American College of Surgeons

“Material differences in voting rights according to article v, section 2, subparagraph (a) of the bylaws, it states "during the intervals between meetings of the board of regents, the executive committee shall exercise the powers of the board of regents in the management and direction of the business and the conduct of the affairs of the college, except that it shall not have power to elect fellows; amend the bylaws; or regulate fees, dues, or assessments. It shall keep a record of its proceedings and shall, after each meeting, report the same to the regents for approval at the next succeeding meeting of the board of regents."”

“Form 990 review process the 990 forms are completed by the acs accounting department and reviewed by outside tax professionals. Once outside tax professionals review and recommend changes, the accounting department finalizes the 990 forms. The acs cfo reviews and signs the forms and acs accounting department provides a copy of the return to the board of directors. The acs accounting department then files the return with the irs.”

“Conflict of interest policy monitoring & enforcement the college has conflicts of interest policies for employees and board members. All employees and board members are required to sign a disclosure statement each year, which are collected and disseminated by the chief financial officer's office. There is also an acs conflicts of interest committee that meets periodically as the need arises to discuss issues that relate to conflicts of interest. The committee accounts for the receipt of disclosure statements and follows up on any issues. This information is then reported to the acs finance committee of the board of regents. If the acs finance committee feels there are conflicts that are questionable in nature, they are reported to the acs board of regents chair and treasurer for action. The board of regents executive committee shall take action on any presumed or potential violation of this policy by a member of leadership to ensure that a conflict of interest does not arise or does not continue. In addition to any legal penalties, such action may include, but shall not be limited to, oral admonishment, written reprimand, resignation, and restitution. A member who disagrees with the findings or recommendations of the finance committee or the action of the board of regents executive committee may appeal the decision to the board of regents.”

“Process for determining compensation the college has policies and procedures concerning compensation increases, performance evaluations, and job evaluations. In addition, merit increases are included as a budget parameter for review by the finance committee as is the addition of any new employee or human resource benefit proposal. The college has an executive compensation committee as a subcommittee to the finance committee. The committee is comprised of the board of regents chair, board of regents treasurer, board of governors secretary, and a member of the finance committee. The executive compensation committee's purpose is as follows: to establish procedures to create a "rebuttable presumption of reasonableness" in connection with irs intermediate sanctions regulations. Responsibilities are to ensure that compensation for each "disqualified person" is reasonable. Human resources provides comparability data to the committee in the form of surveys, other similar organizations, geographical comparisons, and actual written offers from similar institutions for the services of a disqualified person. The committee documents the basis for all compensation determinations.”

“Documents made available to public the bylaws are available on the american college of surgeons' website. The governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements are available upon request.”

“(continued from part iii) the dropc is comprised of three focus areas: 1. Cancer - the acs cancer programs provide tools, resources, and data that enable cancer programs to deliver comprehensive, high-quality, multidisciplinary, evidence-based, patient-centered care to patients with cancer and diseases of the breast. The major programs within the cancer department include the commission on cancer (coc), national accreditation program for breast cancers (napbc), national accreditation program for rectal cancer (naprc), the national cancer database (ncdb), the american joint committee on cancer (ajcc), the cancer research program (crp), and the cancer surgery standards program (cssp). Over the past year, the commission on cancer (coc) launched a new option for pediatric oncology programs within existing coc facilities. The coc is also developing a new rural offering, which will include tailored standards to fit the unique needs of cancer programs in rural communities. In addition, the coc has begun exploring international accreditation options and plans to begin accepting applications from canadian hospitals in early 2025. The national cancer data base (ncdb) is moving to real-time data collection and analysis; launched four new quality measures related to cervical cancer, bladder cancer, prostate cancer, and kidney tumors; and will publish in the journal of the american college of surgeons its first annual report of new observations and recent trends of cancer diagnoses, patient demographics, and treatments, as well as an in-depth report on treatment and outcomes in breast, pancreas, and colon cancer. 2. Trauma the committee on trauma (cot) and trauma programs staff oversee and support various didactic and experiential trauma courses, the national trauma registry, the national trauma data bank, the stop the bleed awareness campaign, the verification/consulting program for hospitals, the trauma system consultation program, and regional trauma organization of state/political activities. The cot is also active in pre-hospital trauma care, injury prevention and control, performance improvement and patient safety, rural trauma, disaster management, and outcomes studies. In the coming months, the acs and the cot will focus more intensely on strengthening the analytics approach and business intelligence tools used by tqip participants; release a white paper on the importance of trauma activation fees for trauma center viability and readiness; continue active participation in initiatives to reduce preventable accidents and injuries to zero; and refine and expand its trauma programs, not only for surgeons and providers, but also for the public at-large. 3. Continuous quality improvement (cqi) the dropc s continuous quality improvement (qi) programs provide the infrastructure for several qi programs, as well as for conducting health services research, clinical research, laboratory research, meta-analyses, clinical trials, outcome studies, research hypothesis generation, and the development of evidence based practice guidelines. The major qi programs within cqi include the acs national surgical quality improvement programs (acs nsqip), the children s surgical verification (gsv) program, and metabolic and bariatric surgery accreditation and quality improvement program (mbsaqip). The acs offers three major in person educational events that focus on quality initiatives, managing data, and best practices related to the college s accreditation and verification programs. They include the quality and safety conference (qsc), trauma quality improvement program (tqip) annual meeting, and the acs cancer conference. In addition, several new programs were recently launched and are generating new participants. These include the vascular verification program, with its first four sites verified; the emergency general surgery verification program, with its first site visit conducted; and the quality verification program, which launched a new site reviewe”

“(continued from part iii) the acs clinical congress is an annual educational conference for surgeons, including four days of lectures, panel sessions, postgraduate courses, presentation of scientific papers and research, video-based education sessions, and other educational activities. In october 2023, clinical congress saw a return to prepandemic attendance levels of more than 12,000 attendees both in-person and virtually. The publication, selected readings in general surgery (srgs) is a critical resource for all general surgeons. After more than 40 years, srgs remains dedicated to acs mission to safeguard standards of care in an optimal and ethical practice environment. Srgs is published eight times a year and focuses on a revolving cycle of the most relevant topics in general surgery including breast disease, colorectal disease, and biliary tract disease. Surgical education and self-assessment program (sesap) is a premier self-assessment and educational resource promoting excellence and expertise for practicing surgeons. The latest edition covers a breadth of general surgery across seven modules and is available in web and print versions.”

“(continued from part iii) the division also staffs several committees including the international relations committee, scholarship committee, and 13 surgical specialty advisory councils. The division supports the 300 board of governors who advise and council the board of regents, and supports the activities of the 121 chapters around the world.”

“Pension adjustment 5,867,240. Insurance recovery 500,000. Change in funds held for others -763,363.”