Legacy of Excellence Digital Flipbook

LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE

Other important advocacy highlights include the five year reauthorization of the Early Hearing Detection Infant (EHDI) Program, a long-standing legislative priority for the AAO-HNS. Additionally, the ENT Political Action Committee grew in participation during this five-year timeframe. In 2017, the ENT PAC Board of Advisors launched the inaugural “First 50” campaign, a fundraising effort to garner 50 $1,000+ (Chairman’s Club) PAC Investments during the month of January. This campaign has met its goal every year since. Another means for member involvement in direct advocacy happened the day following the annual AAO-HNS/F Leadership Forum & BOG Spring Meeting. Members were able to get involved with in person advocacy by traveling to Capitol Hill to discuss several hot topics in healthcare and issues important to the specialty, including comprehensive tobacco control legislation, surprise billing, prior authorization, audiology “direct access” legislation, scope of practice, and more. When COVID-19 hit and prevented in-person meetings, the launch of the one-click politics campaign in 2019 was foresighted and enabled members to engage in advocacy efforts from afar. To further enhance the voice of the specialty on scope of practice issues, the Academy continued to employ PROJECT 535, which was first created in 2015. PROJECT 535 participants engaged in regular, issue-oriented messaging to their Members of Congress about the Academy’s federal legislative priorities. This additional layer of constituent-based outreach amplified the Academy’s position. Also in 2018, the AAO-HNS launched a new grassroots advocacy website, www.entadvocacy.org, to simplify member outreach to their Congressional representatives.

“The Academy has always been and will be a non partisan organization, following our mission to provide the best care for our patients. Our advocacy efforts will continue to be based on principles that answer the following questions. Will this benefit our patients? Will this benefit our members? Does this advance the quality, safety, and availability of medical care? We will work with a diverse group of colleagues, legislators, and regulators to improve the lives of our patients,” said Dr. Denneny in the February 2017 Bulletin . Please see the special section on the COVID-19 pandemic to learn more about the advocacy efforts during that unprecedented time for practice and patient care. RESEARCH AND QUALITY Coordinators for Research and Quality Lisa E. Ishii, MD, MHS, 2014-2017 Cecelia E. Schmalbach, MD, MSc, 2017-2021 Vikas Mehta, MD, MPH, October 2021-2026 Guideline Development Task Force Chair David E. Tunkel, MD, 2016-2021 The ongoing pursuit of developing products and tools to support members as they navigated the ever-changing landscape of research, quality, and performance measurement in the practice of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery continued to be at the forefront of the Academy’s work. The AAO-HNSF Research and Quality initiatives included: the Reg-ent Clinical Data Registry; Quality Measures Development; the Guidelines Task Force (Clinical Practices Guideline and Clinical Consensus Statement/Expert Consensus Statement development, implementation, and dissemination); and the Centralized Otolaryngology Research Efforts (CORE) grants program.

The AAO-HNS/F remains steadfast in its commitment to pursue meaningful, relevant, and impactful quality and research initiatives to ensure optimal patient outcomes well into the future. Research and quality initiatives…reflect the dedication and commitment of our members and associated staff in ensuring that we remain the trusted source in propelling otolaryngology to new heights.” – Gavin Setzen, MD, 2017-2018 President, July 2018 Bulletin

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