Published: October 21, 2013

Summary: Proposed CY 2013 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule

On July 6, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) posted the proposed rule for the Medicare physician fee schedule (MPFS) for calendar year (CY) 2013. The Academy submitted comments to CMS on the proposed rule, which can be viewed on the Academy’s website at http://www.entnet.org/Practice/Summaries-of-Regulations-and-Comment-Letters.cfm#CL. Some key provisions from the proposed rule included: Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR)  The overall estimated influence of the policy changes within the proposed rule for CY 2013 MPFS on otolaryngology is zero percent. (Note: This amount does not include the possible 27 percent reduction to the conversion factor (CF) that could result if Congress does not take action to prevent the annual cuts from the SGR [if the cuts were to take effect, the CF would go from $34.0376 in 2012 to potentially $24.7124 for CY 2013].) While the 27 percent is due to projected SGR cuts, the reduced CF is partially due to CMS’ proposal to add new G-codes to the Medicare system, which due to budget neutrality requirements, causes a reduction to all other services in the fee schedule in order to pay for the existence of the new code’s expected utilization. Improving Valuation of the Global Surgical Package  Since 1992, different methodologies have been used in valuing global surgical services through the American Medical Association Relative Value Scale Update Committee (AMA RUC) process. Studies by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) have shown that codes reviewed more recently tend to have fewer evaluation and management (E/M) visits in their global periods while codes reviewed less recently did not appear to have the full work RVUs of each E/M service in the global surgical package. This resulted in inconsistent numbers of E/M visits during the postoperative period across families of procedures. CMS acknowledges that under current policy surgeons are not required to document in the medical record what level of E/M visit they are providing, making it difficult to determine whether the number and type of visits provided in association with a surgical procedure is appropriate. As a result, CMS states it is interested in a “claims-based data collection approach” to track E/M visits provided during the global surgery period, and the Agency requested comments on this and other methods of obtaining data. Validating RVUs of Services  Under the ACA, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) is directed to validate a sampling of RVUs for services. In the proposed rule, CMS states it intends to “enter into a contract to assist them in validating RVUs of potentially misvalued codes that will explore a model for the validation of physician work under the PFS, for both new and existing services.” It states it will discuss this model in future rulemaking. Expanding the Multiple Procedure Payment Reduction Policy (MPPR) CMS proposes to expand the MPPR to the Professional Component (PC) of certain advanced diagnostic imaging services (CT, MRI, and ultrasound) when two or more physicians in the same group practice furnish services to the same patient, in the same session, on the same day. G-Code for Care Coordination  CMS proposes the creation of a HCPCS G-code, valued at 1.28 RVUs, to describe the work involved with care management and coordination (including non-face-to-face care management services). Specifically, the transition of a beneficiary from care furnished by a treating physician during a hospital stay (inpatient, outpatient observation services, or outpatient partial hospitalization) and other facilities to care furnished by the beneficiary’s primary care physician within 30 calendar days following the date of discharge. CMS clarifies that the new G-code is not billable by a physician or non-physician billing for a procedure with a 10- or 90-day global period because it considers such management “included in the postoperative portions of the global period.” However, some otolaryngology-head and neck surgeons may be able to use this code, e.g., those who receive patients from a hospital and provide E/M services through referrals, those treating trauma cases, and those treating cancer patients. Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS)  CMS proposes many overarching changes to the PQRS system, with highlights of those potentially affecting otolaryngology following here: Changes to Group Reporting: CMS proposes to change the definition of a “group practice” from 25 or more eligible professionals to two or more eligible professionals. Modification of Reporting Periods: CMS proposes the continuation of a six-month reporting period (July 1-December 31) for reporting measures groups via registry in 2013 and 2014 only. Satisfactorily reporting for the 2015 and 2016 payment adjustment: CMS proposes to allow individuals and group practices to report only one PQRS individual measure or one measure groups to avoid the 2015 and 2016 penalty adjustment. The penalty adjustment will be -1.5 percent in 2015 and -2 percent in 2016 and subsequent years. Adult Sinusitis Measures: CMS proposes the addition of 13 new measures for reporting individual quality measures in 2013 and proposes the addition of 45 new individual measures for 2014. However, the newly approved “Adult Sinusitis” measures were not included in any of their proposals. Physician Compare Website CMS plans to publish additional information to the Physician Compare website, including whether a professional is accepting new Medicare patients, board certification information, whether or not a professional participates in the electronic health record (EHR) Incentive Program, names of professionals satisfactorily participating in PQRS, as well as foreign language and hospital affiliation data. CMS also proposes adding patient experience survey measures such as Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CG-CAHPS) for groups participating in the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) Group Practice Reporting Option (GPRO) and Accountable Care Organization (ACO) programs. Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive Program CMS proposes reducing the minimum group practice size for participation in the eRx incentive program from 25 to two eligible professionals (EPs) for 2013. Groups of two to 24 would have to report the eRx numerator code during a denominator-eligible encounter at least 225 times within the designated reporting periods. CMS also proposes adding two new hardship exemptions to the 2013 and 2014 eRx payment penalties. Finally, CMS proposes extending the PQRS-Medicare EHR Incentive Pilot for 2013. Value-Based Payment Modifier and Physician Feedback Reporting Program Beginning January 1, 2015, the ACA requires the Secretary to establish a value-based payment modifier (incentive or penalty) to specific physicians and groups of physicians. The incentive or penalty is based on measuring quality of care furnished as compared to cost of that care for Medicare beneficiaries with certain chronic conditions. The Agency is proposing to begin a three-year phase-in of the program that would apply the incentive or penalty (up to potential -1 percent) in 2015 based on 2013 performance for groups of 25 or more providers. CMS proposes that incentives or penalties in 2016 will be based on 2014 performance for groups of 25 or more providers. The program is voluntary the first two years, but not later than 2017, the value-based payment modifier will apply to all physicians, regardless of group size. As part of this program, the Secretary is required to provide Physician Feedback reports to providers that measure the resources used in providing care to beneficiaries and the quality of care. To achieve this, CMS has included information reported in the PQRS program in the 2010 Physician Feedback reports that were provided to groups of physicians in 2011 and individual physicians in early 2012, which some otolaryngologists received. For a more detailed summary on the proposed requirements for the programs highlighted above, visit the Academy’s CMS Regulations and Comment letter page at http://www.entnet.org/Practice/Summaries-of-Regulations-and-Comment-Letters.cfm#CL or email Academy staff at HealthPolicy@entnet.org. Evidence-Based Guidelines Affecting Policy, Practice, and Stakeholders (E-GAPPS) ConferenceThe E-GAPPS Conference is a two-day meeting co-sponsored by the Guidelines International Network North America (G-I-N NA) and the Section on Evidence Based Health Care (SEBHC) of the New York Academy of Medicine. The E-GAPPS mission focuses on constructive dialogue and collaboration; best practices in guideline development, dissemination, and implementation; and perspectives, processes, values, and principles that affect healthcare policy. To register or learn more about the confirmed plenary speakers, conference themes, or breakout sessions, visit http://www.nyam.org/events/2012/evidence-based-guidelines-conference.html. 2012 E-GAPPS Conference New York, NY Monday, December 10 to Tuesday, December 11

On July 6, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) posted the proposed rule for the Medicare physician fee schedule (MPFS) for calendar year (CY) 2013. The Academy submitted comments to CMS on the proposed rule, which can be viewed on the Academy’s website at http://www.entnet.org/Practice/Summaries-of-Regulations-and-Comment-Letters.cfm#CL. Some key provisions from the proposed rule included:

Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) 

The overall estimated influence of the policy changes within the proposed rule for CY 2013 MPFS on otolaryngology is zero percent. (Note: This amount does not include the possible 27 percent reduction to the conversion factor (CF) that could result if Congress does not take action to prevent the annual cuts from the SGR [if the cuts were to take effect, the CF would go from $34.0376 in 2012 to potentially $24.7124 for CY 2013].) While the 27 percent is due to projected SGR cuts, the reduced CF is partially due to CMS’ proposal to add new G-codes to the Medicare system, which due to budget neutrality requirements, causes a reduction to all other services in the fee schedule in order to pay for the existence of the new code’s expected utilization.

Improving Valuation of the Global Surgical Package 

Since 1992, different methodologies have been used in valuing global surgical services through the American Medical Association Relative Value Scale Update Committee (AMA RUC) process. Studies by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) have shown that codes reviewed more recently tend to have fewer evaluation and management (E/M) visits in their global periods while codes reviewed less recently did not appear to have the full work RVUs of each E/M service in the global surgical package. This resulted in inconsistent numbers of E/M visits during the postoperative period across families of procedures. CMS acknowledges that under current policy surgeons are not required to document in the medical record what level of E/M visit they are providing, making it difficult to determine whether the number and type of visits provided in association with a surgical procedure is appropriate. As a result, CMS states it is interested in a “claims-based data collection approach” to track E/M visits provided during the global surgery period, and the Agency requested comments on this and other methods of obtaining data.

Validating RVUs of Services 

Under the ACA, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) is directed to validate a sampling of RVUs for services. In the proposed rule, CMS states it intends to “enter into a contract to assist them in validating RVUs of potentially misvalued codes that will explore a model for the validation of physician work under the PFS, for both new and existing services.” It states it will discuss this model in future rulemaking.

Expanding the Multiple Procedure Payment Reduction Policy (MPPR)

CMS proposes to expand the MPPR to the Professional Component (PC) of certain advanced diagnostic imaging services (CT, MRI, and ultrasound) when two or more physicians in the same group practice furnish services to the same patient, in the same session, on the same day.

G-Code for Care Coordination 

CMS proposes the creation of a HCPCS G-code, valued at 1.28 RVUs, to describe the work involved with care management and coordination (including non-face-to-face care management services). Specifically, the transition of a beneficiary from care furnished by a treating physician during a hospital stay (inpatient, outpatient observation services, or outpatient partial hospitalization) and other facilities to care furnished by the beneficiary’s primary care physician within 30 calendar days following the date of discharge.

CMS clarifies that the new G-code is not billable by a physician or non-physician billing for a procedure with a 10- or 90-day global period because it considers such management “included in the postoperative portions of the global period.” However, some otolaryngology-head and neck surgeons may be able to use this code, e.g., those who receive patients from a hospital and provide E/M services through referrals, those treating trauma cases, and those treating cancer patients.

Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) 

CMS proposes many overarching changes to the PQRS system, with highlights of those potentially affecting otolaryngology following here:

Changes to Group Reporting: CMS proposes to change the definition of a “group practice” from 25 or more eligible professionals to two or more eligible professionals.

Modification of Reporting Periods: CMS proposes the continuation of a six-month reporting period (July 1-December 31) for reporting measures groups via registry in 2013 and 2014 only.

Satisfactorily reporting for the 2015 and 2016 payment adjustment: CMS proposes to allow individuals and group practices to report only one PQRS individual measure or one measure groups to avoid the 2015 and 2016 penalty adjustment. The penalty adjustment will be -1.5 percent in 2015 and -2 percent in 2016 and subsequent years.

Adult Sinusitis Measures: CMS proposes the addition of 13 new measures for reporting individual quality measures in 2013 and proposes the addition of 45 new individual measures for 2014. However, the newly approved “Adult Sinusitis” measures were not included in any of their proposals.

Physician Compare Website

CMS plans to publish additional information to the Physician Compare website, including whether a professional is accepting new Medicare patients, board certification information, whether or not a professional participates in the electronic health record (EHR) Incentive Program, names of professionals satisfactorily participating in PQRS, as well as foreign language and hospital affiliation data. CMS also proposes adding patient experience survey measures such as Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CG-CAHPS) for groups participating in the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) Group Practice Reporting Option (GPRO) and Accountable Care Organization (ACO) programs.

Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive Program

CMS proposes reducing the minimum group practice size for participation in the eRx incentive program from 25 to two eligible professionals (EPs) for 2013. Groups of two to 24 would have to report the eRx numerator code during a denominator-eligible encounter at least 225 times within the designated reporting periods. CMS also proposes adding two new hardship exemptions to the 2013 and 2014 eRx payment penalties. Finally, CMS proposes extending the PQRS-Medicare EHR Incentive Pilot for 2013.

Value-Based Payment Modifier and Physician Feedback Reporting Program

Beginning January 1, 2015, the ACA requires the Secretary to establish a value-based payment modifier (incentive or penalty) to specific physicians and groups of physicians. The incentive or penalty is based on measuring quality of care furnished as compared to cost of that care for Medicare beneficiaries with certain chronic conditions. The Agency is proposing to begin a three-year phase-in of the program that would apply the incentive or penalty (up to potential -1 percent) in 2015 based on 2013 performance for groups of 25 or more providers. CMS proposes that incentives or penalties in 2016 will be based on 2014 performance for groups of 25 or more providers. The program is voluntary the first two years, but not later than 2017, the value-based payment modifier will apply to all physicians, regardless of group size.

As part of this program, the Secretary is required to provide Physician Feedback reports to providers that measure the resources used in providing care to beneficiaries and the quality of care. To achieve this, CMS has included information reported in the PQRS program in the 2010 Physician Feedback reports that were provided to groups of physicians in 2011 and individual physicians in early 2012, which some otolaryngologists received.

For a more detailed summary on the proposed requirements for the programs highlighted above, visit the Academy’s CMS Regulations and Comment letter page at http://www.entnet.org/Practice/Summaries-of-Regulations-and-Comment-Letters.cfm#CL or email Academy staff at HealthPolicy@entnet.org.

Evidence-Based Guidelines Affecting Policy, Practice, and Stakeholders (E-GAPPS) ConferenceThe E-GAPPS Conference is a two-day meeting co-sponsored by the Guidelines International Network North America (G-I-N NA) and the Section on Evidence Based Health Care (SEBHC) of the New York Academy of Medicine. The E-GAPPS mission focuses on constructive dialogue and collaboration; best practices in guideline development, dissemination, and implementation; and perspectives, processes, values, and principles that affect healthcare policy.

To register or learn more about the confirmed plenary speakers, conference themes, or breakout sessions, visit http://www.nyam.org/events/2012/evidence-based-guidelines-conference.html.

