Legacy of Excellence Digital Flipbook

Chapter 5: 2017 – 2021

The changes in medical bureaucracy, paperwork, and reimbursement will continue. We must not let this affect the quality of our patient care and our commitment to the profession we so love…Change is a constant. Our Academy is prepared to walk with you through this changing landscape.”

- Gregory W. Randolph, MD, 2016-2017 President, February 2017 Bulletin

public. These initiatives provide the tools to identify future areas of investment and to effect change. Dr. Taylor eloquently spoke to this during his 2020 Annual Meeting Opening Ceremony remarks: “We acknowledge the effects that lack of access, inadequate diversity, implicit bias, and social determinants of health play in the disparity of healthcare, and we are committed to assist our members and their patients to identify and remedy current inadequacies. It’s been said that crisis creates opportunity for creativity and innovation and generates the emergence of leadership. When you manage a crisis, defeat is not an option. Our existing leadership and staff all stepped up during this year and I thank them. To our members, particularly those who engaged with our Academy and provided critical insight and recommendations, YOU stepped up and I thank you. It has been an important and memorable year, which I will appreciate and remember forever. I will continue to serve and support our illustrious and great organization in the future. Our members’ commitment to the world makes this organization great.”

especially as it related to regulatory requirements, socioeconomic and reimbursement challenges, and a plethora of other interjected patient care paradigm burdens. The Coordinator for Advocacy also chaired the Physician Payment Policy (3P) Committee, which had seen a marked increase in activity both on the private and public sides of payment issues and challenges as well as handling new CPT code acquisition and valuation. To provide a comprehensive scope of the practice of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, the AAO-HNS, in collaboration with the Association of Otolaryngology Administrators (AOA), conducted a socioeconomic survey in 2017. The survey data captured a broad economic snapshot and not only offered vital practice information about the current healthcare environment but also provided a preview to future trends in the specialty. The results of the survey demonstrated the continued increase in the cost of practice and highlighted the continuing trend of employed otolaryngologist head and neck surgeons. The expanding list of rules governing the practice of medicine both in the hospital and outpatient setting was recognized as one of the greatest threats to physician well-being in the medical community. With the seemingly endless addition of rules and policies burdening physicians coming from federal and state legislative and regulatory bodies as well as private payers, the Academy zeroed in on advocacy efforts to support members and quality patient care in the ever growing maze of administrative burden, reporting, and regulation. These efforts consisted of continued focus on existing issues dating back many years, such as reimbursement, pre-authorization, and scope of practice, and covered the gamut during 2017-2021, with some efforts carrying the torch from years before, others new and needing immediate attention, and those that, with action now, would pave the future.

ADVOCATING FOR THE SPECIALTY

Coordinators In 2017, the Board of Directors approved combining the roles of the current Coordinator for Socioeconomic Affairs, Jane T. Dillon, MD, MBA, and the Coordinator for Practice Affairs, Robert Lorenz, MD, MBA, into one position— Coordinator for Health Policy (CHP). R. Peter Manes, MD, was nominated by a search committee and was approved by the Board of Directors. The title was subsequently changed in 2020 to Coordinator for Advocacy.

2021: Launched the redesign of the Academy website at www.entnet.org.

The clinical practice of medicine had become increasingly complicated and in constant flux—

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