Legacy of Excellence Digital Flipbook

Chapter 4: 2012 – 2016

patient-centered care in both clinical and health policy matters,” said Dr. Nielsen in the February 2012 Bulletin in which he highlighted the comprehensive approach across advocacy, health policy, and communications to address the dangerous growing incidence of infants and children ingesting small lithium batteries. The work plans that came from strategic planning were accomplished by the army of volunteers who provided depth to the achievements of the AAO HNS/F. Members volunteered time, knowledge, and expertise in a variety of ways that spanned all areas of priority for the Academy, such as serving on one of the numerous clinical or practice management committees, signing up as state trackers or sending messages to Members of Congress, getting involved with the Board of Governors or one of the Sections, serving as associate editors or reviewers for the journal, contributing as faculty on one of the education committees, presenting at the Annual Meeting, and the list goes on. The reach of the AAO-HNS/F was wide because of the vast pool of volunteers who truly extended the capabilities of the work of the Academy beyond the EVP/CEO, Boards, and staff. Dr. Nielsen noted this in the April 2013 Bulletin . “I believe we ‘accomplish more with less’ than just about any other major medical society, in large part because of the tremendous spirit of volunteerism and the culture of contributing to the profession that characterizes otolaryngology-head and neck surgery.” And he reiterated the point again in the July 2013 Bulletin when focusing on accountability, “The membership of the Academy has a culture of volunteerism and contributing that has been a hallmark of the success of our Annual Meeting, educational programming, and advocacy efforts for decades. This is the model of ‘accountability’ that demonstrates the personal, private choice that each of you make to fashion the future that you envision. I salute all of you for your dedication to principle and your unflagging efforts to demonstrate your accountability through action and solution.”

James C. Denneny III, MD, and Sujana S. Chandrasekhar, MD, consult during a 2016 Board of Directors meeting.

Understanding that achieving the goals of the AAO-HNS/F Strategic Plan would also require cross collaboration, not just among the AAO-HNS/F programs and services but also with all subspecialty organizations, the Academy was diligent about specialty unity and incorporating the participation and feedback of stakeholder organizations in the development of each updated Strategic Plan. SPECIALTY UNITY Specialty unity continued in the age of subspecialization. While considered a small, niche specialty within the house of medicine, otolaryngology made tremendous inroads because of this cooperative effort. Collaboration came in a formalized manner through the Specialty Society Advisory Council (SSAC) to guarantee that concerns within each subspecialty respective areas were addressed with the most relevant and contemporary recommendations that were also presented in a unified fashion. The SSAC served to strategize ways the Academy and specialty societies could work together to improve otolaryngology overall knowing that collective responses carried considerably more weight and tended to be more comprehensive in scope.

Otolaryngologists need all otolaryngologists to work together collaboratively when possible. This will allow us to maximize resources, avoid duplication, and generate a blueprint for the future of the specialty while maintaining the identity and relevance of each organization.” – James C. Denneny III, MD, EVP/CEO, February 2015 Bulletin

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