Published: November 3, 2014

Excellence Continues with Change in Leadership

Transitions frequently evoke anxiety because people believe that change requires a period of instability. Such is not the case for the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery. Throughout his 13-year tenure, David R. Nielsen, MD, has been mindful of the fact that he would not be at the helm forever. He has developed structure and cultivated staff to build a strong organization that will endure after his retirement. Dr. Nielsen has emphasized quality, evidence-based guidelines, and performance measurement during his tenure at AAO-HNS. As a result of his efforts, our Academy plays a leadership role in quality and research. His legacy in these areas will be of great value as we work through the tremendous changes in our practices. To honor Dr. Nielsen, the Academy has established the David R. Nielsen, MD Endowment. A gift to this fund not only honors Dr. Nielsen, but it will sustain AAO-HNS/F efforts to ensure that we can continue to provide the best possible care for our patients. Dr. Nielsen will continue to support the Academy through his other activities in organized medicine, particularly in his role as president and chair of the Board of Directors of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS). Our Academy is twice blessed in this transition, because our new CEO, James C. Denneny III, MD, brings years of valuable experience in working hard for us. He was an excellent president and has distinguished himself as a highly effective coordinator for Socioeconomic Affairs. He is fluent in the day-to-day functioning of our Academy and knows health policy inside and out. He has worked well with representatives of key agencies. He serves on the Executive Committee of the American College of Surgeons as Advocacy and Health Policy Pillar Lead. Dr. Denneny has always demonstrated a passion for improving the care of our patients, and as Dr. Nielsen departs we could not be left in better hands. The system for leadership succession in the AAO-HNS is truly remarkable. Unlike most large medical organizations, we have real elections with membership engagement. The composition of the Board of Directors and the procedures for nomination of candidates for office are designed to maximize grassroots involvement in governance. The Board of Governors and Academy Committee structure offer rich opportunities for meaningful participation in the mission. This provides fertile conditions for preparing and identifying future leaders of the organization. This issue of the Bulletin contains the new committee roster. Members interested in getting involved should peruse this list and submit applications to join a committee.

Gayle E. Woodson, MD, AAO-HNS/F PresidentGayle E. Woodson, MD, AAO-HNS/F President

Transitions frequently evoke anxiety because people believe that change requires a period of instability. Such is not the case for the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery. Throughout his 13-year tenure, David R. Nielsen, MD, has been mindful of the fact that he would not be at the helm forever. He has developed structure and cultivated staff to build a strong organization that will endure after his retirement. Dr. Nielsen has emphasized quality, evidence-based guidelines, and performance measurement during his tenure at AAO-HNS. As a result of his efforts, our Academy plays a leadership role in quality and research. His legacy in these areas will be of great value as we work through the tremendous changes in our practices.

To honor Dr. Nielsen, the Academy has established the David R. Nielsen, MD Endowment. A gift to this fund not only honors Dr. Nielsen, but it will sustain AAO-HNS/F efforts to ensure that we can continue to provide the best possible care for our patients. Dr. Nielsen will continue to support the Academy through his other activities in organized medicine, particularly in his role as president and chair of the Board of Directors of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS).

Our Academy is twice blessed in this transition, because our new CEO, James C. Denneny III, MD, brings years of valuable experience in working hard for us. He was an excellent president and has distinguished himself as a highly effective coordinator for Socioeconomic Affairs. He is fluent in the day-to-day functioning of our Academy and knows health policy inside and out. He has worked well with representatives of key agencies. He serves on the Executive Committee of the American College of Surgeons as Advocacy and Health Policy Pillar Lead. Dr. Denneny has always demonstrated a passion for improving the care of our patients, and as Dr. Nielsen departs we could not be left in better hands.

The system for leadership succession in the AAO-HNS is truly remarkable. Unlike most large medical organizations, we have real elections with membership engagement. The composition of the Board of Directors and the procedures for nomination of candidates for office are designed to maximize grassroots involvement in governance. The Board of Governors and Academy Committee structure offer rich opportunities for meaningful participation in the mission. This provides fertile conditions for preparing and identifying future leaders of the organization. This issue of the Bulletin contains the new committee roster. Members interested in getting involved should peruse this list and submit applications to join a committee.

