Listed below are the benefits of being an SDSMA member. If you would like to become a member, or would like to learn more about becoming a member, click here to request more information.

Here are a number of ways to become involved in the important work of the SDSMA:

• The SDSMA Annual Meeting – for business, continuing medical education and networking opportunities
• Doctor of the Day – serve as the physician for the South Dakota State Legislature
• Physician Lobbyist – serve as a volunteer lobbyist during the legislative session
• SD.MED.PAC – help friends of medicine become elected officials and lawmakers
• SDSMA Committees and Task Forces – serve the organization and yourself
• SDSMA Appointments to State Boards, Committees and Commissions – the SDSMA is asked to nominate and recommend physicians to fill positions to numerous vacancies every year
• Membership Sections for Medical Students, Residents and Young Physicians – at different points throughout a physician’s career, needs vary, and we need leaders
• Districts and Specialty Societies – local involvement introduces you to the process

Thank you for your membership in South Dakota State Medical Association. You have access to valuable member services and programs through your SDSMA membership. Those include:

• Member Advocacy and Physician Representation
• Legislative
• Legal
• Regulatory
• Peer-to-Peer Networking Events
• Trade Publications and Corporate Communication Tools
• Leadership Development
• Personal and Professional Education
• Medical Practice Management Services

You can help shape medicine’s Future in South Dakota by serving on a committee of the SDSMA. There are five standing committees that guide and review the work of your organization. The are the Committee on Communications, the Committee on Ethics and Judicial Affairs, the Committee on Legislation, the Committee on Medical Education and the Committee on Medical Practice. SDSMA also appoints special task forces as needed. These committees recommend actions and policy. Serving on an SDSMA committee is an excellent way to become involved and help promote the association.

Do you have questions about prompt pay? Do you have problems relating to patient care? Do you need an update on the latest government regulations? The SDSMA legal staff produces timely updates and advisories on issues that are important to you and your practice, and can provide fee-based, individual assistance.

If you’d like to get involved give us a call at 605.336.1965 or e-mail Donna Toay at dtoay@sdsma.org. 

SDSMA’s legislative staff is your eyes, ears and voice in Pierre and Washington. We track hundreds of pieces of legislation that affect you, as well as coordinate opportunities for you to get involved in the process. Want to be the “Doctor of the Day” during the South Dakota legislative session? How about a “Physician Lobbyist?” You can, and we can make it possible.

If you’d like more information about our legislative services and advocacy programs, give us a call at 605.336.1965 or e-mail Kim Tripp at ktripp@sdsma.org.

Information is essential to your continuing success and viability. You can stay up-to-date with key issues and events by logging on to the SDSMA Web site, www.sdsma.org. As a member you also receive the South Dakota Journal of Medicine every month. We also produce public awareness campaigns to communicate health issues of importance to the media and the public.

If you’d like more information about our communication programs give us a call at 605.336.1965 or e-mail Mark East at meast@sdsma.org.

Your membership is voluntary, and we appreciate it. SDSMA Membership Services works hard to ensure that you have the programs and services you want and need, as well as marketing the association to potential new members. We want to hear from you if you have questions, concerns or ideas on how we can serve you better, or if you know of a potential new member. It’s your Association and we’ll work with you to make it the best it can be.
We still haven’t told you about all the benefits of your membership in SDSMA, so stay tuned!

If you’d like more information about Membership Services give us a call at 605.336.1965 visit or E-mail Donna Toay at dtoay@sdsma.org.  We never take your membership in SDSMA or your input and activism for granted.

Continuing Medical Education (CME) is a key to progress in your field. The SDSMA is an intrastate accreditor of providers of CME. The program also accredits CME providers across the state. SDSMA-accredited providers produce regular, local CME events certified for CME credit across South Dakota attended by hundreds of physicians each year.

Now that we’ve educated you a bit about SDSMA’s education benefit, we want you to know that you can give us a call at 605.336.1965 or e-mail Donna Toay at dtoay@sdsma.org.

The SDSMA is an authoritative source for breaking health care news and information. We deliver it at your fingertips through our Web site, www.sdsma.org. We promote the art of medicine and the advancement of science.

• South Dakota Journal of Medicine – SDSMA’s monthly newsmagazine
• www.sdsma.org - a dynamic, up-to-the-minute Web site
• Weekly legislative updates
• Legislative and public health alerts
• Continuing medical education opportunities
• Seminars and educational programs for you and your staff on topics like HIPAA compliance and Medicare
• A knowledgeable, experienced staff on call for you

The SDSMA is your vehicle for advocacy for your patients and the profession of medicine through lobbying at the state and federal level, grassroots campaigning (SD.MED.PAC) and legal initiatives.