2012 E-GAPPS Conference New York, NY

Monday, December 10 to Tuesday, December 11

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Nationwide Children’s Hospital Pediatric Otolaryngology Outreach to Managua, Nicaragua
Melissa A. Scholes, MD On January 23, Meredith N. Merz, MD, led a humanitarian mission from Nationwide Children’s Hospital to Managua, Nicaragua, sponsored by Assemblies of God. I accompanied Dr. Merz as the pediatric otolaryngology fellow, joined by pediatric anesthesiologist Iwona Bielaska, MD, and family physician Brian D. Williams, MD. Our team, “La Brigada,” volunteered at Managua’s Hospital Lenin Fonseca, a public hospital and training center for otolaryngology residents. Our focus was to perform otologic surgeries in children, as there are no pediatric otolaryngologists in Nicaragua and few otolaryngologists who perform any type of ear surgery. Nicaragua is the poorest country in Central America and second poorest in the Western Hemisphere. Supplies were tight, but the doctors at Lenin Fonseca do an amazing job with what they have. Nothing goes to waste, and what we consider disposable is reused for as long as possible. Our first day was spent meeting potential surgical candidates in the clinic. We worked among the attendings and residents where there was a whirlwind of teaching and pathology. Noemi Callazo, the missionary for Assemblies of God in Nicaragua, was helpful in translating and facilitating communication. She has a working relationship with the doctors at the hospital, and helps facilitate care for those with the greatest need. The residents screen patients throughout the year for visiting teams and they did an excellent job performing pre-operative work-up. Our next three days were spent in the operating room. As with most equipment, there is a desperate need for operating microscopes in Nicaragua. We brought a microscope head and light source to attach to an existing stand and ear instruments and supplies that were generously donated through Medtronic. The majority of surgeries were otologic. The residents enjoyed learning more detail about ear anatomy and surgery. An urgent tracheostomy was performed on a newborn and a bronchoscopy on a child with a strangulation injury. Dr. Bielaska also had the opportunity to teach the anesthesiology residents about pediatric anesthesia. Dr. Williams saw patients and served as a liaison for the Nationwide Children’s Hospital team and the doctors from Lenin Fonseca. This was the first humanitarian trip for Dr. Merz, Dr. Bielaska, and me. It is difficult to express the total of our experience—we were challenged, humbled, and stimulated at every turn. Thank you to the AAO-HNSF Humanitarian Efforts Committee and Alcon Foundation for their support.
VIII Balkan Congress of Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery
Eugene N. Myers, MD, FRCS, Edin (Hon) With 362 participants from more than 40 countries, the VIII Balkan Congress of Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery took place June 10-12, at the President Hotel, Tirgu Mures, Romania. Professor Gheorghe Muhlfay, MD, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, organized and presided over the meeting. An elegant opening ceremony took place on Sunday, June 10, in the Culture Palace’s Great Chamber with a delightful organ concert, offered by Ms. Molnar Tunde, followed by a cocktail party and the President’s Faculty Dinner. As the Congress’ Honorary President, I gave an invited lecture. The well-organized program featured outstanding guest faculty from the Balkans, other European countries, and the United States. The program content was broad enough to appeal to everyone in otolaryngology with lectures on hearing loss, balance disorders, rhinology, and cancer of the head and neck. Featured panels on cochlear implants included one with Piotr Henryk Skarzynski, MD, and audiologists Margaret Price and T. J. George, and an excellent companion piece, the MED-EL Symposium. Other scientific sessions covered obstructive sleep apnea, laryngeal neoplasia, cancer of the head and neck, and rhinology, cervical endocrine, and plastic facial surgery. There was also a poster session. The Gala Dinner at the President Hotel featured an outstanding group of young Romanian dancers in costumes typical of the ethnicities in Transylvania. The day after the closing ceremony on June 12, the guests took a trip to the Cheile Turzii salt mines followed by dinner at Sighisoara’s medieval castle. Overall, the meeting was outstanding, enjoyable, and was done at a very high level.
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CRISP Mission to Mazatenango, Guatemala
Melynda A. Barnes, MD Resident, Stanford University Hospital and Clinics From February 19-26, I traveled to Mazatenango, Guatemala, as part of the Children’s Rehabilitation Institute and Surgical Program (CRISP) Foundation, with founder Ronald Strahan, MD; Jesse E. Smith, MD; Jeffrey Hall, MD; and Robert Kang, MD. Our mission was to provide free surgical repair of cleft lip and palate to all children in need. We also performed several reconstructive and cosmetic surgeries. I was fortunate to accompany the group, which travels to Guatemala every August and February, by receiving one of the AAO-HNSF Humanitarian Efforts Committee Travel Grants. The CRISP Foundation has traveled to Guatemala since the organization was established in 1997, and currently partners with Hospital Privado Shalom. With the help of local physicians who work at the hospital, missionaries, and local advertising, children come from all over with unrepaired cleft lip and palate, scar division, and other surgical needs. When we arrived on Monday morning, there were at least 60 people in the waiting room. We didn’t have translators that day, so my Spanish came in handy. We saw patients until 4:00 pm and then operated until 11:00 pm. Our team consisted of three fellowship-trained facial plastic surgeons, two general plastic surgeons, a nurse anesthetist, a facial plastics fellow, two volunteers (scrub techs and OR circulator) and myself, a fourth-year OHNS resident. With one large operating room consisting of three OR tables and two anesthesia machines, cleft lip, palate, and reconstructive surgeries were performed under general anesthetic. Mole removal, scar revision, blepharoplasty, and other minor procedures were performed on the third table under local anesthesia. About 15 cases were performed each day, with more than half being cleft palate repair. Other cases included sinus surgery on a young girl with severe polyps (without endoscopes and navigation) and a paramedian forehead flap on a young woman who needed nasal ala and tip reconstruction. We brought anesthetic agents and surgical trays and instruments, and suitcases full of sutures, needles, syringes, gauze, tape, skin adhesives, and pain medication. Since the patients and their families were from remote villages, many of them camped out in the hospital during the week. This trip was amazing and I highly recommend participation in a surgical mission trip. My passion for medicine was re-energized and I look forward to incorporating annual surgical missions into my career.
Karen T. Pitman, MD
Education Committees Working Hard for Foundation
Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, AAO-HNSF Coordinator for Education The Foundation’s extensive education opportunities stem from the efforts and dedication of the AAO-HNS Education Committees. Each committee contributes countless hours to the development of courses, publications, and workshops. The Foundation acknowledges and recognizes the committee chairs and members for their commitment to its professional development mission. The eight Education Committees represent the specialty areas within otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. Charged with identifying practice gaps and underlying education needs, they propose, develop, implement, and evaluate education activities that are designed to affect patient care and outcomes. During my first year as Coordinator for Education, I am amazed at the level of engagement and by the enormous contributions of the committee members who voluntarily devote time and resources. As we move into a new education year, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the retiring members and to warmly welcome new members. Each year the Education Committees generate four Home Study Course (HSC) sections, eight Patient Management Perspectives in Otolaryngology (PMP) issues, and numerous online courses through Clinical Otolaryngology OnLine (COOL) and AcademyU®. In 2012, the Education Committees tackled a number of exciting new projects. AcademyQ: Otolaryngology Knowledge Assessment Tool is a mobile app comprised of 400 multiple-choice questions intended for self-assessment or test preparation. The website content relevancy initiative aimed to review and update the Academy website and to improve the search functionality. The revised Comprehensive Otolaryngologic Curriculum, Learning through Interactive Approach (COCLIA) offers residents an upgraded platform with interactive media and references. The Education Committees continue the process of updating the Maintenance Manual for Lifelong Learning (MMLL). This publication provides an overview of more than 100 otolaryngology topics and addresses issues of practical importance for otolaryngologists. At last month’s Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO in Washington, DC, three Education Committees were granted the Model Committee Award: the General Otolaryngology Education Committee (GOEC), under the direction of chair Karen T. Pitman, MD, the Head and Neck Surgery Education Committee (HNSEC), led by chair Dennis H. Kraus, MD, and the Pediatric Otolaryngology Education Committee (POEC), under the guidance of chair Sukgi S. Choi, MD. Selected by the Academy president, this award recognizes committees that contribute to the success of our mission through strong leadership and active membership. During the last two years, GOEC developed 15 online courses, produced five PMP issues, issued one HSC volume, led two successful ENT for the PA-C conferences, (Physician Assistant CME) and published the third edition of Primary Care Otolaryngology. In that same time period, HNSEC developed 33 online courses, printed eight PMP issues, and distributed one HSC volume. Lastly, POEC generated 22 online courses, circulated nine PMP issues, and issued one HSC volume. Each of these committees sponsored and supported numerous Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO instruction courses and miniseminars, which were well attended and highly regarded. These chairs and their respective committees are to be congratulated on producing outstanding materials that support the Foundation’s education goals. I have had the privilege of working with eight extraordinary committee chairs on the Education Steering Committee (ESC). Each chair a leader in their respective field, they have supported the ESC work plan and effectively guided their committees to providing outstanding education materials for our learners. This month marks the end of service for Richard W. Waguespack, MD, chair of the Core Otolaryngology and Practice Management Education Committee (COPMEC); Dr. Kraus, chair of the HNSEC; Dr. Choi, chair of the POEC; and James A. Hadley, MD, chair of the Rhinology and Allergy Education Committee (RAEC). We are indebted to them for their guidance and dedication. Continuing professional development remains a core mission of the AAO-HNS/F. Our Education Committees strive to deliver the most effective, relevant, and highest quality products. By incorporating new knowledge and skills, otolaryngologists will improve the quality of care for patients and their communities. The Education Committees continually seek individuals interested in developing innovative education resources. Committee applications will soon be available and are due February 2013. Consider joining an Education Committee and contributing to the education efforts of the Foundation.
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You Chose Wisely!
Rahul K. Shah, MD George Washington University School of Medicine Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, DC There has been tremendous media attention in the past year discussing the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation’s Choosing Wisely® campaign. We have discussed this campaign in prior Bulletin articles along with the Foundation’s intended participation and, as such, we wanted to update you on this initiative. The Choosing Wisely campaign is based on the fact that overuse exists in our healthcare system. Who best to curb such overuse than the healthcare providers themselves? This, of course, resonates with physician organizations such as our Foundation, as we would like to have a vested interest in looking at our own practices. Essentially, the campaign is asking healthcare professionals and their organizations to look at the tests and procedures physicians recommend and how they affect patients. As we have previously discussed, the Choosing Wisely campaign is moving into its second phase. Our Foundation is part of this phase and our Board has identified five specific procedures, tests, or treatments to be submitted to the ABIM Foundation’s Choosing Wisely campaign. The goal of submitting five such instances to the campaign is to draw attention to these procedures, tests, and treatments. With all medical specialties looking at these conditions in aggregate, we as a healthcare team can reduce overuse. In the first phase of the campaign, 45 tests and procedures were identified by nine medical specialties as potentially being overused. The initial nine specialties that participated in the Choosing Wisely campaign were the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Cardiology, American College of Physicians, American College of Radiology, American Gastroenterological Association, American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Society of Nephrology, and the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology. For the second phase of the campaign, our Foundation was the first surgical society to have joined and agreed to develop a list of five items whose necessity should be questioned and discussed. Herein lies the rub. For a surgical specialty with a tremendous amount of outpatient care, such as ours, and with such disparate technical procedures under our umbrellas—pediatric airway, microvascular reconstruction, cosmetic plastic surgery, robotic surgery, allergy evaluations and treatment, etc.—one can begin to be lost with the prospect of trying to identify five items. The final list that our Board will decide upon will be released soon. However, this article is meant to highlight our Foundation’s leadership by participating in the Choosing Wisely campaign and also to explain how we arrived at the measures that were presented to the Board for voting/approval. Per the Academy, this project was assigned to the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement (PSQI) Committee to spearhead the effort. From here, the PSQI committee solicited the input of members of the Specialty Society Advisory Council (SSAC), the Guidelines Development Task Force (GDTF), and members of each of the AAO-HNS/F committees. The final five items selected were based on the support of the above groups and available supporting evidence, such as AAO-HNSF clinical practice guidelines. When the Board votes and approves the final list of topics that our Foundation submits to the Choosing Wisely campaign, we want our membership to be absolutely confident that all stakeholders within the AAO-HNSF and the associated societies have had an opportunity to submit topics and have helped in the overall process of choosing items submitted to the ABIM Foundation. Personally, I could not be more pleased at the ability of an organization with practices as diverse as ours to be able to reach consensus on a list of topics examining our practice patterns in only a couple of months. It is our membership’s ability to introspectively examine our own practices for the ultimate benefit of our patients that is most impressive to me and to other organizations nationally. We encourage members to write us with any topic of interest and we will try to research and discuss the issue. Members’ names are published only after they have been contacted directly by Academy staff and have given consent to the use of their names. Email the Academy at  qualityimprovement@entnet.org to engage us in a patient safety and quality discussion that is pertinent to your practice.
Academy Committees Impact Payment Coverage for Otolaryngology
