Celebrating 50 Years: The Reunion of Eastern and Western BONES

Each month leading up to the AAOE 2019 Annual Conference May 5-8 in Nashville, TN, we will be sharing stories about AAOE in honor of our 50th anniversary. Last month, we took it all the way back to the beginning. If you missed it, check it out now!

BONES started as a quarterly newsletter distributed to members nationwide, but members also met each year during the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) meeting. As BONES continued to grow, it became more and more necessary for the group to hold its own conference. In 1973, BONES hosted its first solo conference in Denver, the city where the initial BONES gathering in 1969 took place. 

To make it easier to travel to the conference, BONES split into Eastern and Western BONES in 1978. Each section held their own Annual Conference and elected their own chair. 

This temporary separation lasted until 1986. With combined membership for Eastern and Western BONES exceeding 200, the decision was made to reunite the two sections as a single, national organization. At the 1989 Annual Conference in Providence, Rhode Island, a Board of Directors was formed, bylaws were created, and membership dues were established. 

In the short video below, Thomas Stearns, FACMPE, retired VP of Medical Practice Services at State Volunteer Mutual Insurance Company, talks about the reunion of Eastern and Western BONES, which occurred during his time as chair (turn on closed captions to watch with the sound off).