Legacy of Excellence Digital Flipbook

LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE

The Joint Commission In 2018, members, utilizing ENT Connect, made the Academy aware of new rules from The Joint Commission that were burdening practice unnecessarily. Under the leadership of Dr. Denneny and C.W. David Chang, MD, 2018 Co-chair of the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Committee, a survey was conducted of the members to assess the meaningful change needed by members to advocate for a reduction of this burden. Dr. Denneny and Dr. Chang collated the data and presented The Joint Commission the concerns identified through the detailed survey that were felt to be unnecessarily negatively affecting otolaryngology practice. The Joint Commission addressed each issue individually through thoughtful discussion and responded by: • Adjusting their requirements on stipulating facilities to define a maximum allowable time before endoscope reprocessing is needed • Recognizing that flash sterilization is often

necessary when an instrument is contaminated during a procedure • Finding it acceptable to store these types of instruments that have been high level disinfected or sterilized (for convenience) in a cart or cabinet for emergency airway access • Noting that there were no requirements related to peel packing instruments for office exams, decontamination procedures for channeled scopes are applied to flexible nonchanneled endoscopes, and surgical attire such as bouffant hair covering This audience with The Joint Commission to present real-life experiences of their rules was a clear demonstration of the power of the collective voice of the Academy. Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids A law established on August 18, 2017, as part of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Reauthorization Act of 2017, directed the FDA to create regulations allowing the over-the-counter (OTC) sale of hearing aids for adults who have mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss. The FDA had previously eliminated the requirement for a medical exam. The Academy was successful in ensuring key patient protections were included with the addition of an AAO-HNS amendment identifying “medically treatable causes of hearing loss” and the requirement for appropriate packing information added late to the legislation. As part of this process, the FDA was to issue a proposed rule by August 18, 2020, with a final rule within six months of the close of the comment period on the proposed rule. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and reallocation of resources at the federal level, these regulations had yet to be issued as of mid-summer 2021. The Academy spent considerable time and resources weighing in on this debate and advocating for members and patients, as has been the practice and commitment for many decades—contributing written comments prior to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) and the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and providing testimony at FDA hearings with representation by Dr. Denneny, the only physician giving testimony. The Academy focused on appropriate use, patient education and safety, and a process that would maximize the benefit of these critical medical devices. To increase the utilization and penetration of hearing aids in the

2017: The inaugural State OTO Society Roundtable was held on March 10, 2017, in conjunction with the AAO-HNS/F 2017 Leadership Forum & BOG Spring Meeting. The State OTO Society Roundtable was held each year following during the AAO HNS/F Leadership Forum & BOG Spring Meeting, with the exception of 2020 when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 meeting was held virtually.

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