Richard W. Waguespack, MD Coordinator for Socioeconomic Affairs Michael Setzen, MD Coordinator for Practice Affairs, and Co-chairs of 3P The Physician Payment Policy (3P) Workgroup, co-chaired by Richard W. Waguespack, MD, and Michael Setzen, MD, is the senior advisory body to Academy leadership and staff on issues related to socioeconomic advocacy, regulatory activity, coding or reimbursement, and practice services or management. On behalf of the AAO-HNS and 3P, we would like to thank Academy committees for the work they have done in the past in response to requests for expert review and input on payer/insurer (i.e., United Healthcare, Wellpoint, Aetna, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.) payment policies. We anticipate a higher volume of requests for review of payer/insurer payment policies in the future. As you know, payers give the Academy limited time to provide comments on the payment policies, and as a result we will continue to need to draw on committee members’ expertise in reviewing these policies. Background on Need for Committee Input on Payment Policy Requests from Payers The Academy has excellent relationships with many payers and as they perform periodic review of payment policies related to specific otolaryngology-head and neck surgery services, they reach out to the Academy for input prior to publishing the finalized version. This often provides the Academy an excellent opportunity to proactively advocate for its members and our patients. While payers do not always accept our recommendations, we do well on balance. Membership sometimes alerts 3P about payer policies that are already implemented and are restrictive to the specialty. In these cases, in order to advocate on behalf of members for appropriate coverage and payment of services, committee input is needed to provide comments. Occasionally, Academy input is needed for issues not directly relating to payment, but other elements of health policy. Urgency and Importance of Payer Payment Policy Review  The urgency of these requests to review the payer payment policies is determined by the payer’s time frame and the fact that the payers typically only review policies annually. Therefore, it is critical for the Academy committees to provide comments in a timely manner to ensure they are included in the payer’s policy meetings where decisions are made. The review of payer payment policies affects coverage and payment of services you provide to your patients. Process for Receiving  Committee Input  Currently, once a payer receives a request for review, the Health Policy staff sends it to 3P for review and they determine which committees have the expertise needed to review and provide comments on the policy. Health Policy staff then forwards to the committee chair, and copies the staff liaison, requesting the committee’s review. Committee input on payer payment policies is essential to ensuring that our clinical experts have the opportunity to provide their expertise and input to shape future payment policy for their services. Exemplary Committee Input Resulting in Positive Progress with Payer Payment Policy In a recent example, the Implantable Hearing Devices Committee (IHDC) has reviewed and provided comments on United Healthcare’s Policy for reimbursement of Implantable/Non-Implantable Hearing Aids and Bone Anchored Hearing Aids (BAHA) during the past four to five years. In 2010, the committee provided comments on UHC’s policy, arguing for expanded inclusion in UHC’s descriptions of various covered devices. After the committee’s 2012 review of the policy, it mostly concurred with UHC’s reimbursement policy for devices and clinical procedures associated with this policy. In addition, the IHDC determined United Healthcare has integrated many of the Academy’s past comments and has modified its policy integrating past Academy recommendations. As such, our members should have confidence that the Academy can amicably work with insurers to change reimbursement policies and achieve progress that will benefit membership as a whole. In some cases, it may take time to develop substantive peer-reviewed literature sources to support various procedures and devices, but every bit of support helps. The Academy would like to extend its sincere gratitude to Jeffery J. Kuhn, MD, chair of the IHDC, and all of the members of the committee who diligently worked on this effort, which resulted in positive change for all Academy members providing these services to patients. For more information on recent changes to private payer payment policies, visit http://www.entnet.org/Practice/News-and-Updates-from-Private-Payers.cfm.
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Delegation Report: AMA Annual Meeting 2012
Liana Puscas, MD Chair, AAO-HNS Delegation to the AMA In June, the American Medical Association (AMA) conducted its Annual House of Delegates meeting in Chicago. Liana Puscas, MD, delegation chair, and delegates Michael S. Goldrich, MD, Robert Puchalski, MD, and Shannon P. Pryor, MD, represented the Academy. Joy Trimmer, JD, senior director for AAO-HNS Government Affairs, and Jenna Kappel, MPH, MA, director for AAO-HNS Health Policy, served as our staff liaisons. Several AAO-HNS members were elected to leadership positions during the meeting. The delegation congratulates Dr. Puscas, who was elected chair of the Otolaryngology Section Council; Dr. Goldrich, who was elected secretary of the Otolaryngology Section Council; and Dr. Pryor, who was elected as an at-large member of the Women Physicians Congress Governing Council. A number of issues are always discussed and/or considered by the House of Delegates. However, this year there were several topics that pertain to otolaryngology, including: Electronic prescribing of controlled substances. Currently, many electronic health record (EHR) vendors and pharmacies do not permit electronic prescriptions for narcotics. The AMA voted to advocate for removal of legal barriers to electronic prescribing of controlled substances, and in the interim, to work with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to eliminate from any program the requirement for electronic prescription of controlled substances until such time as the necessary protocols are in place to allow pharmacies and electronic prescribing software to process such prescriptions. Drug shortages. Various drug shortages have affected the practice of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery (OHNS) in recent years. The AMA House of Delegates supported measures to require drug companies to give notice of impending shortages and for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow other companies to step in and manufacture needed drugs in the face of looming shortages. Sign language interpretation. This is germane to many OHNS practices, but is often overlooked in the larger discussion of reimbursement for translation services. The AMA voted to seek legislation and/or regulation to require health insurers to fully reimburse providers for the cost of providing sign language interpreters for hearing impaired patients. Tobacco use. The consequences of tobacco use often present to an otolaryngologist’s office manifesting as head and neck cancer or as a contributing factor to allergic rhinitis and sinusitis. Although the Board of Trustees had originally proposed that the AMA no longer needed its annual report on tobacco use and the ongoing efforts to curb that use, the House of Delegates voted to continue the report. The report contains information on the demographics of tobacco use and actions taken by government and health agencies to address its social, economic, and health effects. Support for private practice. In an era when traditional private practice is at risk, the AMA voted to strongly continue its support of private practice because patients and physicians benefit from keeping this as a viable option for healthcare delivery. Medicare Financing Options. The AMA’s Council on Medical Service has been charged with taking an in-depth look at transitioning Medicare from its current model to one in which beneficiaries would receive a defined contribution from the federal government. This would allow greater flexibility for Medicare recipients to choose either traditional Medicare or a private health insurance plan. For more information, email govtaffairs@entnet.org. The AMA House of Delegates will next meet for its interim meeting November 10–13 in Honolulu, HI.
Highlights from the 2012 Leadership Program in Health Policy and Management
Michael J. Brenner, MD 2012 ACS/AAO-HNS Health Policy Scholar There has never been a greater need for healthcare policy leadership in otolaryngology–head and neck surgery. Greater engagement of surgeons is a critical step in cultivating future leaders. The American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery and the American College of Surgeons have therefore partnered to offer a scholarship in health policy and leadership. This unique program represents one of the many ways the Academy grows future leaders in our specialty. This year’s Leadership Program in Health Policy occurred May 20-26 at Brandeis University’s Heller School. Nearly 40 surgeons, representing the full range of surgical specialties, participated in the weeklong course critically evaluating health policy. The program afforded a broad perspective on the international healthcare landscape and addressed the unique challenges and opportunities facing us as healthcare providers in the United States. Participants left the session empowered with this knowledge, impassioned and prepared to contribute to leadership in a wide variety of health policy areas nationally. The opening program provided a historical backdrop that outlined how we arrived at the current, precarious position in healthcare in the United States. Presenters addressed the challenges posed by rising costs and proliferating technology. Surgeons often feel disenfranchised by major political movements, many of which have led to changes in practice structure, reimbursement, and diminished autonomy. The health policy leadership program empowered participants to drive positive change on behalf of patients and fellow colleagues. Payment, Care Delivery Models Several sessions addressed various models in payment and care delivery, such as episode-based bundling—an approach to clustering healthcare services that appeared repeatedly this year in the New England Journal of Medicine. Another session addressed Accountable Care Organizations, detailing the rationale for these organizations and their unintended consequences. Data Envelopment Analysis, a quantitative model for assessing value and quality, also was evaluated. It became readily apparent that surgeons require a working knowledge of these areas to have an influential voice in national dialogues on health policy. Such policy can profoundly influence how we practice medicine. The leadership program used interactive, data-intensive breakout sessions to teach participants how to execute strategic planning. A detailed vignette on race car engine failure provided a compelling model for examining larger questions of risk tolerance and safety. Common cognitive errors were considered and strategic thinking was emphasized. An exercise on effecting change showed pathways to cultivating relationships and capitalizing on resources. The program struck a balance between high-level thinking and data-driven critical analysis. The unrivaled complexity of the U.S. healthcare system underscores the need for such strategic thinking and surgical leadership in healthcare policy. Even if we are stalwart advocates for our individual patients, our efforts will fall short if we allow policy makers to promulgate policies that fail to serve our patients’ best interests. Surgeons who understand patient care, national issues in healthcare, and the financial underpinnings of proposed policies are in an ideal position to promote positive change. Policy Makes—or Breaks—Practice One might be tempted to ask whether we can afford the precious time necessary to engage in these leadership and health policy activities. The answer, borne out time and again by history, is that we cannot afford not to serve in this role. Engagement in health policy is an opportunity to grow and to reinvent ourselves. In my own experience, involvement in healthcare policy and committee efforts has opened doors that I would never have anticipated. In the few short months since that conference, I have seen an influence in the hospitals where I work and traveled as far as Glasgow, Scotland, for an international collaborative. As with so many things in life, doors open unexpectedly. What one gets out of an effort is inextricably linked to what one puts into it. Participating in the health policy leadership program allowed me to build professional friendships that will undoubtedly last for many years to come. In the future, we will need to work together to develop a unified voice in health policy. We are fortunate to have tremendous leadership from within our Academy, and it is imperative that we each find a way to make a contribution. Otolaryngology-head and neck surgery has a pivotal role to play in national healthcare reform. This role has bearing on our ability to ensure safe, effective, and high quality care. Through engagement in health policy and providing leadership in our national organizations, we can shape national discourse, and thereby ensure a bright future for our specialty.
Bookmark the AAO-HNS Legislative and Political Affairs Webpage
Do you want to be one of the first to know the status of healthcare bills moving through Congress or your state? Bookmark the Legislative and Political Affairs webpage today! By visiting the site, you can learn more about the issues affecting the specialty, including the flawed Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula, medical liability reform, scope-of-practice battles, Graduate Medical Education (GME) funding, truth-in-advertising initiatives, and efforts to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). Visit www.entnet.org/advocacy.
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United We Stand
During the AAO-HNSF 2012 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO in Washington, DC, nearly 250 otolaryngologist–head and neck surgeons signed a “Declaration of Independence from the Sustainable Growth Rate Formula” petition. The petition, which will be delivered to every member of the U.S. Congress, helps our organization send a clear message to Capitol Hill regarding our resolve to band together in an effort to advocate on a critical aspect of ongoing healthcare reform. This initiative is a good reminder that there is strength in numbers—a lesson that can be equally applied to other facets of AAO-HNS advocacy efforts.
The Supreme Court Has Ruled: Now What?
On June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court released a landmark decision regarding the constitutional challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The main issues under consideration by the Court were the constitutionality of the “individual mandate” section of the law, requiring all Americans to be insured by 2014, and the Medicaid expansion provisions. The Court’s 5-4 decision largely affirmed the constitutionality of the ACA, while limiting the impact of the Medicaid expansion provisions. In a majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the individual mandate was upheld under Congress’ authority to levy taxes. There was not a majority of the Justices to uphold the individual mandate under the Commerce Clause or the Necessary and Proper Clause, which were the two primary arguments the government presented during its oral arguments. Private and state plaintiffs had argued that Congress did not have the power to enact a law that would require all citizens to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty. With this decision, the majority of Americans must purchase “minimum essential” health insurance coverage by 2014. If they opt to not purchase the coverage, they must pay a penalty to the IRS together with their taxes. Since the Court upheld the individual mandate, the Court did not have to decide whether the individual mandate would be severable from the law. When the Court addressed the Medicaid expansion provisions, it limited, but did not invalidate, the provision that sought to cover all adults younger than 65 with household incomes below the poverty level. The Court held that Congress cannot threaten the states with the loss of all federal Medicaid funding if the states declined to expand Medicaid coverage as mandated by the ACA. However, if a state decides to accept the new ACA Medicaid expansion funds, it must abide by the new expansion coverage rules. If a state chooses not to participate in the expansion, it is limited to the loss of Medicaid expansion funds, and cannot lose all of its funds under the current Medicaid program. The states thus have a financial incentive to comply, but they must choose to accept or reject the new requirements without consequences to existing programs. Since the release of the Court’s decision, states have felt the pressure to move forward with complying with the majority of the ACA’s provisions. The states’ actions leading up to the Court’s decision will now influence their progress in implementing healthcare reform. As of September, 16 states and the District of Columbia had already established exchanges and other states have made substantial steps toward creating exchanges. In addition, a number of states have indicated they will not participate in the Medicaid expansion program. Although the AAO-HNS did not support the final version of the healthcare reform law when it was enacted in March 2010 due to reasons unrelated to the individual mandate and Medicaid provisions, the Academy recognizes the need for, and supports substantive reforms to, the nation’s healthcare delivery system. With the Court’s decision, the AAO-HNS expects the next few months to be challenging as the next chapter of the healthcare reform debate is written, and the national elections approach. The Academy’s Government Affairs team will continue to actively monitor Congressional and Administrative responses to the Court’s ruling and their effect on Academy members and their patients. Immediately following the Court’s decision, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to repeal the ACA. As expected, the proposal stalled in the U.S. Senate. Repeated efforts to repeal all or some of the provisions are expected to continue into 2013. As this debate continues, please help us ensure the specialty’s voice is heard on Capitol Hill to protect the interests of both physicians and their patients. To receive timely updates on legislative and political issues and access to legislative action alerts, join the ENT Advocacy Network today—a free AAO-HNS member benefit. If you have questions regarding the Supreme Court’s decision, implementation of the ACA, or the Academy’s legislative priorities, please email the Government Affairs team at govtaffairs@entnet.org.
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Advocacy Promotes Better Patient Care
