• AHRMM President Ray Moore spoke to the challenges that face healthcare supply chain: financial pressures, healthcare reform, an increasing interest for meaningful use of data, and moving into a global market. The focus for AHRMM will be to help members be prepared and proactive in the changing landscape, find ways to increase professional engagement, and strengthen nontraditional education opportunities, chapter relations, military relations, and leadership in the profession.

• The AHRMM Board spent a significant amount of time at the meeting continuing the discussion from the last two board meetings about the Governance and Election Structure to ensure that AHRMM is positioned to meet the needs of the membership and the profession now and well in to the future. The Nominating Committee is creating a recommendation for board approval around specific board candidate criteria for the 2010 elections which will be presented to the AHRMM Board in April. After the AHRMM Board reviews the recommendation the membership will be notified of the changes to the board candidate criteria and election process.

• The AHRMM Board reviewed the 2010 Strategy Map and corresponding dashboard measurements. The Board will make minor changes to the 2010 Strategy Map to ensure the organization’s direction is accurate and keeps AHRMM on the path to success. As was previously decided, the board confirmed that the process of strategic planning should not be viewed as an event that takes place ever three years but as a dynamic and ever-changing process.

• The Award for Excellence in Healthcare Supply Chain Innovation opened for submissions in early 2010. The award winner will be recognized at AHRMM10. The goal of this award will be to award AHRMM’s top innovator and to share all the innovation submissions with the rest of the membership through AHRMM’s Knowledge Center.

• AHRMM announced the creation of a new research consortium that is focused on health sector supply chain research. The Academic Council evolved from the Research Symposium AHRMM hosted in the fall of 2009. The group plans to meet annually, but will share syllabi, white papers, articles, and research papers on an ongoing basis throughout the year. Through the Research Symposium and infrastructure of the Academic Council, the consortium aims to foster a collaborative approach to conducting research in the healthcare supply chain. AHRMM will serve as host, sponsor, and convener of the Academic Council.

• American Hospital Association (AHA) Vice President of the Professional Membership Groups (PMGs) gave a presentation on the initiatives Health for Life and the Pursuit of Excellence.

• AHRMM Past President Jay Kirkpatrick confirmed that the strategic priority of networking and engaging healthcare supply chain executives will begin in the second quarter of 2010. The initiative will ensure that healthcare supply chain executives have the opportunity to participate in a national conversation about how to strengthen the profession and develop education that will address the needs of a majority of supply chain professionals.

• AHRMM ended the year with a positive financial bottom line and as a result was able to award a total of over 110 Certified Materials & Resource Professional (CMRP) scholarships for the CMRP exam and CMRP renewals.

• The Executive Director presented a high-level association and financial update. The 2009 Financial Report will be available on the member’s only section of the AHRMM website in mid to late March.

• The meeting ended with Ray Moore's closing remarks.