More from November 2014 - Vol. 33 No. 11
Montenegrin folk dancers at the gala dinner
Balkan Congress of ORL-HNS, Budva, Montenegro
Eugene N. Myers, MD, FRCS Ed (Hon.) In June 2014, the beautiful city of Budva, Montenegro, was the site of the IX Balkan Congress of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. The Hotel Mediterranean was the venue for this meeting, sponsored under the auspices of the government of Montenegro and its Ministry of Health. In the opening ceremony, the Congress President, Prof. Vladan Knezevic, MD, welcomed the delegates. Prof. Metin Onerci, MD, president of the Turkish Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, and Prof. Milan Stankovic, MD, president of the scientific program, gave their perspectives on the history of Balkan otolaryngology and international relationships. Honorary President of the Balkan Society of Otolaryngology Eugene N. Myers, MD, FRCS Ed (Hon), who is the AAO-HNSF Regional Advisor to the Balkans, read a proclamation of greetings and good wishes from the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery. He also gave a special invited lecture on the contemporary treatment of cancer of the parotid gland. There were 320 participants from Balkan countries including Slovenia and Croatia, as well as distinguished guests from Belgium, Germany, Poland, the UK, and the U.S. Prof. Stankovic organized a well-balanced scientific program, which was entirely in English. The program included 14 roundtables, 64 invited lectures and instructional courses, 77 free papers, and 55 posters. Also at the meeting, the 10th anniversary of the Bulgarian Rhinologic Society was celebrated under the direction of Prof. Dilyana Vicheva, MD. For touristic purposes, there were many interesting sites in the area, such as the old town of Budva with the walls of the old city still standing, and an hour away, Dubrovnik, Croatia, with its large and historic old city and fortress. The social program consisted of a cocktail party after the opening ceremony and the gala dinner in the hotel on the closing night of the Congress. Altogether, this was an excellent meeting in a picturesque setting.
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A Parable on the Virtues of Sharing Your Talents
Sharon Gnagi, MD Humanitarian Travel Grant Awardee Mayo Clinic, AZ   As a medical student at UTMB-Galveston, I promised that one day I would join my mentor, Harold Pine, MD, and then resident, Viet Pham, MD, on their annual mission trip to Vietnam through Resource Exchange International (REI). This year, I had the opportunity to fulfill that promise along with Dayton Young, MD, on Dr. Pine’s 11th trip to Vietnam via scholarships through my residency program at Mayo Clinic Arizona and the AAO-HNS humanitarian travel grant. The mission of REI is to “build people to build a nation.” With that in mind, we travelled to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Vietnam, with the primary goal to help educate Vietnamese physicians. Mornings were spent collaborating with local physicians in the operating room, clinic, or hospital rounds while the afternoons were spent in packed auditoriums lecturing to eager Vietnamese residents, medical students, and attending physicians. One of the local favorites was education regarding button batteries, their injuries, and management, as these are becoming increasingly common as the technology of Vietnam advances. We also had a special educational conference with the Vietnamese residents to focus on leadership and teamwork with special team-building exercises. During this time, a resident shared with me that they make $10 U.S. per month. In addition to teaching me perspective, certainly they taught me many creative ways to manage difficult clinical scenarios with limited resources. During my time in Vietnam, I visited Tao Dan Park, where each morning it is customary for men to bring their songbirds together. This is an extremely popular custom in Vietnam, and old men sit around the park talking, enjoying coffee, and listening to the birds learn new songs. You see, at home alone, the songbirds will not sing. But each morning at this park, the air is filled with the chirping and cooing of each bird learning new melodies from its neighbors. Each bird leaves with a more beautiful and diverse repertoire. The tragedy is truly the bird not able attend. As physicians and surgeons, are we not similar to the birds of Tao Dan Park? When we come together, each of us learns new medical information, surgical techniques, and ideas for further research making our medical community better each time we come together. Do we not have a responsibility to share with others what we are so fortunate to know and have easy access to learn? I encourage you to fly around the world and share your songs—you’ll be happy you did, and learn a few songs yourself.
Team leader Dr. Dhingra takes residents through a thyroidectomy procedure.