Getting involved in the AAO-HNS advocacy opportunities: a bit of time. Ensuring a system of outstanding patient care: priceless. The current status of our healthcare system in the United States is one of uncertainty and the topic of much debate. Medicare, with the unsustainable Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula, is one such example of a system that affects our ability to practice and, ultimately, the health of our patients. The upcoming elections both locally and nationally will provide us one vehicle to participate in the healthcare discussion. However, your potential to influence this system can be amplified by participating in the AAO-HNS-related committees available to all of our members. This participation can occur on both the local and national levels and can have a measurable effect on the politics that shape our system of healthcare. Your Academy’s primary grassroots vehicle for member advocacy is the Board of Governors (BOG). The BOG has representation from nearly all state and local societies across the United States. Each local society has three representatives on the BOG, a governor (often, but not necessarily, the president of the local society), a legislative rep, and a public relations rep. These representatives will meet with their counterparts from other state societies twice a year at the BOG Meeting in Washington, DC, and the AAO-HNSF’s annual meeting in the fall. Members will serve on committees of the BOG including the Socioeconomic and Grassroots (SEGR) and Legislative Representatives. These committees take on the issues that affect our ability to practice. Regularly scheduled conference calls and legislative alerts from our Academy office keep members apprised of issues as they arise and provide our state societies with information gleaned from other states’ experiences. This information is powerful and practical and can have an extraordinary impact. The BOG has been working to reorganize and improve the state societies’ relationship with the BOG, attempting to create a regional system of societies that can better serve their respective members. This would mimic, to some degree, the CMS regional organization. Being involved in your local society and developing a system to communicate issues can help provide our patients with the care they need. An example of this occurred recently in Connecticut when the CMS regional interpretation on the use of Botox for spasmodic dysphonia adversely affected our Medicare population and would have resulted in these patients, many on fixed incomes, having to pay hundreds of dollars out of pocket for their laryngeal Botox treatments. The Connecticut ENT Society, working with our national AAO-HNS office and the 3P work group, was able to quickly work through our Connecticut Society’s CAC representative, Raymond Winicki, MD, to reverse the decision in about three weeks. Our patients were extremely grateful and ultimately well cared for. This was all made possible by a system where clinicians in a local society got involved and were able to help fellow members open the appropriate lines of communication to resolve the issue. Besides the BOG, there are many other varied groups that members can participate in, all of which can provide the opportunity to advocate for our practices and our patients. The Women in Otolaryngology Section (WIO), for example, provides a forum specifically advocating for our women providers. The Section for Residents and Fellows-in-Training (SRF) is an excellent initiation for our members still in training. This section helps to introduce the ongoing issues to our future providers and helps to deliver to the Academy the issues affecting our trainees. The importance of embedding the concept of advocacy as a core competency in our young physicians’ training is essential if we intend to continue to hold a position of strength in the healthcare debate. The opportunities to participate within the Academy are vast. Research and clinical committees provide a vital link to updated content for our members and will continue to help with requirements, such as Maintenance of Certification. Clinical guidelines development continues and needs dedicated participants to accomplish this necessary work. The time and effort required to participate in these Academy committees are varied, but ultimately provide a vital service for our members. The constant need for our members’ participation in our local and national advocacy efforts will continue as long as we have political opinions as to how the healthcare issues should be handled in our country. This election year highlights our need to be involved. The effort needed may be a slight burden on our time; the outcome for our patients could be priceless.
David R. Nielsen, MD, AAO-HNS/F EVP/CEO
A Tradition of Effective Leadership
It is my honor and privilege each year to work with a new set of elected leaders. We congratulate Rodney P. Lusk, MD, for his stellar year and the achievements we have made under his leadership. Several of these were the direct result of his personal interest in, and aptitude for, elements of our strategic plan, including more effective use of technology accelerators to advance both clinical science and member services. While Dr. Lusk is stepping down as president, he remains on our Boards of Directors as immediate past president, and will also preside over the Nominating Committee, as do all past presidents, whose work is arguably the most critical and influential of any Academy committee. While we thank Dr. Lusk for his outstanding service, we welcome our new president, James L. Netterville, MD, who assumed the reins for 2012-2013 at the conclusion of our annual meeting last month. Dr. Netterville has done an outstanding job as president-elect in reviewing all Academy and Foundation committees and hundreds of committee applications and assuring that positions are optimally filled. He has already exhibited his presidential leadership in our Executive Committees and Boards of Directors. His engaging leadership style and his exceptional people skills provide additional reasons for confidence in our success in the coming year. One of the more useful and practical improvements of this year is the Academy’s updated website. Dubbed the “Website Content Relevancy Project” (WCR), this initiative has led to the review of every page of the Academy’s site, revising, updating, or eliminating content as needed. Most Academy content committees reviewed thousands of pages of content. Your Academy staff also worked hard to include this additional assignment in their daily workflow. This was a much needed “house cleaning” and reorganization, and I encourage every member to use and benefit from this cleaner and more useful website. Of particular interest and use to all of us is the upgraded and more effective search capacity of the website. Most proprietary websites have a “search” field, usually allowing the visitor to enter a search term and receive a list of pages from the site related to those key words. We go much further. In addition to the more relevant pages, we have asked for, and obtained permission from, many other related medical association websites to “crawl” their sites and search their relevant pages. Since we are the first medical society to do this, we anticipate the ability to add all primary medical association sites in time, greatly adding to the value of searching through AAO-HNS’ website. We have also added a direct link to PubMed, giving us a highly effective method for obtaining relevant content ranging from clinical science, health policy and advocacy, to member services and interests. You can even select a specific tab to confine your search to a single source, such as publications only, or a specific society, or our own site. While the elected presidents lead and speak for the Boards of Directors, they certainly do not act alone in their leadership and sacrifices on behalf of all otolaryngologists. Each year, dedicated men and women rotate off the board and are replaced by newly elected or appointed members. We extend our heartfelt thanks to J. Regan Thomas, MD; John W. House, MD; Michael D. Seidman, MD; Debara L. Tucci, MD; Stephen J. Chadwick, MD; Samuel H. Selesnick, MD; Eduardo M. Diaz, Jr., MD, and John H. Krouse, MD, PhD, who have given exceptional service and honorably and faithfully completed their board terms. Each new president and elected board leader brings personal skills and interests that can accelerate and advance the Academy’s long-term strategic objectives. Because our strategic plan covers many years, and our work is too complex for each president to have a separate agenda, or to initiate new short-term focus on their “watch,” each president with whom I have served has had to apply a higher level of inclusive and legislative leadership. The positive results of such leadership often extend for many years beyond the individual’s presidency. I salute the sacrifice, hard work, and patience exhibited by these men and women who have selflessly devoted so much of their life to giving back to the profession. I invite all of you to extend your personal thanks when you can, and your continued support to your elected leaders who sacrifice so much of their personal life, professional income, and family time to provide volunteer leadership to the Academy and Foundation. – See more at: http://aaobulletin.365.staging2.ascendmedia.com/Highlight.aspx?id=5397&p=430#sthash.YNjNZ1pu.dpuf
James L. Netterville, MD, AAO-HNS/F President
Your Strategic Partner
James L. Netterville, MD, AAO-HNS/F President We didn’t go to medical school so we could be politicians. We didn’t take the Hippocratic Oath in order to spend hours on coding. We didn’t pass the boards so we could parcel out cures according to the insights of insurance actuaries. Yet, here we are in 2012, battling disease and bureaucracies. As Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s director of the Division of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology, I have worked in medical and educational environments worldwide and felt confident in that work at home and abroad. But building and maintaining a professional career in our own healthcare delivery environment now requires more than staying abreast of the best patient care. We all must be ready to work with regulatory agencies and governing bodies. Practicing medicine has never been more demanding or unpredictable. Fortunately, early in my career my mentors encouraged my membership in the AAO-HNS. Our Academy has been a mainstay for many in the specialty as it monitors these socioeconomic and policy activities on every front. This has allowed us to keep medicine as our primary focus. When I had the honor last year of being named your AAO-HNS/F President-Elect, I was eager to gain a deeper understanding of these challenges. With the benefit of data from the latest member survey, I now understand more fully what your main concerns are, and how the Academy has prepared—through attention to its long-term strategic plan—to focus its strategy and address your concerns. As I begin my presidential year, I am happy to say the AAO-HNS/F is in an excellent position to advance these long-term strategies with a deeper intentionality. Our past years’ diligence in solidifying our infrastructure and strategic position has paid off. We are ready to push forward from positions of strength for bigger strategic gains. So, in preparation for the AAO-HNS/F leaders’ annual strategic planning events in December, this is a great time for me to remind you of the broad strategic areas of our activity to date. They are grouped by areas of identified concerns: Broad Strategy: Advocacy and Health Policy Enhance our legislative outreach efforts to policymakers and patients to increase the general awareness of the specialty by the public. Enhance our grassroots activities to recognize and incentivize member involvement in our legislative and political programs. Integrate health policy-specific priorities, using input from the Physician Payment Policy (3P) Workgroup, to maintain our visibility and credibility on socioeconomic and federal regulatory issues. Advocate for appropriate reimbursement and fair policies with Medicare and private payers, providing members with information and guidance on reimbursement issues encountered at the state and local level. Broad Strategy: Research and Quality Create a continuum of research and quality activities that are aligned with education and lifelong learning needs. Build a sustainable infrastructure to test, pilot, and promote adoption of research and quality products such as guidelines, measures, lifelong learning projects, and evidence-based medicine. Demonstrate the value of strong research and quality education and granting programs to the specialty. Broad Strategy: Education and Knowledge Consolidate and enhance the otolaryngology practice gap analysis and needs assessment process. Develop the next generation of otolaryngology education and knowledge resources through continuous assessment and redesign. Provide resources for board certification preparation, business of medicine, trauma, robotic surgery, surgical simulation, and resident education. Increase member engagement in generation and usage of education and knowledge resources to improve care and outcomes. Broad Strategy: Membership Strength and Unity Improve the member experience by providing meaningful engagement opportunities and encourage participation in Academy activities to increase the overall relevance. Enhance and articulate the member value for all member segments. Support physician’s ability to meet requirements of healthcare reform, third-party payers, credentialing, certification, and licensure. Facilitate collaboration and communication among the specialty societies to enhance and strengthen the specialty. Broad Strategy: Sustainability Provide exceptional stewardship of AAO-HNS/F assets. Enhance the value of the AAO-HNS/F brand. Leverage non-dues revenue streams. Support a culture of philanthropy. Review and update governance documents. Enhance the AAO-HNS/F website. Through benchmarked milestones and set measurable goals, each of these strategic areas has received considerable attention during the past three years. You will find the latest accomplishments in the Annual Report in next month’s Bulletin. In fact, quoting from the Treasurer’s Report of the Academy Secretary/Treasurer and the Chief Operating Officer: John W. House, MD, and Brenda Hargett, CPA, CAE, in the most recent Board of Directors report, “…the increasing stabilization of financial management, budgeting, and reporting better positions AAO-HNS/F to take advantage of opportunities and challenges in the upcoming year.” So, my presidential year’s challenge will be to ensure that the work of the past three can be used to bring into focus those paramount activities that will be most needed and sustaining for the immediate years to come. I look forward to your support and to the challenge.
Why Women Don’t Run for Office (and How We Can Change That!)
Jennifer L. Lawless, PhD, MA Associate Professor of Government Director, Women & Politics Institute American University for the Women in Otolaryngology Section As of the 1970s, women occupied almost no major elective political positions in the United States. Ella Grasso, a Democrat from Connecticut, and Dixie Lee Ray, a Democrat from Washington, served as the only two women elected governor during the decade. Not until 1978 did Kansas Republican Nancy Kassebaum become the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate in her own right. By 1979, women comprised fewer than five percent of the seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and only about 10 percent of state legislative positions. Today, if we glance at the television screen, peruse the newspaper, listen to the radio, or scan the Internet, we might be tempted to conclude that women have made remarkable gains. Nancy Pelosi currently serves as the minority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives. Secretary of State (and former U.S. Senator) Hillary Clinton not only received 18 million votes when she sought the Democratic nomination for president—she also has the highest favorability ratings of any member of the Obama administration. And in 2011, polls repeatedly placed former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in the top tier of potential candidates for the Republican presidential nomination. But these famous faces obscure the dearth of women who hold elective office in the United States. When the 112th Congress convened in January 2011, 84 percent of its members were men. Large gender disparities are also evident at the state and local levels, where more than three-quarters of statewide elected officials and state legislators are men. Further, men occupy the governor’s mansion in 44 of the 50 states, and men run city hall in 92 of the 100 largest cities across the country. Why are so few women in politics, especially in light of the fact that women fare as well as men in terms of vote totals and fundraising receipts? During the past decade, Richard L. Fox, PhD, MA, and I have surveyed and interviewed more than 7,500 “eligible candidates”—highly successful individuals who occupy the professions most likely to precede a career in politics. Although about 50 percent of the people we spoke to had considered running for office, women were more than one-third less likely than men to have considered a candidacy. And they were only half as likely as men to have taken any of the actions that usually precede a campaign—like investigating how to place their name on the ballot, or discussing running with potential donors, party or community leaders, or even mentioning the idea to family members or friends. If we focus only on the 50 percent of people who had thought about running, women were one-third less likely than men to throw their hats into the ring and enter actual races. The good news is that women were just as likely as men to win their races. The bad news is that—because of this winnowing process—they were far less likely than men to make it to Election Day. Because we cannot really begin to determine how to minimize the gender gap in political ambition if we do not understand its roots, I’d like to begin a conversation about political ambition, why men have it, and why women don’t. Impediment 1: Perceptions  of Qualifications Despite comparable resumes, the men we surveyed and interviewed are nearly 60 percent more likely than women to assess themselves as “very qualified” to run for office. Women are more than twice as likely as men to rate themselves as “not at all qualified.” Importantly, the gender gap in perceptions of qualifications to run for office does not stem from gender differences in direct political experiences or exposure to, and familiarity with, the political arena (the women and men are similarly situated on these dimensions). Women’s self-doubts are particularly important because they play a much larger role than do men’s in depressing the likelihood of considering a candidacy. More specifically, among women who self-assess as “not at all qualified” to run for office, only 39 percent have considered throwing their hats into the ring. Among men who do not think they are qualified to run for office, 55 percent have given the notion of a candidacy some thought. Impediment 2: Recruitment Women are less likely than men to have received the suggestion to run for office—from anyone. This gender gap in political recruitment exists at all levels of office. From local, to state, to federal positions, party leaders, elected officials, political activists, colleagues, family members, and friends, encourage far more men than women to enter the electoral arena. The lack of recruitment is a powerful explanation for why women are less likely than men to consider a candidacy. Sixty-seven percent of respondents who have been encouraged to run by a party leader, elected official, or political activist, for example, have considered running, compared to 33 percent of respondents who report no such recruitment. The same pattern holds for non-political actors. Importantly, women are just as likely as men to respond favorably to the suggestion of a candidacy. They are just less likely than men to receive it. Impediment 3: Family Roles Women working in the top tier of professional accomplishment still tend to exhibit traditional gender role orientations. In families where both adults are working (generally in high-level careers), women are roughly six times more likely than men to bear responsibility for the majority of household tasks, and they are about 10 times more likely to be the primary childcare provider. Notably, these differences in family responsibilities are not merely a matter of gendered perceptions. Both sexes fully recognize this organization of labor. More than 50 percent of men acknowledge that their spouses are responsible for a majority of household tasks and childcare, while only seven percent of women make the same claim. This division of labor is consistent across political party lines. For many women, even considering a candidacy might seem like a “third job.” What Can We Do to Bring about Change?  