Other Policies

Conflicts of Interest

Directors and officers of the organization shall not have any personal or business interest that may conflict with their responsibilities to the organization. In the event any matter comes before the Board of Directors for action concerning that which an officer or director or any member of an officer or director’s family has a personal or business interest, the officer or director shall fully disclose the same and shall not participate in any consideration of or decision related to the matter. The minutes shall reflect the disclosure and non-participation.

Adopted March 8, 2023.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Statement

The Society of OMS Administrators, as part of the healthcare community, 

• strives to cultivate a community of belonging,
• values all characteristics that our members bring to our community,
• condemns any discrimination or hateful behavior, and 
• champions a culture of equity, diversity, and inclusion within the profession of oral & maxillofacial surgery to improve the health and quality of life for all patients. 

Achieving this vision has a direct impact on the relevance of our profession and the world’s health, and future.

Adopted March 8, 2023.

Harassment Policy

Purpose

SOMSA and its members are committed to full compliance with all laws and regulations and to maintaining the highest ethical standards in the way we conduct our operations and activities. This policy is designed to prevent all types of harassment within SOMSA and to provide for corrective action as appropriate. 

Who Is Covered by the Policy

This policy applies to the following people, referred to as Covered Individuals: 

• members of the SOMSA Board of Directors (or other governing body);
• all individuals who act on SOMSA’s behalf through election, appointment (including appointment to a committee), or Board action, or under authority from its Bylaws or Rules of the Board;
• SOMSA staff;
• all individual members of SOMSA engaged in activities relating to the business of SOMSA such as meetings and events, continuing education sessions, and any other SOMSA-related activities.

Prohibited Conduct

This policy prohibits discriminatory or harassing behavior (that is, unwelcome conduct) directed toward a person because of his or her sex, race, color, religion, national origin, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation or identification, family responsibilities, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, or other status protected under the laws of the jurisdiction(s) in which SOMSA is present or the relevant activities take place. 

Accordingly, no Covered Individual shall:

• engage in or facilitate any discriminatory or harassing behavior directed toward SOMSA officers, directors, members, staff, meeting attendees, exhibitors, advertisers, sponsors, suppliers, contractors, guests, or others in connection with activities relating to the SOMSA.
• engage in speech or conduct which is disparaging or derogatory of persons based on any of the factors mentioned above, in connection with activities relating to the SOMSA. 

Reporting a Violation

Violations of this policy may be reported to the SOMSA Executive Director and/or to the Board of Directors. The Board or its appointees will be responsible for resolving any reported violation, and will determine an appropriate course of action. This will ordinarily involve a prompt inquiry or investigation, which shall be conducted with utmost discretion and be kept confidential to the greatest extent possible. Such inquiry or investigation shall be conducted by the Board or by one or more of its members, by legal counsel retained by SOMSA, or by such other person(s) as the Board may designate.

Board Action

Promptly after the inquiry or investigation has been completed, the resulting findings will be reported to the Board. The Board shall then conduct such proceedings and take such action as may be appropriate and authorized under applicable law and under the governing documents of SOMSA. If a Board member has been charged with the pertinent violation, he or she may present arguments and supporting evidence on his or her behalf, but will not otherwise influence or participate in the Board’s proceedings on the violation.

Adopted March 8, 2023.

Industry Partners: Event Promotions

SOMSA will help publicize industry partners’ events if they are

1. educational and
2. in person. 

“Publicize” means that we will, for example and as we deem appropriate, amplify industry partner’s social posts about the event, share event information by email and in our member forum, and announce the event during live SOMSA events (e.g. webinars, regional quarterly check-ins). 

Adopted August 9, 2023.

Industry Partners: SOMSA and Leadership Endorsement

SOMSA as an organization refrains from publicly endorsing industry partners at this time, as our focus is currently on retaining and growing our membership by providing valuable resources, educational opportunities, and community of like-minded professionals. Creating and maintaining a vetting process for endorsing vendors (e.g. AAOMS Advantage Partners) distracts from our current goal, although we are keeping this idea on our back burner, and it potentially alienates partners who are not vetted.

Elected board members will avoid publicly promoting industry partners in advertisements for or at SOMSA events while they are serving on the board. Elected board members may provide testimonials to promote industry partners in advertisements for non-SOMSA events, as long as the partner agrees to display the board member’s role alongside the promotional (e.g. “Beth Doe, Missouri Center for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Secretary of Society of OMS Administrators”).

Adopted August 9, 2023.

Member Financial Data Security

Introduction

The purpose of this member financial data security policy is to provide security of SOMSA members’ and industry partners’ financial data.

Data

SOMSA will implement security measures to protect and safeguard members’ financial data. Sensitive financial data includes an individual’s first name or initial and last name in combination with any of the following items if the name and items are not encrypted:

• Social security number[1]
• Driver’s license number or government-issued number
• Account number or credit or debit card number

Compliance

SOMSA shall comply with association security standards in accordance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI). When sensitive financial information has been processed by SOMSA, it will be shredded, erased, or modified so that the data is unreadable or undecipherable. In addition, any breach of the security system safeguarding computerized data by an unauthorized person will be reported in writing to the individual member and owner of the sensitive personal information.

[1] SOMSA does not routinely collect social security numbers, driver’s license numbers or government-issued numbers from individual members.

Adopted March 8, 2023.