A Hard Lesson in Choosing Patients: Management of Endemic Goiter in Gitwe, Rwanda
Jeremiah C. Tracy, MD Although many Americans think of Rwanda as a place of violence and starvation, the reality is far different. The nation has moved past the war and genocide of the 1990s and during the last 20 years Rwanda has made great strides. It has the highest literacy rate in central Africa, and incentives to international investors have led to a rapid increase in the nation’s GDP. Despite these advances, the country’s medical system lags behind. At the premier hospital in the nation’s capital, King Faisal Hospital, there is not a single otolaryngologist on staff. Medical Missions for Children (MMFC) has led mission trips to the town of Gitwe, Rwanda, since 2004. In collaboration with local contacts, this site is now a fully functioning hospital with six general practitioners and two obstetricians. A new medical school (Rwanda’s second) is being built nearby. The connection began when critical care nurse, U.S. citizen, and Rwandan ex-patriot Vianny Ruhumbeza met with Denny Snyder, MD, of MMFC. As Rwanda struggled to rebuild in the late 1990s, Vianny returned home to help manage the family home outside Gitwe. Vianny recognized the need for surgical care in this rural town in the mountains of southwestern Rwanda. MMFC now runs several trips to Gitwe Hospital each year, providing surgical care to the people in the surrounding region.  The team leader, Jagdish Dhingra, MD, has been traveling to Gitwe annually since 2004. In March 2014 I was able to join an annual trip to this site, offering surgical treatment for patients suffering from endemic goiter. Rwanda is an iodine-deficient region. Although an iodinization program is in place, many families live as subsistence farmers and do not typically purchase food from a store. In addition, the local diet is comprised in large part by goitrogens (cassava, potatoes, and cabbage). As a resident, it was a great exercise for me to think through the diagnostic work-up under absolutely minimal conditions. What aspects are really necessary? This is a far cry from my experience working at an academic medical center in Boston; patients have always been seen previously by endocrinologists, often had multiple FNA procedures, and in some cases even a CT scan to work-up their “neck mass.” In Rwanda we generally had the history and physical exam. Some patients had seen other doctors previously, and may have even had basic thyroid function tests, but most did not. What was the appropriate course of action in order to ensure we were doing the right thing for these patients and not providing second-class care? On the first day, 60 patients were found to be good surgical candidates. We knew that we had the time, supplies, and stamina to take care of only 30 at most; and new patients continued to show up daily. On days one and two, I was involved only in the operative and post-operative care of patients, and things went quite well. Repetition allowed us to work efficiently and remove five or more huge goiters in a day. On day three my role was expanded. As usual, we had twice the scheduled number of patients show up. Dr. Dhingra told me, “Go ahead, take a history, examine them, and decide who we should operate on.” This entailed choosing who among many would have surgery, and who would have to return next year. In many cases, the patients and their families had walked for hours to get to Gitwe. Some had lived with huge goiters affecting their activity and diet for decades. Others were as young as 18 years old and faced the rest of their lives with this condition. To make matters more complicated, Gitwe is a small town. Many of these people knew each other, may even have been distantly related. I didn’t want to turn people away. I wanted to operate all night long. We discussed the safe allocation of resources. I was forced to acknowledge our inability to help every patient. Those discussions were the most difficult I’ve had in my young career. In America, we deal with healthcare rationing every day. Will insurance pay for a lab test or an imaging study? How soon can we get this patient on the OR schedule? But as residents we are often sheltered from the actual decision making. On this trip I had my first chance to participate in those difficult decisions. This was an invaluable lesson, both as a physician and as a human being. The most important memory I have from the trip is of squatting outside the hospital in order to be at eye level with a dozen hopeful, seated patients, and having to tell them, through an interpreter, why some would have surgery and some would not. I look forward to returning next year, in order to help those who were turned away.