Given the persistent gender gap in political ambition, we are a long way from a political reality in which women and men are equally likely to aspire to attain high-level elective office. The 2012 elections, which are already being heralded as another great year for female candidates, are likely to result in only incremental changes to the number of women serving in the U.S. Congress. Both parties have proudly announced that they are running more women in the 2012 cycle than in any previous election. But this record number still means that women—should they win their primary contests—will compete in less than one-third of the Senate races in 2012. Thus, even if 2012 turns out to be a “banner year” for female candidates, and even if the majority of these women win their races, their victories will amount to, at most, a one-to-two percentage point increase in the seats held by women in the U.S. Congress. The problems that underlay women’s numeric under-representation are more fundamental than the occasional attention that political parties and the media pay to women’s candidate emergence might suggest. Our findings highlight the importance of deepening our understanding of the manner in which women and men in contemporary society are socialized about politics, the acquisition of political power, and the characteristics that qualify individuals to seek it. At a practical level, though, our findings offer some direction for people interested in increasing the numbers of women serving in office: First, although women are less likely than men ever to have considered running for office, they are just as likely as men to respond positively to political recruitment. Recruiting early and recruiting often are vital ingredients for closing the gender gap in political ambition. Indeed, we need to go to high schools and colleges and encourage girls and women to engage in politics. Every time any of us runs across a woman who seems to fit the bill, we need to tell her—and we should tell her more than once—that she should consider running for office. Second, a substantial barrier for many female potential candidates is the perception of a biased and competitive electoral atmosphere in which women have to be twice as good to deem themselves “qualified.” Yet this perception is not consistent with the reality that women are just as likely as men to succeed in the electoral arena. Spreading the word about women’s electoral success and fund-raising prowess can work to change perceptions of a biased electoral arena. Third, the gendered division of labor we uncovered demonstrates that women and men who are similarly situated professionally are not similarly situated at home. Any move toward a more family-friendly work environment and campaign arena would likely confer disproportional benefits to women. The large gender gap in political ambition, coupled with the stagnation in the number of women serving in elected offices in the last decade, makes the road ahead look quite daunting. Many barriers to women’s interest in running for office can be overcome only with major cultural and political changes. But in the meantime, recruiting female candidates and disseminating information about the electoral environment and women’s successes can help narrow the gender gap and increase women’s numeric representation. The challenges in front of us are to continue to raise awareness about the barriers women face, and to continue to advocate for a more inclusive electoral process.
Academy and Foundation Cluster and Committee Rosters
The following are the committees of the Academy and Foundation, grouped by clusters. These are all members, unless otherwise noted, who were appointed to terms October 1, 2012, as well as continuing their service. The number following each name indicates end of their term. If you’d like to serve on a committee, submit your application at www.entnet.org/Community/. Review the committee rosters online for the most up-to-date lisitng at www.entnet.org/Community/committeeRoster.cfm. STANDING and BOARD STEERING COMMITTEES Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws Committee James A. Stankiewicz, MD, Chair, 13 Bradley F. Marple, MD, Member, 14 Kathleen Yaremchuck, MD, Member, 15 David R. Nielsen, MD, Ex-Officio Estella Laguna, Staff Liaison Audit Committee Kenneth W. Altman, MD, PhD, Committee Chair, 14 Steven W. Cheung, MD, Member, 15 David W. Eisele, MD, Member, 14 Paul T. Fass, MD, Member, 14 Jerry M. Schreibstein, MD, Member, 13 Duane J. Taylor, MD, Member, 15 David R. Nielsen, MD, Ex-Officio Carrie Hanlon, CPA, Staff Liaison Brenda Hargett, CPA, CAE, Staff Liaison Executive Committee James L. Netterville, MD, President, 13 Rodney Lusk, MD, Immediate Past President, 13 Richard Waguespack, MD, President-Elect, 13 Gavin Setzen, MD, Secretary/Treasurer, 15 Denis C. Lafreniere, MD, Chair/BOG, 13 Peter Abramson, MD, Chair-Elect/BOG, 13 J. Pablo Stolovitzky, MD, Director At-Large, 13 James A. Stankiewicz, MD, Director At-Large, 13 David R. Nielsen, MD , Executive Vice President & CEO Estella Laguna, Staff Liaison Finance & Investment Subcommittee Gavin Setzen, MD, Committee Chair, 15 Jerry M. Schreibstein, MD, Member, 13 Michael G. Stewart, MD, MPH, Member, 14 J. Pablo Stolovitzky, MD, Member, 15 Pell Ann Wardrop, MD, WIO Representative, 14 Lynn Frischkorn, Staff Liaison Carrie Hanlon, CPA. Staff Liaison Brenda Hargett, CPA, CAE, Staff Liaison Ethics Committee Lauren S. Zaretsky, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Daniel C. Chelius, Jr, MD, Member, 14 Roger D. Cole, MD, Member, 13 Susan R. Cordes, MD, Member, 13 Ilaaf Darrat, MD, Member, 14 Christopher Discolo, MD, Member, 13 Beth R. Duncan, MD, MBA, Member, 14 Paul E. Hammerschlag, MD, Member, 14 Jonathan B. Ida, MD, Member, 14 John W. Jones, MD, Member, 14 Paul Konowitz, MD, Member, 13 Susan D. McCammon, MD, Member, 14 Travis J. Pfannenstiel, MD, Member, 13 Werner C. Roennecke, MD, Member, 14 Joshua D. Rosenberg, MD, Member, 14 Andrew G. Shuman, MD, Member, 13 Timothy J. Siglock, MD, Member, 14 Mark J. Syms, MD, Member, 14 Ira D. Uretzky, MD, Member, 14 Steven J. Wang, MD, Member, 14 Barry L. Wenig, MD, MPH, Member, 14 Sarah Wise, MD, Member, 14 Kevin Christopher McMains, MD, Consultant, 14 Veling W. Tsai, MD, JD, Consultant, 13 Noriko Yoshikawa, MD, Consultant, 13 Caitlin M. Couture, Staff Liaison Brenda Hargett, CPA, CAE, Staff Liaison Nominating Committee Rodney P. Lusk, MD, Committee Chair, 13 Linda S. Brodsky, MD, Member, 13 Karen J. Doyle, MD, PhD, Member, 13 Howard W. Francis, MD, 14 Christine G. Gourin, MD, Member, 13 Gady Har-El, MD, Member, 14 Michael A. Rothschild, MD, Member, 13 Cecelia E. Schmalbach, MD, Member 14 P. Ashley Wackym, MD, Member 14 Lauren S. Zaretsky, MD, Member, 14 Estella Laguna, Staff Liaison Physician Resources Committee David W. Kennedy, MD, Committee Chair, 13 Ramesh K. Agarwal, MD, Member, 14 Reginald F. Baugh, MD, Member, 14 Linda S. Brodsky, MD, Member, 14 Adam P. Campbell, MD, Member, 14 David W. Eisele, MD, Member, 14 Isaac D. Erbele, MD, Member, 14 Berrylin J. Ferguson, MD, Member, 14 Bruce J. Gantz, MD, Member, 14 Eric M. Gessler, MD, Member, 13 Marie T. Gilbert, PA-C, Member, 13 Ethan B. Handler, MD, Member, 14 Joseph E. Hart, MD, MS, Member, 14 Karl Hoermann, MD, Member, 14 Steven B. Levine, MD, Member, 14 Vikas Mehta, MD, Member, 14 Robert H. Miller, MD, MBA, Member, 14 Sami Pierre Moubayed, MD, Member, 14 William P. Potsic, MD, Member, 14 Jonathon O. Russell, MD, Member, 14 John W. Seibert, MD, Member, 14 Gavin Setzen, MD, Member, 13 Michael Vietti, MD, Member, 13 Pell Ann Wardrop, MD, Member, 14 Lauren S. Zaretsky, MD, Member, 14 Michael M.E. Johns, II, MD, Consultant, 14 Harold C. Pillsbury, III, MD, Consultant, 13 Shannon P. Pryor, MD, Ex-Officio, 13 Jean Brereton, MBA, Staff Liaison Science & Educational Committee Richard M. Rosenfeld, MD, MPH, Chair, 14 Sukgi S. Choi, MD, Member, 16 Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, Member, 15 Gregory W. Randolph, MD, Member, 13 John S. Rhee, MD, MPH, Member, 14 Eben L. Rosenthal, MD, Member, 16 Jean Brereton, MBA, Member Brenda Hargett, CPA, CAE, Member David R. Nielsen, MD, Ex-Officio Jerry M. Schreibstein, MD, Ex-Officio, 13 James Saunders, MD, Non-Voting Guest, 17 Gavin Setzen, MD, Ex-Officio, 15 Mary Pat Cornett, CAE, CMP, Member/Staff Liaison Board of Governors (BOG) Committees BOG Executive Committee Denis C. Lafreniere, MD, Chair-Elect/BOG, 13 Peter Abramson, MD, Chair-Elect/BOG, 13 Sujana S. Chandrasekhar, MD, Immediate Past Chair/BOG, 13 Wendy B. Stern, MD, Secretary/BOG, 13 Stacey L.Ishman, MD, MPH Member At Large, 14 Richard Carson, Staff Liaison BOG Nominating Committee Sujana S. Chandrasekhar, MD, Committee Chair, 13 Lisa Perry-Gilkes, MD, Member, 13 Larry M. Simon, MD, Member, 13 Ken Yanagisawa, MD, Member, 13 Denis C. Lafreniere, MD, BOD Liaison, 13 Richard N. Carson, Jr., Staff Liaison Bethany Clifton, Staff Liaison BOG Legislative Representatives Committee Paul M. Imber, DO, Committee Chair, 14 Susan R. Cordes, MD, Vice Chair, 14 Art A. Ambrosio, MD, Member, 14 K. Paul Boyev, MD, Member, 14 Paul C. Bryson, MD, Member, 14 Hamad Chaudhary, MD, Member, 14 Nathan A. Deckard, MD, Member, 14 Soha N. Ghossaini, MD, Member, 13 Joseph E. Hart, MD, MS, Member, 13 Charles F. Koopmann, Jr, MD, MHSA, Member, 14 Zara M. Patel, MD, Member, 14 Brian K. Reilly, MD, Member, 14 Brianne B. Roby, MD, Member, 14 Brianne B. Roby, MD, Member, 14 Michelle M. Roeser, MD, Member, 14 Javad A. Sajan, MD, Member, 13 Lawrence M. Simon, MD, Member, 14 Larry N. Smith, MD, Member, 14 Hayes H. Wanamaker, MD, Member, 13 Ashley E. Wenaas, MD, Member, 14 Christopher F. Baranano, MD, Consultant, 14 J. Scott Magnuson, MD, Consultant, 14 Kanwar S. Kelley, MD, SRF Committee Representative, 13 Richard N. Carson, Jr, Staff Liaison Bethany Clifton, Staff Liaison Shannon Morey, JD, Staff Liaison BOG Rules & Regulations Committee Joseph E. Hart, MD, MS, Committee Chair, 14 Sanford M. Archer, MD, BOG Vice Chair, 14 Robert A. Frankenthaler, MD, Member, 14 Satish Govindaraj, MD, Member, 13 Paul M. Imber, DO, Member, 13 John Y. Kim, MD, Member, 14 Steven T. Kmucha, MD JD, Member, 14 H. Baltzer LeJeune, MD, Member, 13 Sami Pierre Moubayed, MD, Member, 14 Spencer C. Payne, MD, Member, 14 Jesse G. Wardlow, Jr, MD, Member, 13 Jeffrey S. Wolf, MD, Member, 14 H. Russell Wright, Jr, MD, Member, 14 Andrew J. Heller, MD, Consultant, 14 Richard N. Carson, Jr, Staff Liaison Bethany Clifton, Staff Liaison BOG Socioeconomic & Grassroots Committee David R. Edelstein, MD, Committee Chair, 13 Sanjay R. Parikh, MD, Vice Chair, 14 Stephen W Bayles, MD, Member, 14 Kuang-Chun J. Hsieh, MD, Member, 14 Kevin T. Kavanagh, MD, Member, 14 Eric J. Kezirian, MD, MPH, Member, 14 Charles F. Koopmann, Jr, MD, MHSA, Member, 14 H. Baltzer LeJeune, MD, Member, 13 Brian J. McKinnon, MD, MBA, Member, 14 Anna K. Meyer, MD, Member, 13 Mark E. Prince, MD, Member, 13 Amanda Silver Karcioglu, MD, Member, 13 Robert J. Stachler, MD, Member, 14 Mark J. Syms, MD, Member, 13 Ira D. Uretzky, MD, Member, 13 Jesse G. Wardlow, Jr, MD, Member, 13 Daniel L. Wohl, MD, Member, 14 Michael Setzen, MD, BOD Liaison, 13 Steven B. Levine, MD, Consultant, 13 Richard N. Carson, Jr, Staff Liaison Bethany Clifton, Staff Liaison Women in Otolaryngology (WIO) Section Committees Awards Valerie A. Flanary, MD, Chair, 14 Elizabeth A. Blair, MD, Member, 14 Megan L. Durr, MD, Member, 14 Soha N. Ghossaini, MD, Member, 13 Inna A. Husain, MD, Member, 14 Stacey L. Ishman, MD, Member, 14 Mimi S. Kokoska, MD, Member, 13 Amanda L. Stapleton, MD, Member, 14 Richard Carson, Staff Liaison Bethany Clifton, Staff Liaison Communications Erika A. Woodson, MD, Chair, 14 Stephanie A. Austin, MD, Member 14 Marcella R. Bothwell, MD, Member, 14 Elizabeth A. Dunham, MD, Member, 14 Valerie A. Flanary, MD, Member, 13 Sezelle Gereau, MD, Member, 14 Anna Kristina Hart, MD, Member, 14 Melissa G. Kress, DO, Member, 14 Nila M. Novotny, MD, Member, 14 Pamela C. Roehm, MD, Member, 13 Jayde M. Steckowych, MD, Member, 14 Sarah K. Wise, MD, Member, 13 Kathleen Yaremchuk, MD, Member, 13 Susan R. Cordes, MD, Consultant, 14 Richard Carson, Staff Liaison Bethany Clifton, Staff Liaison Development/Endowment Pell Ann Wardrop, MD, Chair, 14 Phyllis B. Bouvier, MD, Member, 14 Linda S. Brodsky, MD, Member, 13 Sujana S. Chandrasekhar, MD, Member, 13 Anna Kristina Hart, MD, Member, 14 Beth N. McNulty, MD, Member, 14 Richard Carson, Staff Liaison Bethany Clifton, Staff Liaison Leadership Development & Mentorship Mona M. Abaza, MD, Chair, 14 Meredith E. Adams, MD, Member, 14 Leslie Asbury, MD, Member, 14 Kathleen Billings, MD, Member, 14 Carol R. Bradford, MD, Member, 14 Jennifer Decker, MD, Member, 14 Debra M. Don, MD, Member, 13 Mary E. Gorman, MD, Member, 14 Soha N. Ghossaini, MD, Member, 13 Rebecca D. Golgert, MD, Member, 13 Jamie R. Litvack, MD, Member, 14 Edith A. McFadden, MD, Member, 14 Abby R. Nolder, MD, Member, 14 Lucia S. Olarte, MD, Member, 14 Sarah L. Rohde, MD, Member, 14 Jamie Stern, MD, Member, 14 Debra G. Weinberger, Member, 14 Shannon P. Pryor, MD, Consultant, 14 Richard Carson, Staff Liaison Bethany Clifton, Staff Liaison Program Lauren S. Zaretsky, MD, Chair, 14 Stephanie A. Austin, MD, Member, 14 Phyllis B. Bouvier, MD, Member, 14 Holly Boyer, MD, Member, 13 Sydney C. Butts, MD, Member, 13 Cecelia Damask, DO, Member, 14 Ilaaf Darrat, MD, Member, 13 Rebecca D. Golgert, MD, Member, 13 Mary E. Gorman, MD, Member, 14 Stacey T. Gray, MD, Member, 14 Natasha Mirza, MD, Member, 14 Margaret A. Ogden, MD, Member, 14 Michelle M. Roeser, MD, Member, 14 Jayde M. Steckowych, MD, Member, 14 Marita S. Teng, MD, Member, 14 Debara L. Tucci, MD, Member, 14 Julie L. Wei, MD, Member, 13 Nina S. Yoshpe, MD, Member, 13 Soha N. Ghossaini, MD, Consultant, 13 Richard Carson, Staff Liaison Bethany Clifton, Staff Liaison Research & Survey Linda S. Brodsky, MD, Chair, 14 Carol A. Bauer, MD, Member, 13 Amy Y. Chen, MD, Member, 13 Soha N. Ghossaini, MD, Member, 13 Abby E. Gross, MD, Member 13 Anna Kristina Hart, MD, Member, 13 Catherine R. Lintzenich, MD, Member, 14 Jamie R. Litvack, MD, Member, 14 Edith A. McFadden, MD, Member, 14 Beth M. McNulty, MD, Member, 14 Lucia S. Olarte, MD, Member, 14 Colleen F. Perez, MD, Member, 14 Shannon P. Pryor, MD, Member, 13 Pamela C. Roehm, MD, Member, 13 Kristina W. Rosbe, MD, Member, 13 Maya G. Sardesai, MD, Member, 14 Amanda L. Stapleton, MD, Member, 14 Mariel Stroschein, MD, Member, 13 Kathleen Yaremchuk, MD, Member, 13 Katherine C. Yung, MD, Member, 14 Richard Carson, Staff Liaison Bethany Clifton, Staff Liaison ACADEMY/FOUNDATION COMMITTEES Instruction Course Advisory Committee Sukgi S. Choi, MD, Committee Chair, 17 Max M. April, MD, Member, 14 Paolo Campisi, MD, Member, 14 Daniel C. Chelius, Jr, MD, Member, 14 Paul W. Gidley, MD, Member, 14 Joseph Han, MD, Member, 14 Matthew M. Hanasono, MD, Member, 13 Brandon Isaacson, MD, Member, 13 Todd T. Kingdom, MD, Member, 14 Catherine R. Lintzenich, MD, Member, 14 Ron B. Mitchell, MD, Member, 14 Brian A. Moore, MD, Member, 13 Edmund A. Pribitkin, MD, Member, 14 Clark A. Rosen, MD, Member, 14 Brent A. Senior, MD, Member, 14 William H. Slattery, III, MD, Member, 14 Jeffrey S. Wolf, MD, Member, 14 Kathleen Yaremchuk, MD, Member, 14 Kenny H. Chan, MD, Consultant, 14 Paul W. Gidley, MD, Consultant, 14 Allison M. Holzapfel, MD, Consultant, 14 Maurice M. Khosh, MD, Consultant, 13 Karen T. Pitman, MD, Consultant, 14 Phillip Song, MD, Consultant, 13 Brendan C. Stack, Jr, MD, Consultant, 14 Eduardo M. Diaz, Jr, MD, Ex-Officio, 14 Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, Ex-Officio, 15 Eben L. Rosenthal, MD, Ex-Officio, 17 Tami Rollins CMP, CEM, Staff Liaison HEAD AND NECK STEERING COMMITTEE Bradley F. Marple, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Gregory J. Artz, MD, Member, 13 Douglas B. Chepeha, MD, MSPH, Member, 14 Daniel G. Deschler, MD, Member, 13 Donna J. Millay, MD, Member, 13 Lisa A. Orloff, MD, Member, 14 Jeanne McIntyre, CAE, Staff Liaison Endocrine Surgery Committee Lisa A. Orloff, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Ralph P. Tufano, MD, Committee Chair-Elect, 14 Jeffrey M. Bumpous, MD, Member, 14 Salvatore M. Caruana, MD, Member, 13 F. Christopher Holsinger, MD, Member, 13 Jason Patrick Hunt, MD, Member, 14 Christopher Klem, MD, Member, 13 Miriam N. Lango, MD, Member, 13 Vikas Mehta, MD, Member, 14 Phillip K. Pellitteri, DO, Member, 14 Aaron K. Remenschneider, MD, Member, 14 David Rosen, MD, Member, 13 Joseph Scharpf, MD, Member, 13 Merry E. Sebelik, MD, Member, 14 Alfred A. Simental, Jr, MD, Member, 14 Michael C. Singer, MD, Member, 14 Krishnamurthi Sundaram, MD, Member, 14 Mike Yao, MD, Member, 14 Russell B. Smith, MD, Consultant, 14 Brendan C. Stack, Jr, MD, Consultant, 14 David L. Steward, MD, Consultant, 13 David J. Terris, MD, Consultant, 13 Ralph P. Tufano, MD, Consultant, 13 Robert L. Witt, MD, Consultant, 14 Catherine R. Lincoln, CAE, MA (Oxon), Staff Liaison Head and Neck Surgery & Oncology Committee Daniel G. Deschler, MD, Committee Chair, 13 Carol M. Bier-Laning, MD, Member, 14 Elizabeth A. Blair, MD, Member, 14 Yu-Wai Jimmy Chan, MRCS, Member, 14 Neal D. Futran, MD DMD, Member, 14 Marion B. Gillespie, MD, Member, 14 Douglas A. Girod, MD, Member, 14 Jeffrey J. Houlton, MD, Member, 13 Jason Patrick Hunt, MD, Member, 14 Samir Khariwala, MD, Member, 14 Alexander Langerman, MD, Member, 14 Derrick T. Lin, MD, Member, 14 Adam Luginbuhl, MD, Member, 13 Michael G. Moore, MD, Member, 13 Kristen J. Otto, MD, Member, 14 Chan W. Park, MD, Member, 13 Karen T. Pitman, MD, Member, 14 Mark E. Prince, MD, Member, 13 Gregory J. Renner, MD, Member, 14 Brendan C. Stack, Jr, MD, Member, 13 Ralph P. Tufano, MD, Member, 13 Barry L. Wenig, MD, MPH, Member, 14 Marion E. Couch, MD, PhD, Consultant, 13 Christine G. Gourin, MD, Consultant, 14 Brian Nussenbaum, MD, Consultant, 13 Urjeet Patel, MD, Consultant, 14 Cecelia E. Schmalbach, MD, Consultant, 14 Dain G. Oswald, Staff Liaison Microvascular Committee Douglas B. Chepeha, MD, MSPH, Committee Chair, 14 Stephen W. Bayles, MD, Member, 13 Keith A. Casper, MD, Member, 14 John J. Chi, MD, Member, 14 David P. Goldstein, MD, Member, 14 Matthew M. Hanasono, MD, Member, 14 Christian Hasney, MD, Member, 14 Joshua D. Hornig, MD, Member, 