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E- Source An electronic
newsletter highlighting veterinary issues for |
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July 8, 2004 Volume II, Number 1 |
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In This Issue · Member Benefit Programs · New State Agency ·
Dr. · 2004 Graduates are Free! Category of Links ·
Illinois Department of Financial
and Professional Regulation ·
ISVMA Member Application Form Contact Us |
Member Benefit
Programs That Support ISVMA ISVMA recently launched a program with TransFirst Health Services to provide quality merchant services for ISVMA members and help them save on the cost of processing credit cards. After reviewing several options, it was determined that TransFirst Health was the most competitive, consultative, and cooperative processor available. They have an excellent track record working with several other state veterinary medical associations. In those other states, member veterinary practices are saving money AND the program is providing substantial support to the associations. TransFirst pays a 1% royalty to the state association for every dollar that is charged through the program. In other words, the state association gets a $1000 royalty for every $1 million processed by TransFirst. One of the state veterinary medical associations anticipates an annual royalty payment of $70,000 this year – and the program has only been in place two years! So far, only 13 ISVMA member clinics/hospitals have signed up for the program and their total anticipated credit transactions are approximately $1.5 million. Those practices are enjoying the savings through the program and supporting ISVMA. ISVMA will likely introduce other member benefit programs to assist member practices AND support ISVMA. Programs such as these help reduce reliance on member dues increases and provide resources to augment member services. For information on signing up with the TransFirst merchant services program contact Dorothy Svedman at (800) 538-1601 - Extension 106. Introducing
the Illinois Department of Financial and Profession Regulation Earlier this year, Governor Rod R.
Blagojevich signed an Executive order consolidating the Departments of
Financial Institutions, Professional Regulation, Insurance and the Office of
Banks and Real Estate into the Illinois
Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. The
new agency has a website at http://www.idfpr.com/. You can still
find all of the pre-existing information by clicking on the Division of
Professional Regulation banner at the bottom of the introduction page. Dr. John W.
Hanover Memorial Service Cancelled The family of Dr. John Hanover has asked us to
notify ISVMA members that the memorial service scheduled for Saturday July 10th
has been cancelled due to an unforeseen conflict. Memorials may still be made out to the John
W. Hanover Veterinary Education Endowment Fund and mailed to 2004 Graduates
Join ISVMA For Free! The ISVMA offers complimentary
membership to veterinarians during their first year of practice after
graduation. All 2004 graduates are eligible for free membership and signing
up is easy! Just fill in the online application form at www.isvma.org/application.htm or call the ISVMA
to have an application form mailed or faxed to your practice. Many of the
2004 graduates are still waiting on their license approval from the Illinois
Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. They can still apply for
ISVMA membership while their license application is pending. Member
Renewals and Recruitment Continue There are still approximately 350 ISVMA members
that have not returned their membership renewal forms and payment. This
afternoon, a second notice was mailed to these members. If you have not
renewed your membership, please reply to this second mailing as soon as
possible. If you are considering not renewing your membership, please contact
the ISVMA office to let us know. We’ll try our best to convince you to
reconsider! In the next few days, 1185 member prospects will be
receiving a membership application packet. The ISVMA Board of Directors has
targeted 2000 members before July 1, 2007. We have increased our membership
to 1521 (an increase of 178 members since the beginning of the year), but
there is still a long way to go to reach our goal! The strength of ISVMA, and the strength of
organized veterinary medicine, is more important now that ever. It used to be
commonly understood and agreed upon that veterinarians were the only people
authorized to diagnose, prescribe medication and conduct surgery – not so any
longer. Antagonists as well as complementary, alternative and integrative
therapy providers have been building statewide legislative capacity. They
have organized, raised money and hired lobbyists to chip away at the
definition of veterinary medicine. Neither the AVMA nor regional associations have the
ability or intentions to provide statewide legislative advocacy for
veterinarians. Only the ISVMA can protect your license and profession from
ill-conceived legislation and burdensome regulations. |
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