Download AcademyQ® App Update
During this year’s Annual Meeting, the Foundation launched an update to one of AAO-HNSF’s most successful and widely used education products: the AcademyQ® Knowledge Assessment app. The app update, which adds 400 additional self-assessment questions to AcademyQ®, is expected to become a favorite member education resource and provide much-needed board exam preparation services to our members and the greater healthcare community alike. The tool is an invaluable resource in ensuring that our physicians remain educated in the most up-to-date treatments and that the highest quality-of-care is being delivered to our patients. Each of the 800 questions contained within AcademyQ® was designed by content experts from our membership and underwent a rigorous peer-review process with the assistance of committee members from the AAO-HNSF’s eight education committees. The app also provides answer rationales for each of these questions along with hyperlinked references to allow for additional reading outside of AcademyQ®. The AAO-HNSF also unveiled a newly-designed android version of the app during this year’s Annual Meeting which will allow AcademyQ® to reach more of our practicing Otolaryngology community than ever before. Both versions of the app, which were designed to work on tablets as well as smartphones, are available as a free download with 10 sample questions which can be upgraded to include either, or both, of the existing 400-question sets for $49.99 each. Since its launch in September 2012, iPhone and iPad users have downloaded the free app 8,100 times and 1,056 individuals have purchased the full app. We hope to continue serving the needs of our users and build upon the success of this product with new question packs released bi-annually as well as additional features, upgrades, and enhancements. Both products can be downloaded directly from a user’s smart phone or tablet by visiting either the Google Play store for Android users or from the iTunes store for Apple users. For more information visit www.entnet.org/academyq.
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Academy Unveils the 2014 Socioeconomic Survey Results: Where Do You Fit?
Since 1997, the Academy, through its Health Policy Team, has disseminated a Socioeconomic Survey every three years to all members (excluding military, retirees, and those in training). The survey is an important tool for gathering information on members’practice patterns, the healthcare environment, and future trends in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. The data collected enables the Academy to help provide members with useful benchmarking tools as well as identifying trends in different practice areas. This year marked no exception and the Academy is pleased to announce that the results are now available to the membership at-large. To the right is a brief glimpse of some of the results obtained, with a more detailed analysis provided online. Members are encouraged to view the latest data on productivity, revenue, operations, and other practice patterns for the specialty by viewing the full results on the Academy’s Socioeconomic page at www.entnet.org/content/socioeconomic-data.
Bobby R. Alford, MD
New 2015 CORE Grant Honors Bobby R. Alford, MD
In 2010, friends of Bobby R. Alford, MD, and many of his past residents came together to honor Dr. Alford’s lifelong contributions to the specialty by establishing an endowment to support an AAO-HNSF CORE grant. This CORE grant will support innovative research in the specialty and help facilitate the career development of young investigators. This mentored research award is intended to lead to improved understanding of the cause or outcomes or to novel treatments for diseases and disorders within the realm of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. Bobby R. Alford, MD’s dedication to the specialty of otolaryngology is evidenced by his accomplishments in patient care, education, and research at the department named in his honor at Baylor College of Medicine. His commitment to education and the training of otolarygologists has led to an amazing legacy. Since 1962, the department Dr. Alford chaired from 1967 to 2010 has trained more than 250 residents and fellows. Many have gone on to have academic positions, including 30 who have become full professors and 16 who have become, or are currently, department chairs. Dr. Alford believed strongly in the link between research and patient care, as well as the benefits of cooperation between the specialties of the neurosensory systems. He therefore played a significant role in the creation and development of the Neurosensory Center of Houston for The Methodist Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, which opened in 1977. It was specifically established to promote the educational, research, and clinical objectives and needs of the clinical neurosciences. In this same vein, Dr. Alford also advocated for a close relationship between otolaryngology and audiology and encouraged joint research. Dr. Alford’s own research endeavors resulted in the publication of more than 140 scientific papers, including seminal work in the several areas of otolaryngology. His efforts to encourage cross-disciplinary research also led to his involvement with U.S. space programs ultimately resulting in the formation of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute established by NASA in 1997, of which he served as its initial CEO. This consortium of 12 institutions continues to lead a national effort to conduct the biomedical research necessary to support long-term human presence, development, and exploration of space and to enhance life on Earth by applying the resulting advances in human knowledge and technology.
