition is currently in need of an amendment
        • Once voted upon by membership, approved amendments must be submitted to the AANS and CNS boards for votes of approval, which will be done by the assigned Bylaws MAL

    Guidelines

    • Pain Section CNS Guidelines and JGRC Liaison
      • He/She will be selected by the Pain Section President and will serve a 2-year term
      • He/She will attend the CNS Guidelines Committee and JGRC meetings at the AANS and CNS annual meetings and other meetings that are called to update the committees on the guideline efforts done by the Pain Section
      • He/She will attend the Pain EC meetings to update the EC on announcements from the CNS Guidelines Committee and the JGRC
      • As liaison the CNS Guidelines he/she will keep track of the active guidelines and/or practice parameters in progress by the Pain Section, as well as Updates that are needed or due; he/she will also be responsible for leading the nomination of new guidelines on behalf of the Pain Section when active guidelines are nearing completion
      • As the liaison on the JGRC, he/she will also serve to review other Section guidelines and offer/represent a Pain Section perspective/expertise
    • Active Guidelines
      • The Pain Section will be responsible for creating 1 active guidelines in any given period
      • Nominations of Active Guidelines
        • The topic for this will be nominated by Pain members
        • The Pain EC will vote on the topic nominations to select a topic
        • The Pain Guidelines Liaison will submit the topic nomination to the CNS Guidelines Committee
      • Creation of Guidelines
        • The Active Guidelines will be led by a Task Force Chair, voted upon by the Pain EC, who will be the lead author on the guidelines
        • The Task Force Chair will be responsible for selecting co-authors (including those from other Pain Societies)
        • The Task Force Chair will work with the CNS Guidelines Committee to create PICO questions, perform literature search, and delegate tasks/authorship to co-authors
        • The Task Force Chair will oversee all aspects of the guidelines, in conjunction with the CNS Guidelines Committee, until their publication
    • Guideline Updates
      • The Pain Section will be responsible for updating previously published Pain guidelines every 5 years
        • The Pain Section President and EC are responsible for ensuring such updates occur in a timely manner, with the assistance of the Pain Guidelines Liaison
      • The Pain Section will select a Task Force Chair to manage the update, in conjunction with the CNS Guidelines Committee
    • Practice Parameters
      • The Pain Section may nominate to the CNS Guidelines Committee a topic for Practice Parameters creation
        • This topic should be one of interest to membership and should be lacking in quality evidence but may have consensus opinion by experts in the field
        • Practice Parameters may be carried out in lieu of an Active Guidelines project, and will be led by a Task Force Chair as outlined in the Active Guidelines above

Other Pain Section Liaisons

  • The Washington Committee
    • The Washington Committee represents neurosurgical interests in Washington, DC on topics such as coding and reimbursement, medical liability reform, resident work hours, emergency medical services, quality improvement and more
      • This liaison will serve a 4-year term
      • The Pain EC officers will review and discuss the list of nominations and will vote as a group on the selection
      • He/She will be responsible for representing the Pain Section at meetings and via commentary by entities requested by the Washington Committee
        • If he/she is unable to attend a meeting or provide commentary/feedback to relevant issues in a timely manner, then he/she will be responsible for identifying a Pain Section member who can
    • He/She will be responsible for updating the Pain EC at all EC meetings on the activities of the Washington Committee as they pertain to the Pain Section
  • Council of State Neurosurgical Societies and Coding/Reimbursement Liaison
    • The Council of State Neurosurgical Societies (CSNS) is a grassroots organization representing neurosurgeons from all 50 states on a variety of socioeconomic issues, and providing guidance and educational resources to the CNS on the topics important to neurosurgeons across America
    • The Coding/Reimbursement Committee is a Joint AANS/CNS Committee involved in discussing key issues pertaining to neurosurgical practice and reimbursement
      • This liaison will serve a 4-year term
      • The Pain EC officers will review and discuss the list of nominations and will vote as a group on the selection
      • He/She will be responsible for representing the Pain Section at meetings and via commentary by entities requested by CSNS and Coding/Reimbursement Committee
        • If he/she is unable to attend a meeting or provide commentary/feedback to relevant issues in a timely manner, then he/she will be responsible for identifying a Pain Section member who can
    • He/She will be responsible for updating the Pain EC at all EC meetings on the activities of the CSNS and Coding/Reimbursement Committee as they pertain to the Pain Section