Legacy of Excellence Digital Flipbook

LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE

formalized Strategic Plan still allowed for timely adjustments for disruptive changes in the surrounding environment created by legislative and regulatory changes or as in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic. The current process of using both internal and external stakeholders has proven to be of significant additional value. Advocacy in all forms has taken on an increasingly significant role over the last two decades at the local, state, and national levels, and concurrently, the advocacy staff has transformed itself from a group that primarily did federal and state legislative and regulatory advocacy to one that is adept at handling all business of medicine issues, particularly private payer policies. At the beginning of this 25-year stretch, the public was in the process of rejecting managed care through capitation and other programs with incentives to withhold care. As the healthcare expenditures have risen to roughly 18% of the United States gross domestic product, there have been a number of proposals to move away from the fee-for-service model that is still most prevalent to a value-based model. The federal government through the Medicare program has been leading the way in this process. There is still a long way to go, the goal of an evidence-based outcome driven payment continues to move forward. Another rapidly expanding trend that is significantly affecting healthcare delivery is the corporatization of medicine. Most medical fields now services of our organization. As education theory has evolved, the Foundation has continually assessed the needs of the membership and adapted the content and the method of delivery to fit best practices in the education field.” Education was the founding pillar of the organization in 1896 and since then has continued to be the most highly valued

have more employed physicians than independent practitioners. We also have seen significant increase in the size of the groups containing the remaining independent practitioners and with it different needs from the Academy. Education was the founding pillar of the organization in 1896 and since then has continued to be the most highly valued services of our organization. As education theory has evolved, the Foundation has continually assessed the needs of the membership and adapted the content and the method of delivery to fit best practices in the education field. The gaps in knowledge discovered through objective means have been used both in education as well as in our quality programs to stay on the cutting-edge. The Foundation strives to make education challenging and rewarding and has collaborated with the American Board of Otolaryngology - Head and Surgery to help integrate learning opportunities with Maintenance of Certification. The Future of Education Task force laid out an aggressive transformational plan that has led to the institution of FLEX and the sunsetting of the Home Study Course and has created the ability to deliver content through multiple devices on demand. The future will develop and support the cognitive, technical, and behavioral skills needed by otolaryngologists through animation, gamification, and virtual reality/augmented reality learning strategies. The consistent effort to work with our international colleagues over the last 25 years has paid off and made us a truly global organization with 75 International Corresponding Societies that have produced a truly bidirectional exchange of clinical and scientific information. What started as an early outreach program by Eugene N. Myers, MD, FRCS Edin (Hon), and several other Academy leaders has progressed to the point that there is international leadership represented on our Board of Directors and we have established the International Advisory Board and feature a regular international symposium at our Annual Meeting & OTO Experience. Our participation in global joint meetings has dramatically increased during this period as well have international submissions to our journals,

12