Measuring Physician Performance
Rahul K. Shah, MD George Washington University School of Medicine Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, DC We often use this column to speak about patient safety and quality improvement topics that are on the horizon or currently en vogue. One item that is mentioned a lot is the need for measurement. This goes back to the basic business adage that one cannot manage what one cannot measure. Indeed, the patient safety and quality improvement movement has had significant gains and victories in the past decade founded on a strong methodology that includes measurement. This measurement and evaluations has also started to come to providers. The Joint Commission has a mandatory evaluation tool for providers (physicians, LIPs, etc.) called the On-going Professional Performance Evaluation. Hopefully, every Academy member is aware that the hospitals in which they practice are required to complete an OPPE report on each medical staff member (physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, etc.) three times in a two-year cycle. The OPPEs were a relatively new concept a decade ago, however I am quite certain that in the past two-year cycle, every Academy member whom has active privileges should have had an OPPE report on file at their respective medical staff office. The more important question is—have you seen your OPPE report? Measurement by and of itself may be adequate, but it is compulsory for us to know what is being measured. There is latitude afforded to the individual medical staff offices on how they create the OPPE, what is measured, and the action items from the reports. This freedom allows each medical staff office the ability to customize reports and drive initiatives/change in areas where they feel they would like to focus upon to improve patient safety and quality. For example, a medical staff office may want to focus on hand hygiene compliance, surgical site infections, or re-admission rates. The point being is that Academy members should be aware that such information is collected and maintained by your medical staff office. What started, perhaps, as a fluff document that a medical staff office would fill out to ensure compliance with the Joint Commission is slowly emerging as a powerful tool with some excellent best practices; the OPPE is increasingly being used for credentialing and in a robust manner. For example, I have heard of some institutions that look at an OPPE to see if there is “over-operation”for specific procedures or diagnoses; or the contrary, if a provider has not performed a specific case in more than two years, they may be denied privileging for that case. As such, it is compulsory that we own our data. Academy members must be pro-active and reach out to your various medical staffs in the hospitals you practice at to obtain your OPPE report. Traditionally, the Joint Commission recommends that the OPPE report have structure; our organization uses the core competencies such as professionalism, systems-based practice, etc.  From here, the recommendation is to have a few key metrics under each category that is provider specific. Examples would be patient satisfaction scores, incomplete operative dictations, etc. What is interesting, an emerging best practice is to list the top five procedures of the specific provider. This enables a chief of staff to immediately scan similar providers to look for variances and outliers. Such scrutiny and transparency will only serve to benefit our patients so we applaud the OPPE. The caution to our Academy membership is take a few minutes from your busy days and drop by your respective medial staff office and asks to see your OPPE and make sure that the data is accurate and reflects your practice and volumes. 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. Please email the Academy at qualityimprovement@entnet.org to engage us in a patient safety and quality discussion that is pertinent to your practice.
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ENT PAC – ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
As we approach the November mid-term elections, educate and empower yourself by visiting www.entpac.org. ENT PAC, the political action committee of the AAO-HNS, financially supports federal Congressional candidates and incumbents who advance the issues important to otolaryngology–head and neck surgery. Since your AAO-HNS annual dues cannot be used for political purposes, ENT PAC was established to accept voluntary contributions enabling our members to speak with a collective voice. ENT PAC is a non-partisan, issue-driven entity that supplements the Academy’s legislative advocacy efforts and helps to increase the visibility of the specialty on Capitol Hill and with key policymakers. To learn more about ENT PAC and the Academy’s Federal Elections Center, visit www.entpac.org (log-in with your AAO-HNS Member ID and password) or email entpac@entnet.org for assistance.