• Improving health and access to care in rural areas
• Demanding adequate Medicaid funding
• Pushing for professional liability tort reform
• Promoting Medicare physician payment reform
• Working to improve clinical quality and patient safety
• Partnering with state agencies to tackle regulatory, socioeconomic, public health and scientific policy issues
• Advocating public health immunizations
• Fighting tobacco use
• Promoting adequate funding for medical education
• Stopping inappropriate expansion of non-physician’s scope of practice
• Defending the patient-physician relationship
• Bringing physicians, alliance members, and medical students to the state capitol for personal visits with legislators

The SDSMA has a member-driven focus on issues, programs and policies, professional involvement, personal development and representation in organized medicine.

• SDSMA policy is developed through your representatives on the Council
• Leadership opportunities on SDSMA committees, task forces, and through sections
• Representation for students, residents and young physicians
• Low-interest educational loans and scholarships for students and residents
• Collaborating with the University of South Dakota School of Medicine on physician workforce and medical education funding
• Networking with colleagues during SDSMA meetings, conferences, seminars and social events
• The SDSMA Annual Meeting offers free CME credit hours, showcases technical and scientific exhibits and presents expert speakers on relevant medical topics

The SDSMA provides practice management consulting at below-market prices, hands-on help with payment problems and a comprehensive array of services to help you take care of the business side of your practice.

• HIPPA workshops and a policy and procedure manual for HIPPA compliance that is provided to members free-of-charge
• The SDSMA has access to the expertise and advice of the Midwest Medical Insurance Company (MMIC)
• Through the SDSMA’s affiliation with Medem, you, as a member, can set up your own office Web site free-of-charge
• The SDSMA can provide fee-based individual legal assistance to members
• An up-to-date Physician’s Guide to South Dakota Law is given to each new SDSMA member

The SDSMA is working together in the community of physicians and the community at large to advance the profession and protect public health.

• AMA—the national physicians’ organization, dedicated to quality health care for America
• 12 district medical societies provide leadership at the local level
• SDSMA Alliance is a spouses’ organization with a community focus and grassroots political power
• SDSMA Endowment is the philanthropic arm that secures funds for medical education scholarships and low-interest loans
• Health Professional Assistance Program (HPAP)—a physician health and rehabilitation program that provides help when you need it
• SDSMA provides administrative services for several districts and specialty societies and will provide these services for other districts and societies
• SDSMA provides administrative services for the South Dakota Medical Group Managers Association
• Public health resources such as bioterrorism resources, public health campaign information and public health alerts

For Your Benefit:  Your SDSMA Member Services and Programs

Thank you for your membership in South Dakota State Medical Association. You have access to valuable member services and programs through your SDSMA membership which includes:

Member Advocacy and Physician Representation

Legislative

Legal

Regulatory

Peer-to-Peer Networking Events

Trade Publications and Corporate Communication Tools

Leadership Development

Personal and Professional Education

Medical Practice Management Services

Want to know more? Call us at 605.336.1965, visit www.sdsma.org or e-mail Donna Toay at dtoay@sdsma.org. 

In the coming months, we’ll give you specific details about these benefits, so you can take full advantage of them.  Again, thank you for your membership in SDSMA.

“For Your Benefit” is the Association’s monthly update on programs and services available to physicians through their affiliation with the SDSMA.

For Your Benefit:  Help Shape Medicine’s Future in SD

You can help shape medicine’s future in South Dakota by serving on a committee of the SDSMA.  There are five standing committees that guide and review the work of your organization.  They are the Committee on Communications, the Committee on Legislation, the Committee on Medical Education, the Committee on Medical Practice, and the Committee on Ethics and Judicial Affairs (which consists of the five immediate past presidents of the SDSMA).  The SDSMA also appoints special task forces as needed.  These committees recommend actions and policy.  Serving on an SDSMA committee is an excellent way to become involved and help promote the Association.

Want to know more?  Give us a call at 605.336.1965, visit the SDSMA Web site at www.sdsma.org, or E-mail Donna Toay at dtoay@sdsma.org.  We know your membership is voluntary, and we appreciate your commitment to the SDSMA.

“For Your Benefit” is the Association’s monthly update on programs and services available to physicians through their affiliation with SDSMA.

For Your Benefit: SDSMA Is Your Legislative Advocate

SDSMA’s legislative staff is your eyes, ears and voice in Pierre and Washington. We track hundreds of pieces of legislation that affect you, as well as coordinate opportunities for you to get involved in the process. Want to be the “Doctor of the Day” during the South Dakota legislative session? How about a “Physician Lobbyist?” You can, and we can make it possible.

There are more SDSMA benefits to tell you about, and you’ll hear about them in the months to come. In the meantime, if you’d like more information about our legislative services and advocacy programs, give us a call at 605.336.1965, visit the SDSMA Web site at www.sdsma.org or e-mail Kim Tripp at ktripp@sdsma.org. 

It should never go without saying: Thank you for your membership in SDSMA.

“For Your Benefit” is the Association’s monthly update on programs and services available to physicians through their affiliation with the SDSMA.