13 Dev Kamdar, MD, Member, 13 Samir Khariwala, MD, Member, 13 Jason M. Leibowitz, MD, Member, 14 Oleg N. Militsakh, MD, Member, 14 Brian A. Moore, MD, Member, 14 Liana Puscas, MD, Member, 14 Marita S. Teng, MD, Member, 14 Paul G. Van der Sloot, MD, Member, 14 Steven J. Wang, MD, Member, 13 D. Gregory Farwell, MD, Consultant, 14 Thomas J. Gal, Jr, MD, MPH, Consultant, 14 Eric M. Genden, MD, Consultant, 13 Urjeet Patel, MD, Consultant, 14 Yelizaveta Shnayder, MD, Consultant, 14 Eileen Cavanagh, Staff Liaison Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Committee Donna J. Millay, MD, Committee Chair, 13 Marcelo B. Antunes, MD, Member, 14 Michael J. Brenner, MD, Member, 13 Harley S. Dresner, MD, Member, 13 William M. Guy, MD, Member, 13 Grant S. Hamilton, III, MD, Member, 13 Matthew M. Hanasono, MD, Member, 13 Anna P. Hsu, MD, Member, 13 Kate E. McCarn, MD, Member, 14 John M. Morehead, MD, Member, 14 Young S. Paik, MD, Member, 13 Krishna G. Patel, MD, PhD, Member, 13 Bradford Patt, MD, Member, 13 John S. Rhee, MD, MPH, Member, 13 Jeremy D. Richmon, MD, Member, 13 Anthony P. Sertich, II, MD, Member, 13 Preston D. Ward, MD, Member, 14 Allison M. Holzapfel, MD, Consultant, 13 Anthony P. Sclafani, MD, Consultant, 13 Heather McGhee, Staff Liaison Skull Base Surgery Committee Gregory J. Artz, MD, Committee Chair, 13 Pete S. Batra, MD, Member, 14 Nathan A. Deckard, MD, Member, 13 Rodney Diaz, MD, Member, 13 Vasu Divi, MD, Member, 13 Ivan H. El-Sayed, MD, Member, 13 Adrien A. Eshraghi, MD, MSc, Member, 13 Rick A. Friedman, MD, PhD, Member, 14 Eric H. Holbrook, MD, Member, 13 David Kaylie, MD, Member, 14 J. Walter Kutz, Jr, MD, Member, 13 Theodore McRackan, MD, Member, 14 Bradley P. Pickett, MD, Member, 14 Ryan G. Porter, MD, Member, 14 B. Todd Schaeffer, MD, Member, 13 Raj Sindwani, MD, Member, 13 Eric W. Wang, MD, Member, 14 Marilene B. Wang, MD, Member, 14 Douglas D. Backous, MD, Consultant, 13 Derrick T. Lin, MD, Consultant, 14 Sean O. McMenomey, MD, Consultant, 13 Kris S. Moe, MD, Consultant, 13 R. Mark Wiet, MD, Consultant, 13 Dain G. Oswald, Staff Liaison HEARING AND EQUILIBRIUM STEERING COMMITTEE Michael G. Stewart, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Craig A. Buchman, MD, Member, 14 Douglas D. Backous, MD, Member, 13 Allan M. Rubin, MD, PhD, Member, 13 Joy Trimmer, JD, Staff Liaison Equilibrium Committee Allan M. Rubin, MD, PhD, Committee Chair, 13 Joel A. Goebel, MD, Committee Chair-Elect, 13 Meredith E. Adams, MD, Member, 14 Oliver F. Adunka, MD, Member, 14 Syed F. Ahsan, MD, Member, 13 James S. Atkins, Jr, MD, Member, 14 Sanjay Bhansali, MD, Member, 14 Eleanor Y. Chan, MD, Member, 13 Sujana S. Chandrasekhar, MD, Member, 14 Hamid R. Djalilian, MD, Member, 14 Jeremy Hornibrook, Member, 14 David Kaylie, MD, Member, 14 Jeffery J. Kuhn, MD, Member, 14 J Walter Kutz, Jr, MD, Member, 14 Kianoush Sheykholeslami, MD PhD, Member, 14 Eric E. Smouha, MD, Member, 14 Jack J. Wazen, MD, Member, 13 Judith A. White, MD, PhD, Member, 14 Ana H. Kim, MD, Consultant, 13 Hamed Sajjadi, MD, Consultant, 14 Jonathan Y. Ting, MD, Consultant, 13 B Joseph Touma, MD, Consultant, 13 Peter Robertson, MPA, Staff Liaison Hearing Committee Robert K. Jackler, MD, Committee Chair, 13 Douglas D. Backous, MD, Committee Chair-Elect, 13 Alan G. Cheng, MD, Member, 14 John L. Dornhoffer, MD, Member, 14 Jose N. Fayad, MD, Member, 14 Neil A. Giddings, MD, Member, 13 Richard K. Gurgel, MD, Member, 14 Tina C. Huang, MD, Member, 13 Ana H. Kim, MD, Member, 14 Greg R. Licameli, MD, Member, 14 Frank R. Lin, MD, Member, 14 Cliff A. Megerian, MD, Member, 13 Ted A. Meyer, MD, PhD, Member, 14 Alan G. Micco, MD, Member, 14 Elias M. Michaelides, MD, Member, 13 Kourosh Parham, MD, PhD, Member, 14 Ryan G. Porter, MD, Member, 13 Jess C. Roberts, MD, Member, 13 Caremon Wick, MD, Member, 14 Craig A. Buchman, MD, Consultant, 13 Barry Hirsch, MD, Consultant, 13 Paul R. Kileny, PhD, Consultant, 14 Brenda L. Lonsbury-Martin, PhD, Consultant, 14 Caitlin M. Couture, Staff Liaison Implantable Hearing Devices Committee Craig A. Buchman, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Daniela S. Carvalho, MD, Member, 13 Douglas A. Chen, MD, Member, 13 Jose N. Fayad, MD, Member, 14 Soha N. Ghossaini, MD, Member, 13 Matthew B. Hanson, MD, Member, 13 Robert S. Hong, MD, Member, 14 Anita S. Jeyakumar, MD, MS, Member, 14 J. Walter Kutz, Jr, MD, Member, 13 Samuel C. Levine, MD, Member, 13 Christopher J. Linstrom, MD, Member, 13 Brian J. McKinnon, MD, MBA, Member, 14 Ted A. Meyer, MD, PhD, Member, 14 Ravi N. Samy, MD, Member, 14 Jack A. Shohet, MD, Member, 14 Elizabeth H. Toh, MD, Member, 14 Jack J. Wazen, MD, Member, 13 Cameron Wick, MD, Member, 14 Alan J. Johnson, MD, Consultant, 14 Jeffery J. Kuhn, MD, Consultant, 14 William H. Slattery, III, MD, Consultant, 14 Nancy M. Young, MD, Consultant, 14 Joni K. Doherty, MD, PhD, Society Representative, 13 Kenneth H. Lee, MD, PhD, Non-Voting Guest, 14 S. George Lesinski, MD, Non-Voting Guest, 14 Brian J. McKinnon, MD, MBA, Non-Voting Guest, 13 Ravi N. Samy, MD, Non-Voting Guest, 13 Anders M. R. Tjellstrom, MD, PhD, Non-Voting Guest, 13 Caitlin M. Couture, Staff Liaison INTERNATIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE Gregory W. Randolph, MD, Committee Chair, 13 Terry A. Day, MD, Member, 14 Ramon A. Franco, Jr, MD, Member, 14 Karl Hoermann, MD, Member, 14 G. Richard Holt, MD, MSE, MPH, Member, 14 David W. Kennedy, MD, Member, 14 K.J. Lee, MD, Member, 14 Eugene N. Myers, MD, Member, 14 James L .Netterville, MD, Member, 14 Milan Profant, MD, PhD, Member, 13 James E. Saunders, MD, Member, 14 Nancy L. Snyderman, MD, Member, 14 J. Pablo Stolovitzky, MD, Member, 14 Hector E. Ruiz, MD, Consultant, 14 Ashok R. Shaha, MD, Consultant, 13 Nikhil J. Bhatt, MD, Ex-Officio, 13 Juan Manuel Garcia Gomez, MD, Ex-Officio, 14 Jorge Garcia Gomez, MD, Ex-Officio, 14 Merry E. Sebelik, MD, Ex-Officio, 13 Catherine R. Lincoln, CAE, MA (Oxon), Staff Liaison Humanitarian Efforts Committee Merry E. Sebelik, MD, Committee Chair, 13 Susan R. Cordes, MD, Member, 13 Ronald W. Deskin, MD, Member, 13 Susan D. Emmett, MD, Member, 14 Nazaneen N. Grant, MD, Member, 13 John M. Hodges, MD, Member, 13 Clifford R. Hume, MD, PhD, Member, 14 Wayne M. Koch, MD, Member, 14 Alexander Langerman, MD, Member, 14 Anya J. Li, MD, Member, 13 James P. Malone, MD, Member, 13 Murray D. Morrison, MD, Member, 13 Peggyann Nowak, MD, Member, 14 Liana Puscas, MD, Member, 14 Mitchell J. Ramsey, MD, Member, 13 Carol G. Shores, MD, PhD, Member, 14 Mark G. Shrime, MD, Member, 13 James D. Sidman, MD, Member, 13 Peter Volsky, MD, Member, 13 Eric P. Wilkinson, MD, Member, 14 Mark E. Zafereo, Jr, MD, Member, 13 Selena E. Heman-Ackah, MD, MBA, Consultant, 14 James E. Saunders, MD, Consultant, 13 Bethany Clifton, Staff Liaison International Otolaryngology Committee Nikhil J. Bhatt, MD, Committee Chair, 13 Sanjay Athavale, MD, Member, 14 Nicolas BuSaba, MD, Member, 14 W. J. Cornay, III, MD, Member, 14 Soha N. Ghossaini, MD, Member 14 Anthony F. Jahn, MD, Member, 13 Herman A. Jenkins, MD, Member, 14 Ashutosh Kacker, MD, Member 14 Rajesh S. Kakani, MD, Member, 14 Dinesh C. Mehta, MD, Member, 13 Shri K. Nadig, MD, DLO, Member, 14 Mohsen Naraghi, MD, Member, 14 Vaclav Pavelec, MD, PhD, Member, 14 Hassan H. Ramadan, MD MSc, Member, 14 Nikhila Raol, MD, Member, 13 Michael J. Rutter, MD Member, 13 Said Mustafa Said, Member, 14 Samuel H. Selesnick, MD, Member, 14 Carl H. Snyderman, MD, MBA, Member, 14 Jesse G. Wardlow, Jr, MD, Member, 13 K John Yun, MD, Member, 14 Arun K. Gadre, MD, Consultant, 14 Lily Love, MD, Consultant, 14 Aristides Sismanis, MD, Consultant, 13 Catherine R. Lincoln, CAE, MA (Oxon), Staff Liaison Panamerican Committee Juan Manuel Garcia Gomez, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Jacqueline Alvarado Medina, MD, Member, 14 Hemendra N. Bhatnagar, MD, Member, 13 Emiro E. Caicedo Granados, MD, Member, 13 Gabriel Calzada, MD, Member, 14 Alejandra Daza, MD, Member, 14 Hernan Goldsztein, MD, Member, 14 Adam M. Klein, MD, Member, 13 Luis A. Macias Fernandez, MD, Member, 14 Kevin D. Pereira, MD MS(ORL), Member, 13 Steven Daniel Pletcher, MD, Member, 13 Edmund A. Pribitkin, MD, Member, 14 Jonathon O. Russell, MD, Member, 14 Hector M. Santini, MD. Member, 13 Giovana R. Thomas, MD, Member, 14 Tulio A. Valdez, MD, Member, 13 Richard L. Voegels, MD, PhD, Member, 14 Jose Roberto Castro Montoya, MD, Consultant, 13 Graciela Pepe, MD, PhD, Consultant, 13 Catherine R. Lincoln, CAE, MA (Oxon), Staff Liaison LARYNGOLOGY AND SLEEP STEERING COMMITTEE Kathleen M. Yaremchuk, MD, Committee Chair, 13 Milan R. Amin, MD, Member, 13 Joel H. Blumin, MD, Member 13 Clark A. Rosen, MD, Member, 13 Pell Ann Wardrop, MD, Member, 14 Eve Humphreys, MBA, CAE, Staff Liaison Airway and Swallowing Committee Milan R. Amin, MD, Committee Chair, 13 Joel H. Blumin, MD, Committee Chair-Elect, 13 Jonathan M. Bock, MD, Member, 14 Paul C. Bryson, MD, Member, 13 Alessandro de Alarcon, MD, Member, 13 Mark E. Gerber, MD, Member, 13 Elias Y. Hilal, MD, Member, 13 Alexander T. Hillel, MD, Member, 13 Jonathan B. Ida, MD, Member, 14 Chandra M. Ivey, MD, Member, 14 Sid Khosla, MD, Member, 13 Catherine R. Lintzenich, MD, Member, 14 Donna Lundy, PhD, Member, 13 Reza Nouraei, MA, MB, MRCS, Member, 13 Michael J. Pitman, MD, Member, 14 Scott M. Rickert, MD, Member, 14 Maya G. Sardesai, MD, MEd, Member, 13 Salvatore J. Taliercio, MD, Member, 14 Seckin Ulualp, MD, Member, 14 Jared M. Wasserman, MD, Member, 13 Dinesh K. Chhetri, MD, Consultant, 14 Dale C. Ekbom, MD, Consultant, 14 Albert L. Merati, MD, Consultant, 13 Phillip Song, MD, Consultant, 14 Karen B. Zur, MD, Consultant, 14 Gregory N. Postma, MD, Society Representative, 13 Jenna Dean, Staff Liaison Sleep Disorders Committee Pell Ann Wardrop, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Kathleen Yaremchuk, MD, Committee Chair-Elect, 14 Abib A. Agbetoba, MD, Member, 14 Nancy H. Appelblatt, MD, Member, 14 Robson Capasso, MD, Member, 13 Karuna Dewan, MD, Member, 13 Michael Friedman, MD, Member, 14 Norman R. Friedman, MD, DABSM, Member, 14 Oleg Froymovich, MD, Member, 14 John Harwick, MD, Member, 14 Tod C. Huntley, MD, Member, 13 Ofer Jacobowitz, MD, PhD, Member, 14 Alan Kominsky, MD, Member, 14 Michael J. Kortbus, MD, Member, 13 Andrea Furr Lewis, MD, Member, 13 Ho-sheng Lin, MD, Member, 14 Kevin E. McLaughlin, MD, Member, 13 Caroline T. Messmer, MD, Member, 13 Vaclav Pavelec, MD, PhD, Member, 14 Ryan J. Soose, MD, Member, 14 Gerald D. Suh, MD, Member, 13 Maria V. Suurna, MD, Member, 14 Stacey L. Ishman, MD, MPH, Consultant, 13 Stephen C. Maturo, MD, Consultant, 14 Jay F. Piccirillo, MD, Consultant, 13 Joseph Cody, Staff Liaison Voice Committee Clark A. Rosen, MD, Committee Chair, 13 Milan R. Amin, MD, Member, 13 Ryan C. Branski, PhD, Member, 14 Thomas L. Carroll, MD, Member, 14 David O. Francis, MD, Member, 13 Norman D. Hogikyan, MD, Member, 14 Michael M. Johns, III, MD, Member, 14 Richard Kelley, MD, Member, 14 Robbi A. Kupfer, MD, Member, 14 Catherine R. Lintzenich, MD, Member, 14 I-fan Theodore Mau, MD, PhD, Member, 13 Robert H. Ossoff, DMD MD, Member, 14 Michael J. Pitman, MD, Member, 13 C. Blake Simpson, MD, Member, 13 Libby J. Smith, DO, Member, 14 Salvatore J. Taliercio, MD, Member, 14 VyVy N. Young, MD, Member, 14 Katherine C. Yung, MD, Member, 14 Kenneth W. Altman, MD, PhD, Consultant, 14 Seth M. Cohen, MD MPH, Consultant, 14 Adam M. Klein, MD, Consultant, 14 Jeanne McIntyre, CAE, Staff Liaison MEMBER RELATIONS STEERING COMMITTEE James Netterville, MD, Chair, 13 Nikhila Raol, MD, SRF Chair, 13 Pierre Lavertu, MD, Member, 13 Susan Cordes, MD, Member, 13 Wendy Stern, MD, Member, 13 Lawrence R. Lustig, MD, Member, 13 Monica Tadros, MD, Member, 14 Lisa Perry-Gilkes, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Eve Humphreys, MBA, CAE, Staff Liaison Credentials and Membership Committee Pierre Lavertu, MD, Committee Chair, 13 Cecelia Damask, DO, Member, 13 Edward J. Damrose, MD, Member, 14 Brendan Gaylis, MD, Member, 14 Ellie Maghami, MD, Member, 13 Nitin A. Pagedar, MD, Member, 14 Eileen M. Raynor, MD, Member, 13 Cecille G. Sulman, MD, Member, 14 Chad A. Zender, MD, Member, 14 Neal D Futran, MD, DMD, Consultant, 13 Lily Love, MD, Consultant, 14 Lani Cadow, Staff Liaison Diversity Committee Lisa Perry-Gilkes, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Melynda A. Barnes, MD, Member, 13 Candice C. Colby, MD, Member, 13 Opeyemi Daramola, MD, Member, 13 Suzanne Kim Doud Galli, MD, PhD, Member, 14 Valerie A. Flanary, MD, Member, 13 Carrie L. Francis, MD, Member, 14 Tamer Abdel-Halim Ghanem, MD, PhD, Member, 13 Soha N. Ghossaini, MD, Member, 13 Mohammed A. Gomaa, MD, Member, 14 Christina M. McAlpin, MD, Member, 14 Miriam I. Saadia-Redleaf, MD, Member, 13 Farrah N. Siddiqui, MD, Member, 14 Dana M. Thompson, MD, MS, Member, 13 Tulio A. Valdez, MD, Member, 13 Jesse G. Wardlow, Jr, MD, Member, 13 Troy D. Woodard, MD, Member, 14 Noriko Yoshikawa, MD, Member, 14 Phyllis B. Bouvier, MD, Consultant, 14 Jimmy J. Brown, DDS, MD, Consultant, 14 Glenn S. Kanamori, MD, Consultant, 14 Randal A. Otto, MD, Consultant, 14 Duane J. Taylor, MD, Consultant, 14 Paul Bascomb, Staff Liaison, 20 History and Archives Committee Lawrence R. Lustig, MD, Committee Chair, 13 Jason L. Acevedo, MD, Member, 14 Gregory J. Artz, MD, Member, 14 Joel H. Blumin, MD, Member, 14 Calhoun D. Cunningham, III, MD, Member, 14 David R. Edelstein, MD, Member, 14 Stephen R. Hoff, MD, Member, 14 John K. Jarboe, MD, Member, 13 Christopher M. Johnson, MD, Member, 14 Kiran Kakarala, MD, Member, 14 Charles Robert Pettit, MD, Member, 14 Christopher P. Poje, MD, Member, 13 Jeremy D. Prager, MD, Member, 14 Steven J. Wang, MD, Member, 14 Eric P. Wilkinson, MD, Member, 14 William A. Wood, MD, Member, 14 Eiji Yanagisawa, MD, Member, 14 Marc D. Eisen, MD PhD, Consultant, 13 Robert K. Jackler, MD, Consultant, 13 Aristides Sismanis, MD, Consultant, 13 Catherine R. Lincoln, CAE, MA (Oxon), Staff Liaison Media and Public Relations Committee Wendy B. Stern, MD, Committee Chair, 13 Marcella R. Bothwell, MD, Member, 14 CW David Chang, MD, Member, 14 Hamad Chaudhary, MD, Member, 14 Christina M. Gillespie, MD, Member, 13 Christopher R. Grindle, MD, Member, 14 Steven T. Kmucha, MD JD, Member, 14 Priya D. Krishna, MD, Member, 13 Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, Member, 14 Christina M. McAlpin, MD, Member, 14 Jason Moche, MD, Member, 14 James E. Saunders, MD, Member, 13 Gordon J. Siegel, MD, Member, 13 Gordon H. Sun, MD, Member, 13 Duane J. Taylor, MD, Member, 13 Dale A. Tylor, MD, Member, 14 Julie L. Wei, MD, Member, 14 Spencer C. Payne, MD, Consultant, 14 Mary Stewart, Staff Liaison Women in Otolaryngology Governing Council Susan R. Cordes, MD, Section Chair, 13 Mona M. Abaza, MD, Chair-Elect, 13 Shannon P. Pryor, MD, Immediate Past Chair, 13 Marcella Bothwell, MD, Information Officer/Secretary, 14 Pell Ann Wardrop, MD, Financial Officer, 15 Soha N. Ghossaini, MD, Member-at-Large, 13 Elizabeth A. Dunham, MD, MPH, Member-at-Large, 14 Linda S. Brodsky, MD, Chair, Council on Committees, 14 Richard N. Carson, Staff Liaison Young Physicians Committee Monica Tadros, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Leslie Asbury, MD, Member, 14 Maura Cosetti, MD, Member, 14 Mary E. Gorman, MD, Member, 14 Michael W. Groves, MD, Member, 13 Trevor G. Hackman, MD, Member, 14 David L. Horn, MD, Member, 14 Ayesha N. Khalid, MD, Member, 13 Jonathan C. Kopelovich, MD, Member, 14 Jeffrey C. Liu, MD, Member, 13 Abby R. Nolder, MD, Member, 14 Jeffrey C. Rastatter, MD, Member, 14 Michelle M. Roeser, MD, Member, 14 Sarah L. Rohde, MD, Member, 14 Lawrence M. Simon, MD, Member, 13 Michael E. Stadler, MD, Member, 13 Kevin F. Wilson, MD, Member, 14 Jayme R. Dowdall, MD, Consultant, 14 David H. Hiltzik, MD, Consultant, 13 Rhoda Wynn, MD, Consultant, 13 Lani Cadow, Staff Liaison Section for Resident and Fellows in-Training (SRF) Nikhila M. Raol, MD, SRF Chair, 13 Nathan A. Deckard, MD, SRF Vice Chair, 13 Jayme R. Dowdall, MD, SRF Immediate Past Chair, 13 John M. Carter, MD, Member-at-Large, 13 Meghan N. Wilson, MD, Information Officer, 13 Estelle S. Yoo, MD, BOG Governor, 13 Kanwar S. Kelley, MD, JD, BOG Legislative Representative, 13 Brianne B. Roby, MD, BOG Public Relations Representative, 13 Richard Carson, Staff Liaison Bethany Clifton, Staff Liaison PATIENT GROUPS STEERING COMMITTEE Pablo Stolovitzky, MD, Chair Joseph A. Brennan, MD, Member, 13 Jane T. Dillon, MD, Member, 13 G. Richard Holt, MD, Member, 13 Robert T. Sataloff, MD, DMA, Member, 14 David E. Tunkel MD, Member, 13 Jeanne McIntyre, CAE, Staff Liaison Geriatric Otolaryngology Committee Robert T. Sataloff, MD, DMA, Committee Chair, 14 Daniel H. Coelho, MD, Member, 14 David R. Edelstein, MD, Member, 13 Gregory K. Hartig, MD, Member, 14 Seth Chalmers Janus, MD, Member, 13 William I. Kuhel, MD, Member, 13 Christopher G. Larsen, MD, Member, 13 Kelly Michele Malloy, MD, Member, 14 Susan D. McCammon, MD, Member, 14 Brian J. McKinnon, MD, MBA, Member, 14 Kourosh Parham, MD, PhD, Member, 13 Michael J. Pitman, MD, Member, 14 Elliot Regenbogen, MD, Member, 14 John H. Shelby, MD, Member, 14 Ozlem E. Tulunay-Ugur, MD, Member, 13 Courtney CJ Voelker, MD, DPhil, Member, 14 Stephen J. Wetmore, MD, Member, 14 Karen M. Kost, MD, Consultant, 13 Jeanne McIntyre, CAE, Staff Liaison Pediatric Otolaryngology Committee David E. Tunkel MD, Committee Chair, 13 Kathleen Billings, MD, Member, 14 Shelagh A. Cofer, MD, Member, 14 Andrew L. de Jong, MD, Member, 13 Joshua A. Gottschall, MD, Member, 14 Steven L. Goudy, MD, Member, 14 Russel Kahmke, MD, Member, 14 Timothy Lander, MD, Member, 14 Jeremy D. Meier, MD, Member, 14 Joshua R. Mitchell, MD, Member, 14 Laura L. Neff, MD, Member, 14 Maria T. Pena, MD, Member, 13 James W. Schroeder, Jr, MD, Member, 14 Denise Sherman, MD, Member, 14 Jeffrey P. Simons, MD, Member, 14 Margaret L Skinner, MD, Member, 14 Melissa L. Somers, MD, Member, 14 Wasyl Szeremeta, MD, MBA, Member, 14 Alyssa R. Terk, MD, Member, 13 DJ Trigg, MD, Member, 14 Julie L. Wei, MD, Member, 14 David R. White, MD, Member, 14 Matthew T. Brigger, MD, Consultant, 14 Scott A. Schraff, MD, Consultant, 13 Jenna Dean, Staff Liaison CPT & Relative Value Committee Jane T. Dillon, MD, Committee Chair, 13 Robert A. Battista, MD, Member, 14 William R. Blythe, MD, Member, 14 Pryor S. Brenner, MD, Member, 14 Martin J. Citardi, MD, Member, 14 James C. Denneny, III, MD, Member, 14 Stephanie Joe, MD, Member, 14 John T. Lanza, MD, Member, 13 Peter Manes, MD, Member, 14 Bradley F. Marple, MD, Member, 14 William P. Potsic, MD, Member, 14 Clark A. Rosen, MD, Member, 13 Michael J. Sillers, MD, Member, 13 Lawrence M. Simon, MD, Member, 14 Brendan C. Stack, Jr, MD, Member, 13 Mark J. Syms, MD, Member, 14 Peter C. Weber, MD, MBA, Member, 14 Bevan Yueh, MD, MPH, Member, 13 Yolanda D. Heman-Ackah, MD, Consultant, 13 Charles F. Koopmann, Jr, MD, MHSA, Consultant, 13 Moises A. Arriaga, MD, Society