Government Affairs Highlights from the AAO-HNSF 2014 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPOSM – ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
During the AAO-HNSF 2014 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPOSM in Orlando, FL, Academy members could visit not one, but two, Legislative Advocacy booths to learn more about the Academy’s federal legislative priorities, grassroots initiatives, and political programs. In case you were unable to join us in Orlando, below is a brief overview of what you missed! Save Our Physicians –In Orlando, AAO-HNS members had the opportunity to sign a petition in support of preserving the term “physician” for MD/DO-trained healthcare providers. Given the introduction of federal legislation (H.R. 5304) that would provide audiologists with “limited license” physician status under the Medicare program, the AAO-HNS is increasing its advocacy efforts to ensure this critical training distinction is preserved. The petition, signed by more than 250 AAO-HNS members, helps our organization send a clear message to Capitol Hill opposing H.R. 5304. The SRF Expands its Advocacy “Footprint”–Members of the Section for Residents and Fellows-in-Training made an impressive stride in their advocacy efforts during this year’s Annual Meeting. While in Orlando, 84 Residents/Fellows-in-Training became active in the Academy’s Advocacy campaign by contributing to ENT PAC, joining the ENT Advocacy Network, or following Government Affairs on social media. As a result, the SRF increased its overall participation by nearly 80 percent in just a few days. With only a little over a month left in the year, the training program from UC-Irvine is leading the Campaign with 52 points. It’s not too late to get involved! Visit www.entpac.org for additional details. ENT PAC Success at Annual Meeting–Thanks to the generous support of its Investors, ENT PAC raised more than $19,000 during the AAO-HNSF 2014 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPOSM—far surpassing its fundraising goal.* In addition, the PAC welcomed over 180 new members to the “Investor” ranks, 45 percent of which are resident members of the AAO-HNS. ENT PAC Investors Enjoy a Night of Jazz–On Monday, September 22, all 2014 ENT PAC Investors were invited to attend the annual PAC “Thank You” reception. This year’s event took place at BB King’s Blues Club in Orlando, FL. The ENT PAC Board of Advisors and staff thank all our 2014 PAC Investors! Lunch Among Advocacy Leaders–On Monday, September 22, the ENT PAC Board of Advisors hosted the annual Chairman’s Club Luncheon ($1,000+ annual contribution). New for this year, the luncheon also welcomed several of this year’s above-and-beyond “state trackers” and the 2013 SRF Advocacy Involvement Campaign winners, UC-Irvine. During the event, attendees discussed critical healthcare issues with special guest, U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, MD (R-TX). For more information about the ENT PAC Leadership Clubs or the state trackers program, email govtaffairs@entnet.org. To receive the latest legislative and political news year round, join our social media networks—“Follow” us on Twitter @AAOHNSGovtAffrs, “Like” us on Facebook, and “Connect” to us on LinkedIn! *Contributions to ENT PAC are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. Contributions are voluntary, and all members of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery have the right to refuse to contribute without reprisal. Federal law prohibits ENT PAC from accepting contributions from foreign nationals. By law, if your contributions are made using a personal check or credit card, ENT PAC may use your contribution only to support candidates in federal elections. All corporate contributions to ENT PAC will be used for educational and administrative fees of ENT PAC, and other activities permissible under federal law. Federal law requires ENT PAC to use its best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation, and the name of the employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in a calendar year. ENT PAC is a program of the AAO-HNS which is exempt from federal income tax under section 501 (c) (6) of the Internal Revenue Code.
WANTED: State Trackers for 2015
The AAO-HNS sincerely thanks its member-volunteer “state trackers” for their impressive efforts during the 2014 legislative session to effectively monitor issues and trends important to the specialty, your practices, and your patients. Join the growing team of AAO-HNS state trackers by emailing govtaffairs@entnet.org to receive daily or weekly legislative tracking updates in time for the 2015 sessions. An introductory conference call is scheduled for December, so act now and be an advocate for your state!
New Audiology Bill Seeks ‘Physician’ Status
In July 31, U.S. Representative Lynn Jenkins (R-KS-2) introduced a “kitchen sink” audiology bill (H.R. 5304) in Congress. Spearheaded by the Academy of Doctors of Audiology (ADA), H.R. 5304 is the most far-reaching attempt yet by those in the audiology community to achieve their goal of being recognized as the primary providers of hearing healthcare services. If enacted, H.R. 5304 would: Grant audiologists unlimited direct access to Medicare patients without a physician referral, and Amend Title XVIII of the Social Security Act to grant audiologists “limited license physician” status within the Medicare program. Due to the advocacy efforts of the AAO-HNS, support for the direct access issue is waning on Capitol Hill. However, ADA continues to “up the ante” with its efforts to redefine a physician. The inclusion of “limited license physician” status in H.R. 5304 essentially ignores the physician referral and oversight requirements established by Medicare to control unnecessary costs and protect patient safety. While valued healthcare providers, audiologists are not physicians, and their training is not equal to those with an MD/DO degree. Further, the provision included in H.R. 5304 stipulating the inclusion of audiologists in Medicare’s definition of “physician” undermines a training distinction that helps patients decipher between various hearing healthcare providers. This distinction is particularly important given the broadened healthcare nomenclature resulting in various non-physician providers with doctoral degrees identifying themselves as a “doctor.” We are not alone in our fight to defeat this ill-advised proposal. Following the introduction of H.R. 5304, the AAO-HNS circulated a sign-on letter that outlined our position and sought support from various local, state, and national medical organizations. At its closing, the letter had garnered 118 signatories and helped reiterate our strong opposition to Capitol Hill. Despite the AAO-HNS’strong opposition to H.R. 5304, we remain committed to working with others in the hearing healthcare community to ensure patients have appropriate access to care. In particular, the AAO-HNS most recently collaborated with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) prior to the introduction of their “comprehensive audiology benefit”legislation, H.R. 2330. As a result of this collaboration, our organization has been able to support ASHA’s proposal. H.R. 2330 represents a pragmatic approach to expanding certain audiology services without undermining a “team-based”care approach to hearing healthcare services or jeopardizing patient care. As we near the end of the year, the AAO-HNS Government Affairs team is already preparing to combat additional audiology scope expansion attempts in the upcoming 114th Congress. If you are interested in becoming more involved in the Academy’s legislative advocacy efforts, consider joining the ENT Advocacy Network by emailing govtaffairs@entnet.org. Members of the Advocacy Network are often the first to receive updates regarding the AAO-HNS’legislative priorities via legislative action alerts and/or the bi-weekly newsletter, The ENT Advocate.