Representative, 13 Kay W. Chang, MD, Society Representative, 13 Ian N. Jacobs, MD, Society Representative, 13 Wayne M. Koch, MD, Society Representative, 13 Jenna Minton, Staff Liaison Trauma Committee Joseph A. Brennan, MD, Committee Chair, 13 Anna M. Pou, MD, Committee Chair-Elect, 13 Ben J. Balough, MD, Member, 15 Jose E. Barrera, MD, Member, 13 Mark E. Boston, MD, Member, 15 Marion E. Couch, MD, PhD, Member, 15 Jaimie DeRosa, MD, MS, Member, 14 Paul J. Donald, MD, Member, 15 Robert L. Eller, MD, Member, 13 Jeffrey A. Faulkner, MD, Member, 14 Neal D.Futran, MD, DMD, Member, 14 David K. Hayes, MD, Member, 15 G. Richard Holt, MD, MSE, MPH, Member, 15 Michael R. Holtel, MD, Member, 13 Robert M. Kellman, MD, Member, 14 Manuel A. Lopez, MD, Member, 14 Stephen C. Maturo, MD, Member, 13 Eric J. Moore, MD, Member, 13 Whitney A. Pafford, MD, Member, 14 Cecelia E. Schmalbach, MD, Member, 14 Joseph C. Sniezek, MD, Member, 13 Christian L. Stallworth, MD, Member, 13 Courtney CJ Voelker, MD, DPhil, Member, 14 Lawrence J. Marentette, MD, Consultant, 13 Michael G. Stewart, MD, MPH, Consultant, 14 Rudy Anderson, Staff Liaison RESEARCH & QUALITY STEERING COMMITTEE John S. Rhee, MD, MPH, Committee Chair, 14 Scott E. Brietzke, MD, MPH, Member, 14 Jay O. Boyle, MD, Member, 13 David R. Friedland, MD, PhD, Member, 14 David W. Roberson, MD, Member, 15 Richard M. Rosenfeld, MD, MPH, Member, 15 Rodney J. Schlosser, MD, Member, 15 Seth R. Schwartz, MD, MPH, Member, 15 Rahul K. Shah, MD, Member, 15 Bevan Yueh, MD, MPH, Member, 14 Kathleen Yaremchuk, MD, Member, 13 Steven D. Rauch, MD, Consultant, 13 Jean Brereton, MBA, Staff Liaison Research Advisory Board Bevan Yeuh, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Steven D. Rauch, MD, Immediate Past Chair, 14 John S. Rhee, MD, MPH, AAO-HNS Coordinator for Research & Quality, 14 Marion E. Couch, MD, PhD, At-Large, Basic Science Representative, 14 Amy M. Donahue, PhD, Federal, NIDCD, NIH Representative, 14 Judy R. Dubno, PhD, ARO Representative, 13 Michael D. Seidman, MD, BOG Representative, 13 Debara L. Tucci, MD, At-Large, Clinical/Translational Science, 14 D. Bradley Welling, MD, PhD, ABOto Representative, 13 Kris Schulz, MPH, Research Officer Stephanie L. Jones, BS, Staff Liaison Advisory Council on Quality Rahul K. Shah, MD, Committee Chair, Member, 14 Jacob Asher, MD, Member, 14 Amy Y. Chen, MD, MPH, Member, 14 Lee D. Eisenberg, MD, MPH, Member, 14 Michael G. Glenn, MD, Member, 14 Kylanne Green, Member, 14 Stacey L. Ishman, MD, MPH, Member, 14 Robert H. Miller, MD, MBA, Member, 14 David R. Nielsen, MD, Member, 14 John S. Rhee, MD, MPH, Member, 14 Richard M. Rosenfeld, MD, MPH, Member, 14 Seth R. Schwartz, MD, MPH, Member, 14 Kathleen Yaremchuk, MD, Member, 14 Jean Brereton, MBA, Staff Liaison Outcomes Research and EBM Subcommittee Scott E. Brietzke, MD, MPH, Committee Chair, 14 Greg E. Davis, MD, MPH, Member, 13 David R. Friedmann, MD, Member, 14 Lisa Ishii, MD, Member, 13 Stacey L. Ishman, MD, MPH, Member, 14 Eric J. Kezirian, MD, MPH, Member, 13 Samir Khariwala, MD, Member, 14 Walter T. Lee, MD, Member, 14 Stephanie Misono, MD, Member, 14 Seth R. Schwartz, MD, MPH, Member, 13 Jennifer J. Shin, MD, SM, Member, 13 Stephanie Shintani Smith, MD, Member, 14 Marc C. Thorne, MD, Member, 14 Giri Venkatraman, MD, MBA, Member, 14 Julie L. Wei, MD, Member, 14 Debra G. Weinberger, MD, Member, 13 Seth M. Cohen, MD, MPH, Consultant, 14 Ron B. Mitchell, MD, Consultant, 13 Melissa A Pynnonen, MD, Consultant, 14 Heather M. Hussey, MPH, Staff Liaison Patient Safety & Quality Improvement Committee David W. Roberson, MD, Committee Co-Chair, 13 Rahul K. Shah, MD, Committee Co-Chair, 13 Reginald F. Baugh, MD, Member, 13 Michael J. Brenner, MD, Member, 13 Ellen S. Deutsch, MD, Member, 13 Berrylin J. Ferguson, MD, Member, 14 Jedidiah J. Grisel, MD, Member, 13 Selena E. Heman-Ackah, MD, MBA, Member, 14 Patrick T. Hennessey, MD, Member, 13 Scharukh Jalisi, MD, Member, 14 Jonathan C. Kopelovich, MD, Member, 14 Michael E. McCormick, MD, Member, 13 Brian Nussenbaum, MD, Member, 13 Linnea Peterson, MD, Member, 13 Robert G. Stewart, MD, Member, 14 Masayoshi Takashima, MD, Member, 13 Giri Venkatraman, MD, MBA, Member, 13 Daniel L. Wohl, MD, Member 14 John J. Zappia, MD, Member, 13 Lee D. Eisenberg, MD, MPH, Consultant, 14 Julie L. Goldman, MD, Consultant, 13 Matthew A. Kienstra, MD, Consultant, 14 Howard S. Kotler, MD, Consultant, 13 Margaret L Skinner, MD, Consultant, 13 Carl H. Snyderman, MD, MBA, Consultant, 14 Robert J Stachler, MD, Consultant, 14 Jean Brereton, MBA, Staff Liaison Rhinology, Allergy, Immunology & Infectious Disease Steering Paul Fass, MD, Chair, 14 Farrel J. Buchinsky, MBChB, Member, 13 Karen H. Calhoun, MD, Member, 13 Patrick J. Antonelli, MD, Member, 13 James W. Mims, MD, Member, 13 Scott P. Stringer, MD, Member, 14 Eve Humphreys, MBA, CAE, Staff Liaison Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Committee Karen H. Calhoun, MD, Committee Chair, 13 James W. Mims, MD, Committee Chair-Elect, 13 Nancy H. Appelblatt, MD, Member, 14 Lars-Olaf Cardell, MD, PhD, Member, 13 John M. Carter, MD, Member, 14 Rocco D. Cassone, MD, Member, 13 Cecelia Damask, DO, Member, 14 Nathan A. Deckard, MD, Member, 14 Adil A. Fatakia, MD, MBA, Member, 14 Benjamin D. Liess, MD, Member, 14 Amber U. Luong, MD, PhD, Member, 13 Alpen A. Patel, MD, Member, 13 Jacques C .Peltier, MD, Member, 13 Jayant Pinto, MD, Member, 14 Michael P. Platt, MD, Member, 14 Samuel E. Sprehe, MD, Member, 14 Elina M. Toskala, MD, PhD, Member, 14 Sarah K. Wise, MD, Member, 14 Douglas E. Dawson, MD, Consultant, 14 Russell A. Faust, MD, PhD, Consultant, 14 William R Reisacher, MD, Consultant, 14 Maria C. Veling, MD, Consultant, 14 Stephanie L. Jones, BS, Staff Liaison Infectious Disease Committee Farrel J. Buchinsky, MBChB, Committee Chair, 13 Fuad M. Baroody, MD, Member, 13 Swapna K. Chandran, MD, Member, 14 Joseph E. Dohar, MD, Member, 14 Eliav Gov-Ari, MD, Member, 14 Karin S. Hotchkiss, MD, Member, 14 Titus Sunday Ibekwe, MBBS, Member, 14 Ken Kazahaya, MD, MBA, Member, 14 Evelyn A. Kluka, MD, Member, 14 Yosef P. Krespi, MD, Member, 14 Abby R. Nolder, MD, Member, 14 Jeremy T. Reed, MD, Member, 14 Matthew W. Ryan, MD, Member, 13 Eric W. Sargent, MD, Member, 14 Segun Segun-Busari, Member, 14 Alan H. Shikani, MD, Member, 14 Elizabeth P. Sundean, MD, Member, 14 Michael P. Underbrink, MD, Member, 14 Tulio A. Valdez, MD, Member, 13 Adam Mikial Zanation, MD, Member, 14 Patrick J. Antonelli, MD, Consultant, 13 Nancy H. Appelblatt, MD, Consultant, 14 William O. Collins, MD, Consultant, 14 Adrien A. Eshraghi, MD, MSc, Consultant, 13 Seckin Ulualp, MD, Consultant, 14 Peter Robertson, MPA, Staff Liaison Rhinology & Paranasal Sinus Committee Scott P. Stringer, MD, Committee Chair, 14 James H. Atkins, Jr, MD, Member, 13 Pete S. Batra, MD, Member, 14 Michael S. Benninger, MD, Member, 14 Jose M. Busquets Ferriol, MD, Member, 14 Alexander G. Chiu, MD, Member, 14 Nathan A. Deckard, MD, Member, 14 Christine Blanche Franzese, MD, Member, 14 Satish Govindaraj, MD, Member, 14 Stacey T. Gray, MD, Member, 13 Joseph Han, MD, Member, 14 Yosef P. Krespi, MD, Member, 14 Ronald B. Kuppersmith, MD, MBA, Member, 13 Kevin W. Lollar, MD, Member, 13 Jeremy D. Meier, MD, Member, 14 John F. Pallanch, MD, Member, 14 Eric S. Rosenberger, MD, Member, 14 Matthew W. Ryan, MD, Member, 14 Julie L. Wei, MD, Member, 14 Peter John Wormald, MD, Member, 13 Mark A. Zacharek, MD, Member, 14 Felix W. K. Chu, MD, Consultant, 14 Ayesha N. Khalid, MD, Consultant, 14 Jenna Minton, Staff Liaison TREATMENT MODALITIES STEERING COMMITTEE Jerry Schreibstein, MD, Chair Edward B. Ermini, MD, Member, 14 Anand K. Devaiah, MD, Member, 14 Gavin Setzen, MD, Member, 14 Edmund A. Pribitkin, MD, Member, 14 Jean Brereton, MBA, Staff Liaison Complementary/Integrative Medicine Edmund A. Pribitkin, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Marilene B. Wang, MD, Committee Chair-Elect, 14 Seth M. Brown, MD, MBA, Member, 14 Ara A. Chalian, MD, Member, 14 Edward S. Cohn, MD, Member, 14 Agnes Czibulka, MD, Member, 13 Hansel M. Debartolo, Jr, MD, JD, Member, 14 Joseph R. Di Bartolomeo, MD, Member, 13 Michael J. Kelleher, MD, Member, 13 Lily Love, MD, Member, 14 John P. Maddalozzo, MD, Member, 14 Tomoko Makishima, MD, PhD, Member, 13 Matthew C. Miller, MD, Member, 14 Jing Shen, MD, Member, 13 Malcolm B. Taw, MD, Member, 14 Keith M. Wilson, MD, Member, 13 Benjamin F. Asher, MD, Consultant, 13 Dain G. Oswald, Staff Liaison Imaging Committee Gavin Setzen, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Elizabeth A. Blair, MD, Member, 14 Chin-Kuo Chen, MD, Member, 13 David R. Friedmann, MD, Member, 14 James A. Hadley, MD, Member, 14 Selena E. Heman-Ackah, MD, MBA, Member, 14 Christopher Klem, MD, Member, 14 R. Christopher Miyamoto, MD, Member, 14 Lisa A.Orloff, MD, Member, 14 Karen T. Pitman, MD, Member, 14 Robert Pizzutiello, Jr, MS, Member, 14 Joseph Scharpf, MD, Member, 14 Robert A. Sofferman, MD, Member, 14 Koichi Tomoda, MD, PhD, Member, 13 Jolene Eicher, Consultant, 14 Jolene Eicher, Society Representative, 13 Jenna Kappel, Staff Liaison Medical Devices and Drugs Committee Anand K. Devaiah, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Robert M. Boucher, MD, MPH, Member, 13 Michael Broniatowski, MD, Member, 14 Edward J. Damrose, MD, Member, 14 James J. Daniero, MD, Member, 14 Riccardo D’Eredita, MD, Member, 13 Paul C. Frake, MD, Member, 14 Ethan B. Handler, MD, Member, 14 Ramtin R. Kassir, MD, Member, 14 Eric J. Kezirian, MD, MPH, Member, 14 John T. Lanza, MD, Member, 14 Kenneth H. Lee, MD, PhD, Member, 14 Eric A. Mann, MD, PhD, Member, 14 Kevin D. Pereira, MD, MS(ORL), Member, 13 Frank L. Rimell, MD, Member, 13 Scott R. Schoem, MD, Member, 14 Howard D. Stupak, MD, Member, 14 Steven M. Gold, MD, Consultant, 14 Ofer Jacobowitz, MD, PhD, Consultant, 14 Jennifer L. Long, MD, PhD, Consultant, 14 Royce Mueller, MD, Consultant, 14 Udayan K. Shah, MD, Consultant, 14 Harrison Peery, Staff Liaison Medical Informatics Committee Edward B. Ermini, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Subinoy Das, MD, Committee Chair-Elect, 14 Robert F. Aarstad, MD, MBA, Member, 13 Gregory A. Ator, MD, Member, 14 Patrick C. Barth, MD, Member, 14 Patrick J. Byrne, MD, Member, 13 Alexander H. Gelbard, MD, Member, 14 Joseph E. Hart, MD, MS, Member, 14 Diana H. Henderson, MD, Member, 13 K J Lee, MD, Member, 14 Stephen R. Levinson, MD, Member, 13 Lance Anthony Manning, MD, Member, 14 Henry A. Milczuk, MD, Member, 13 Sachin Pawar, MD, Member, 14 R. Arturo Roa, MD, Member, 13 Joseph M. Rohrer, MD, Member, 14 Joshua D. Rosenberg, MD, Member, 14 James W. Schroeder, Jr, MD, Member, 13 Afser Shariff, MD, Member, 14 Jayde M. Steckowych, MD, Member, 13 Gordon H. Sun, MD, Member, 14 Shelby G. Topp, MD, Member, 14 Eloy Villasuso, III, MD, Member, 14 Jason Moche, MD, Consultant, 14 Jeffrey E. Terrell, MD, Consultant, 14 Caitlin E. Murray, Staff Liaison EDUCATION STEERING COMMITTEE Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, Committee Chair, 15 Kenny H. Chan, MD, Member, 14 Fred G. Fedok, MD, Member, 14 Bradley W. Kesser, MD, Member, 13 Catherine R. Lintzenich, MD, Member, 13 Karen T. Pitman, MD, Member, 14 Brent A. Senior, MD, Member, 14 Richard V. Smith, MD, Member, 14 Brendan C. Stack, Jr, MD, Member, 14 Peter A. Weisskopf, MD, Member, 14 Stacey L. Ishman, MD, MPH, Consultant, 14 Daniel J. Kirse, MD, Consultant, 14 Sukgi S. Choi, MD, Ex-Officio, 14 Mary Pat Cornett, CAE, CMP, Staff Liaison Audrey Shively, Staff Liaison Certificate Program for Otolaryngology Personnel Committee Peter A Weisskopf, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Robert Cullen, MD, Member, 13 Calhoun D. Cunningham, III, MD, Member, 13 James C. Denneny, III, MD, Member, 13 Joni K. Doherty, MD, PhD, Member, 13 J Walter Kutz, Jr, MD, Member, 13 Steven B. Levine, MD, Member, 13 Eric W. Sargent, MD, Member, 13 Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, BOD Liaison, 14 Kathy J. Harvey-Jones, Consultant, 13 Robert T. Sataloff, MD, DMA, Consultant, 13 Stephen J Wetmore, MD, Consultant, 13 Felicia M. Price, CMP, Staff Liaison Core Otolaryngology & Practice Management Education Committee Brendan C. Stack, Jr, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Manali Amin, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 16 Carol A. Bauer, MD, Member, 13 Reginald F. Baugh, MD, Member, 14 Scott E. Brietzke, MD, MPH, Member HSC WrkGp, 18 David J. Brown, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 18 Vasu Divi, MD, Member, 14 Eric M. Gessler, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 16 David M. Jakubowicz, MD, Member, 13 Anita S. Jeyakumar, MD, MS, Member, 14 Ana H. Kim, MD, Member, 14 Charles F. Koopmann, Jr, MD, MHSA, Member, 14 H. Baltzer LeJeune, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 16 Johnathan D. McGinn, MD, Member, 14 Mark E. Prince, MD, Member, 14 Christopher H. Rassekh, MD, Member, 14 Elie E. Rebeiz, MD, Member, 14 Aaron K. Remenschneider, MD, Member, 14 Rahul K. Shah, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 14 Nina L. Shapiro, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 14 Lawrence M. Simon, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 16 Mark A. Zacharek, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 14 Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, BOD Liaison, 15 Richard W. Waguespack, MD, Consultant, 14 David W. Roberson, MD, Ex-Officio, 13 Audrey Shively, Staff Liaison Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Education Committee Fred G. Fedok, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Patrick C. Angelos, MD, Member, 14 Todd M. Brickman, MD, Member, 14 Anthony E. Brissett, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 14 Paul J. Carniol, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 14 Scott R. Chaiet, MD, Member, 14 John J. Chi, MD, Member, 14 Benjamin W. Cilento, MD, Member, 14 Robert W. Dolan, MD, Member, 14 Suzanne Kim Doud Galli, MD, PhD, Member, 14 Rebecca Fraioli, MD, Member, 14 Grant S. Hamilton, III, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 18 Clinton D. Humphrey, MD, Member, 13 Andrea Jarchow, MD, Member, 14 J. Randall Jordan, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 18 Ramtin R. Kassir, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 16 Robert M. Kellman, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 14 Maurice M. Khosh, MD, Member, 14 Kate E. McCarn, MD, Member, 14 Eunice E. Park, MD, MPH, Member HSC WrkGp, 18 Edmund A. Pribitkin, MD, Member, 14 John S. Rhee, MD, MPH, Member, 14 Neil Tanna, MD, Member, 14 Travis T. Tollefson, MD, MPH, Member HSC WrkGp, 16 Ivan Wayne, MD, Member, 14 Stephen M. Weber, MD, PhD, Member HSC WrkGp, 18 Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, BOD Liaison, 15 John B. Lazor, MD, MBA, Consultant, 13 Stephen S. Park, MD, Consultant, 14 Sherard A. Tatum, III, MD, Consultant, 14 Jose E. Barrera, MD, Ex-Officio, 14 Donna J. Millay, MD, Ex-Officio, 13 Theresa A. Hadlock, MD, Society Representative, 14 Audrey Shively, Staff Liaison General Otolaryngology Education Committee Karen T. Pitman, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Steven S. Ball, MD, Member, 13 Matthew L. Carlson, MD, Member, 13 James I. Cohen, MD, PhD, Member HSC WrkGp, 18 Anand K. Devaiah, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 14 Kevin Fung, MD, Member, 14 Meir D. Hershcovitch, MD, Member, 14 Amy Clark Hessel, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 16 Gina D. Jefferson, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 14 Glenn W. Knox, MD,JD, Member, 13 Paul Konowitz, MD, Member, 13 Ian K. Mcleod, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 14 Charles E. Morgan, MD DMD, Member HSC WrkGp, 14 Kevin L. Potts, MD, Member, 13 Minka L. Schofield, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 16 John W. Seibert, MD, Member, 14 Jeffrey J. Stanley, MD, Member, 14 Rodney J. Taylor, MD, MSPH, Member HSC WrkGp, 16 Erich P. Voigt, MD, Member, 14 Preston D. Ward, MD, Member, 14 Robert A. Weatherly, MD, Member, 14 B. Tucker Woodson, MD, Member, 14 Philip E. Zapanta, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 18 Michael Zoller, MD, Member, 14 Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, BOD Liaison, 15 Marie T. Gilbert, PA-C, Consultant, 13 Sam J. Daniel, MD,Society Representative, 14 Farrel J. Buchinsky, MBChB, Ex-Officio, 13 Gregory W Randolph, MD, Ex-Officio, 13 Allan M. Rubin, MD, PhD, Ex-Officio, 14 Audrey Shively, Staff Liaison Head and Neck Surgery Education Committee Richard V. Smith, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Benoit J. Gosselin, MD, Member, 14 Christian Hasney, MD, Member, 14 Benjamin L. Judson, MD, Member, 13 Samir Khariwala, MD, Member, 14 Greg Krempl, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 15 Stephen Y. Lai, MD, PhD, Member, 14 Alexander Langerman, MD, Member, 14 Derrick T. Lin, MD, Member, 14 Kelly Michele Malloy, MD, Member, 13 Oleg N. Militsakh, MD, Member, 13 Matthew C. Miller, MD, Member, 14 Michael G. Moore, MD, Member, 14 Matthew O. Old, MD, Member, 13 Yash J. Patil, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 15 Mark E. Prince, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 17 Liana Puscas, MD, Member, 14 Joseph Scharpf, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 15 Bradley Schiff, MD, Member, 14 Yelizaveta Shnayder, MD, Member, 14 Alfred A. Simental, Jr, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 13 Bhuvanesh Singh, MD, PhD, Member HSC WrkGp, 17 Joseph C. Sniezek, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 13 Steven M. Sperry, MD, Member, 14 Michael E. Stadler, MD, Member, 13 John W. Werning, MD, DMD, Member, 14 Jeffrey S. Wolf, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 17 Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, BOD Liaison, 15 Elizabeth A. Blair, MD, Consultant, 13 Dennis H. Kraus, MD, Consultant, 14 Gregory J. Artz, MD, Ex-Officio, 13 Audrey Shively, Staff Liaison Laryngology & Bronchoesophagology Education Committee Catherine R. Lintzenich, MD, Committee Chair, 13 Mona M. Abaza, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 13 Lee M. Akst, MD, Member, 14 Kenneth W. Altman, MD, PhD, Member HSC WrkGp, 13 James A. Burns, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 15 Thomas L. Carroll, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 17 Neil N. Chheda, MD, Member, 14 Eward J. Damrose, MD, Member 14 Brad W. de Silva, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 17 Ellen S. Deutsch, MD, Member, 13 Alexander H. Gelard, MD, Member, 14 Romaine F. Johnson, MD, Member 14 Katherine A. Kendall, MD, Member 14 Priya D. Krishna, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 17 Claudio F. Milstein, PhD, Member, 14 Michele P. Morrison, DO, Member, 13 Robert H. Ossoff, DMD, MD, Member, 14 Noah P. Parker, MD, Member, 14 Linnea Peterson, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 15 Kristina W. Rosbe, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 15 Maya G. Sardesai, MD, Member, 25 Chih-Kwang Sung, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 17 Robert F. Ward, MD, Member, 13 Gayle E. Woodson, MD, Member, 14 Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, BOD Liaison, 15 J. Dale Browne, MD, Consultant, 13 Kevin Fung, MD, Consultant, 14 James David Garnett, MD, Consultant, 13 C. Michael Haben, MD, MSc, Consultant, 13 Anna M. Pou, MD, Consultant, 13 Audrey Shively, Staff Liaison Otology & Neurotology Education Committee Bradley W. Kesser, MD, Committee Chair, 13 Simon I. Angeli, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 15 Seilesh Babu, MD, Member, 13 Marc L. Bennett, MD, Member, 13 Daniel H. Coelho, MD, Member, 13 Jennifer Derebery, MD, Member, 14 John C. Goddard, MD, Member, 13 Richard K. Gurgel, MD, Member, 14 Brandon Isaacson, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 15 David Kaylie, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 13 John P. Leonetti, MD, Member, 14 Benjamin M. McGrew, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 13 Cliff A. Megerian, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 17 Anh T. Nguyen Huynh, MD PhD, Member HSC WrkGp, 13 Bradley P. Pickett, MD, Member, 13 J. Thomas Roland, Jr, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 17 Maroun Semaan, MD, Member, 14 George Wanna, MD, Member, 14 Frank Manley Warren, MD, Member, 13 Cameron C. Wick, MD, Member, 14 Daniel M. Zeitler, MD, Member, 14 Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, BOD Liaison, 13 Dennis I. Bojrab, MD, Consultant, 13 Craig A. Buchman, MD, Consultant, 13 David S. Haynes, MD, Consultant 14 Lawrence R. Lustig, MD, Consultant, 13 Calhoun D. Cunningham, III, MD, Society Representative, 13 Blake C. Papsin, MD, Society Representative, 14 Audrey Shively, Staff Liaison Pediatric Otolaryngology Education Committee Kenny H. Chan, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Cristina Baldassari, MD, Member, 14 Matthew T. Brigger, MD, Member, 14 Lisa M. Buckmiller, MD, Member, 14 Eunice Y. Chen, MD, PhD, Member, 14 William O. Collins, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 16 Nira A. Goldstein, MD, Member, 13 Johannes Fredrik Grimmer, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 16 Stacey L. Ishman, MD, Member, 13 Anita Jeyakumar, MD MS, Member, 13 Liane Barbara Johnson, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 14 Shelby C. Leuin, MD, Member, 14 Joshua M. Levy, MD, Member, 14 R. Christopher Miyamoto, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 14 Diego A. Preciado, MD, PhD, Member HSC WrkGp, 14 Jeffrey C. Rastatter, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 18 Luke J. Schloegel, MD,Member, 14 Andrew R. Scott, MD, Member 14 Marc C. Thorne, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 16 David R. White, MD, Member, 13 Patricia J. Yoon, MD, Member, 14 Carlton J. Zdanski, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 18 Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, BOD Liaison, 15 Michele M. Carr, MD, DDS, PhD, Consultant, 13 Sukgi S. Choi, MD, Consultant, 14 Daniel J. Kirse, MD, Consultant 14 Jeffrey P. Simons, MD, Consultant, 13 Anna H. Messner, MD, Society Representative, 13 Audrey Shively, Staff Liaison Rhinology & Allergy Education Committee Brent A. Senior, MD, Committee Chair, 14 Fuad M. Baroody, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 15 Pete S. Batra, MD, Member, 13 Benjamin Saul Bleier, MD, Member, 13 Peter C. Bondy, MD, Member, 13 John D. Bourgoyne, MD. Member 14 Rakesh K. Chandra, MD, Member, 14 Felix W. K. Chu, MD, Member, 13 Christopher A. Church, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 17 Samer Fakhri, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 15 Adam J. Folbe, MD, Member, 14 Karen J. Fong, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 13 David R. Friedmann, MD, Member, 14 Oswaldo A. Henriquez, MD, Member, 13 Esther Kim, MD, Member, 13 Devyani Lal, MD, Member, 14 Annie S. Lee, MD, Member 14 Jivianne Lee, MD, Member, 13 Amber U. Luong, MD, PhD, Member HSC WrkGp, 15 Peter Manes, MD, Member, 13 Maria T. Pena, MD, Member, 13 David Poetker, MD MA, Member HSC WrkGp, 17 Douglas D. Reh, MD, Member HSC WrkGp, 13 Allen M. Seiden, MD, Member, 14 Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, BOD Liaison, 15 Kevin Christopher McMains, MD, Consultant, 13 Audrey Shively, Staff Liaison ADVISORY/ OTHER GROUPS Program Advisory Committee Eben L. Rosenthal, MD, Committee Chair, 17 Dole P. Baker, Jr, MD, Member, 14 Emiro E. Caicedo Granados, MD, Member, 14 Ramon A. Franco, Jr, MD, Member, 13 Philip A. Harris, MD, Member, 14 Eric J. Kezirian, MD, MPH, Member, 14 Daniel J. Lee, MD, Member, 14 Alan G. Micco, MD, Member, 14 John S. Oghalai, MD, Member, 14 Michael D. Seidman, MD, Member, 14 Russell B. Smith, MD, Member, 14 Mark J. Syms, MD, Member, 14 Dana M. Thompson, MD, MS, Member, 14 Patrick J. Antonelli, MD, Consultant, 14 Lawrence P. A. Burgess, MD, Consultant, 14 Sujana S. Chandrasekhar, MD, Consultant, 14 H. Peter Doble, II, MD, Consultant, 13 Michael R. Holtel, MD, Consultant, 14 Christopher H. Rassekh, MD, Consultant, 14 B. Tucker Woodson, MD, Consultant, 14 Robert P. Zitsch, III, MD, Consultant, 14 John S. Rhee, MD MPH, Consultant, 14 Maria C. Veling, MD, Consultant, 13 Sukgi S. Choi, MD, Ex-Officio, 17 Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, Ex-Officio, 15 John H. Krouse, MD, Ex-Officio, 14 Tami Rollins CMP, CEM, Staff Liaison CORE Study Section Jay O. Boyle, MD , Chair David R. Friedland, MD, PhD, Chair Rodney J. Schlosser, MD, Chair Dunia Abdul-Aziz, MD Oliver F. Adunka, MD Kenneth W. Altman, MD, PhD Marc L. Bennett, MD Carol M. Bier-Laning, MD Michael J. Brenner, MD Teresa V. Chan, MD Dylan Chan, MD, PhD Rakesh K. Chandra, MD Alan G. Cheng, MD Dinesh Chhetri, MD Steven B. Chinn, MD, MPH Baishakhi Choudhury, MD Joseph C. Clarke, MD Noam A. Cohen, MD, PhD Carleton Eduardo Corrales, MD Marion E. Couch, MD, MBA, PhD Adam DeConde, MD Gregory Dion, MD Jayme R. Dowdall, MD Charles S. Ebert, Jr, MD, MPH Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD David O. Francis, MD Nira A. Goldstein, MD John H Greinwald, Jr, MD Samuel P. Gubbels, MD Marlan R. Hansen, MD Ronna Hertzano, MD, PhD Alexander T. Hillel, MD Michael E. Hoffer, MD Eric H. Holbrook, MD Timothy E. Hullar, MD Clifford R. Hume, MD, PhD Lisa Michelle Ishii, MD Akira Ishiyama, MD Mark J. Jameson, MD, PhD Nancy P. Judd, MD Benjamin L. Judson, MD David H. Jung, MD, PhD Alexandra Kejner, MD Young Jun Kim, MD, PhD Robbi Kupfer, MD Andrew Lane, MD Rande H. Lazar, MD Paul L. Leong, MD Judith E. C. Lieu, MD Philip Littlefield, MD Jeffrey C. Liu, MD Brenda L. Lonsbury-Martin, PhD Mark B. Lorenz, MD Amber U. Luong, MD, PhD Lawrence R. Lustig, MD Tomoko Makishima, MD, PhD I-fan Theodore Mau, MD, PhD Suzette K. Mikula, MD Stephanie Misono, MD, MPH Joshua Mitchell, MD Luc G. Morris, MD Jeffrey S. Moyer, MD Cherie-Ann O. Nathan, MD Rick F. Nelson, MD, PhD Anh T. Nguyen Huynh, MD, PhD Richard R. Orlandi, MD Renee Park, MD, MPH Albert H. Park, MD Maria T. Pena, MD Jeffrey Phillips, MD Diego Preciado, MD, PhD Liana Puscas, MD Melissa A. Pynnonen, MD Vicente A. Resto, MD, PhD John S. Rhee, MD, MPH Claus-peter Richter, MD, PhD Pamela C. Roehm, MD, PhD Peter S. Roland, MD Cecelia E. Schmalbach, MD Carol G. Shores, MD, PhD Andrew Sikora, MD, PhD Bhuvanesh Singh, MD, PhD Matthew E. Spector, MD Maie St. John, MD PhD Gordon H. Sun, MD John B. Sunwoo, MD Jonathan Y. Ting, MD Joshua Tokita, MD Travis T. Tollefson, MD Michael P. Underbrink, MD, MPH Ravindra Uppaluri, MD, PhD Eric W. Wang, MD Steven J. Wang, MD Deborah Watson, MD Edward M. Weaver, MD, MPH Debra G. Weinberger, MD Sarah K. Wise, MD Bradford A. Woodworth, MD Adam Mikial Zanation, MD Stephanie L. Jones, Staff Liaison Physician Payment Policy (3P) Workgroup Michael Setzen, MD, Co-Chair James Denney, MD, Co-Chair Lee D. Eisenberg, MD, MPH Jane T. Dillon, MD Wayne Koch, MD Charles F. Koopmann, Jr, MD, MHSA John T. Lanza, MD Joseph E. Leonard, MD Bradley F. Marple, MD, Willard B. Moran, Jr, MD Brendan C. Stack, Jr, MD Richard W. Waguespack, MD Jenna Kappel, Staff Liaison Specialty Society Advisory Council (SSAC) Albert L. Merati, MD, Chair, 13 Sukgi S. Choi, MD,Chair-Elect, 13 Stephen P. Cass, MD, MPH, AOS Member, 14 Marvin P. Fried, MD, ALA Member, 13 Peter H. Hwang, MD, ARS Member, 13 Dennis H. Kraus, MD, AHNS Member, 13 Tom D. Wang, MD, AAFPRS Member, 13 Rodney P. Lusk, MD, AAO-HNS, 13 Denis C. Lafreniere, MD, Non-voting Guest, 13 Eve Humphreys, MBA,CAE, Staff Liaison
Blitzer
Wisdom from Our Three-Time DSA Winners
In the history of our Academy, three members have won the Distinguished Service Award (DSA) three times. Each describes what membership means to him below: Andrew Blitzer, MD, DDS I have been attending AAO-HNSF annual meetings since 1976, when I first went as a resident. The annual meeting is like a three-ring circus, where just about everything in our specialty is reviewed through lectures, posters, exhibits, and courses. I had the opportunity to sit and listen to the masters in our field review their new science or technical expertise. Under one roof, I was able to learn a wide variety of new thinking relevant to my practice, from the very best. As the years went by, I became more involved in Academy activities and committees. I served on a number of educational committees, chaired the SIPac (Self Instructional Packages) committee for six years and served on the Instruction Course Advisory Committee for 15 years, including six years as coordinator. Aside from the joy of being able to give back to a specialty that I feel so privileged to be a member of, I was able to meet otolaryngologists from across the United States, and around the world and share discussions about topics and research we have in common. I also served on the Foundation Board of Directors, and witnessed how the Academy serves the needs of all otolaryngologists. No other organization provides for education, practice administration advice, political action, and research opportunities in otolaryngology. I have spent half of my career in full-time academic medicine, and the other half in private practice, and still find the Academy the most complete resource available for the otolaryngologist. I am still thrilled to be a part of my specialty—to teach, to provide patient care, to participate in clinical research, and to learn from others. The AAO-HNS still represents the best otolaryngology resource for me. Richard M. Rosenfeld, MD, MPH William Osler proposed that “The very first step toward success in any occupation is to become interested in it,” and what better way than through the AAO-HNS? I have attended 20 consecutive annual meetings, along the way advocating with colleagues on Capitol Hill, presenting countless courses and miniseminars, chairing numerous research and quality committees, and serving as editor-in-chief of the Academy journal. The personal growth and satisfaction gained through these endeavors is dwarfed by the joy of working with colleagues and hyper-talented Academy staff to make a real and lasting difference in patient care, on a national and international stage. Osler also wrote that a medical society “…keeps the mind open and receptive, and counteracts that tendency to premature senility, which is apt to overtake someone who lives in a routine.” Unless you crave premature senility it’s time to get out of your routine and get involved with the AAO-HNS. Success will inevitably follow. Mark K. Wax, MD I first participated in the Academy as a resident. I was amazed that I was able to listen to, and learn from, those who were leaders in the field. Following my training, I realized that nowhere else could I encounter such a diverse offering of otolaryngologic expertise, and for so little. The annual meeting was a fantastic venue to learn from the leaders in the field, get expert opinions in a flash, visit the exhibit hall to learn about new technology, and visit friends. As my career progressed, I wanted to pay back and contribute to the field. No other venue allowed me to contribute in so many ways. The AAO-HNS was always receptive to any type of volunteer activity. They were open-minded and continued to foster learning, no matter what level. The Academy is active in so many aspects that influence otolaryngologists. No matter what your area of interest or expertise, there is a spot for you. AAO-HNS Honor and Distinguished Service Awards The  AAO-HNS has two  programs that  recognize member voluntary contributions to otolaryngology, the AAO-HNS, and their community. The Honor Award is the first award a member  can obtain for participation in specific AAO-HNS activities. The Distinguished Service Award is recognition of volunteer service beyond the level of an Honor Award. Members receive honor points for participation in a variety of activities and leadership roles. Nonmembers can receive honor points, but are not eligible for Honor Awards or Distinguished Service Awards. However, points earned as a nonmember convey if the individual becomes an AAO-HNS member. The Honor Award is the first award a member can obtain for participation in certain activities. A member can earn only one Honor Award in a lifetime. To receive an Honor Award, a member must earn 10 volunteer service points during a minimum of five years. The Honor Award point system is constructed to promote recognition not only for the quantity of service, but also for the variety and longevity of service. A maximum of two points, each of which must come from a different category of service, can be accrued each year. The DSA is a recognition of volunteer service beyond the level of an Honor Award. Members who attain 50 honor points, including the 10 points received for an Honor Award, receive the Distinguished Service Award. There is no limit on the number of Distinguished Service Awards a member may receive. All honor points, regardless of quantity earned in each category in a year, are credited toward the DSA. As of 2012, the AAO-HNS has bestowed 1,627 Honor Awards and 291 Distinguished Service Awards.
Special Recognition of a 2012 Distinguished Service Award Winner: Eiji Yanagisawa, MD
The AAO-HNS extends a special honor to Eiji Yanagisawa, MD, a 2012 Distinguished Service Award recipient. Like all of this year’s renowned recipients, Dr. Yanagisawa has a long-standing, dedicated history of loyalty and support to the Academy and its mission. He has dedicated his time and expertise to serve on many Academy and Foundation committees, participated in countless annual meetings, and been extremely generous in his philanthropic pledges to the Foundation over the course of his entire membership. Of particular note is his donation of his personal collection of ENT-related images, which have been built to become the ENT ImageViewer and Collections. The application was initially conceived of and developed specifically to house Dr. Yanagisawa’s extensive library of ear, nose, and throat images. The purpose of this library is to provide Academy members with digital images of common and uncommon diseases of the ear, the nose and paranasal sinuses, and the larynx, so that Academy members can utilize these images for teaching purposes.
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Membership Aids Individuals and Profession
“You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time, share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.” – Marie Curie “Each of us must work for his [or her] own improvement.” Providing the tools needed for otolaryngologist-head and neck surgeons to deliver the best patient care through education, research, and advocacy is the cornerstone of the AAO-HNS/F’s mission. We, as Academy members, know this. It’s why we belong to this organization. It’s the second part of this great quote that I want to call your attention to. “Share a general responsibility…” for the whole. Who is responsible for our specialty? For innovation? For quality care? For fair representation? Who is better to play this role than those who are uniquely trained, experienced, and in the best position to serve it? We all share this responsibility and we all can lend a hand. You may know about the professional development tools offered by the Academy, but did you know that our colleagues create those tools? Each of the products and services offered by the Academy and Foundation trace their roots back to members who accepted the task to develop content, lend their expertise, volunteer their time and leadership, advocate for fair and equitable practices, and/or contribute financially. You might say that each otolaryngologist-head and neck surgeon is the curator of the specialty, and the Academy is a vehicle for production and distribution. If not you, then who? In today’s culture, time is scarce. There are so many demands on us professionally and personally, that taking on even just one more thing seems impossible. What I suggest in response, however, is: if we don’t, then who will? Who will take over this role of curator? Can we leave it up to the government agencies, commercial industry, or non-specialized physician groups to figure out what’s best for our patients? All of these groups play a part in the healthcare system, of course, but none of them are poised to know how to deliver the best otolaryngologic patient care. Our Academy is positioned, through the participation of its members, to protect, sustain, and advance the specialty of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. This is why continuing your membership and participating in Academy activities are so important. How can you help? The AAO-HNS/F has created opportunities for you to not only continue improving as a physician leader, but also to further your role as curator of the specialty. These opportunities are designed to fit any level of participation, from face-to-face networking opportunities to activities that require only your computer. Each of these activities plays an important role in the specialty, whether it is creating content to educate the next generation of physicians, participating in research activities that improve quality of care, lending your voice to educate legislative and regulatory bodies on issues affecting our practices, or contributing to our body of knowledge through journal articles. Participation is based on your schedule and interests, and input from all types of otolaryngology practice experiences—academic, private practice, military, governmental, rural, suburban, urban, etc.—makes our entire specialty stronger. I encourage you to maximize your membership and explore the opportunities that have been created to allow all otolaryngologist-head and neck surgeons to curate our specialty. Visit www.entnet.org/getinvovolved.