2014-2015 Committee Roster
The following are the committee rosters of the Academy and Foundation, grouped by their clusters. These are all members, unless otherwise noted who were appointed to terms October 1, 2014, as well as those continuing their service. The number following each name indicates end of their term. If you would like to serve on a committee, applications are now being accepted through February 3, 2015. To review up-to-date committee rosters, learn more about the application process, or submit an application to join a committee, please visit www.entnet.org/committees. * Denotes a Non-Voting Member of the Committee Standing and Board Steering Committees Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws Committee             Kathleen Yaremchuk, MD, MSA, Chair, 15 Karen T. Pitman, MD, Member, 16        Jay S. Youngerman, MD, Member, 16  David R. Nielsen, MD, Ex-Officio       Estella Laguna, Staff Liaison                 Audit Committee  Kenneth W. Altman, MD, PhD, Chair, 15 Steven W. Cheung, MD, Member, 15   Michael D. Seidman, MD, Member, 15                        Gavin Setzen, MD, Member, 15             Duane J. Taylor, MD, Member, 15        Jerome W. Thompson, MD, MBA, Member, 16 David R. Nielsen, MD, Ex-Officio       Carrie Hanlon, CPA, Staff Liaison       Brenda Hargett, CPA, CAE, Staff Liaison Ethics Committee  Susan D. McCammon, MD, Chair, 16  Daniel C. Chelius, Jr, MD, Member, 16                       Michael B. Cohen, MD, Member*, 15  Roger D. Cole, MD, Member, 15            Susan R. Cordes, MD, Member, 15       Ilaaf Darrat, MD, Member, 16                 Christopher Discolo, MD, Member, 15                       Beth R. Duncan, MD, MBA, Member, 16 Jason C. Goodwin, MD, Member*, 15                        Evan M. Graboyes, MD, Member*, 15                        Jonathan B. Ida, MD, Member, 16         John W. Jones, MD, Member, 16          Paul Konowitz, MD, Member, 15         Anthony Mikulec, MD, Member, 16    Brian Nussenbaum, MD, Member, 16  Jessica J. Peck, MD, Member, 16           Travis J. Pfannenstiel, MD, Member, 15 Shannon P. Pryor, MD, Member, 16     Ansley M. Roche, MD, Member*, 15   Werner C. Roennecke, MD, Member, 16 Joshua D. Rosenberg, MD, Member, 16 Jason A. Showmaker, MD, Member*, 15 Andrew G. Shuman, MD, Member, 15                         Timothy J. Siglock, MD, Member, 16  Samuel E. Sprehe, MD, Member, 16     Mark J. Syms, MD, Member, 16             Ira D. Uretzky, MD, Member, 16           Steven J. Wang, MD, Member, 16         Barry L. Wenig, MD, MPH, Member, 16                     Daniel H. Coelho, MD, Consultant, 15                       Thomas P. Gonsoulin, MD, MPS, Consultant, 16 Sarah K. Wise, MD, Consultant, 16     Lauren S. Zaretsky, MD, Consultant, 16 Brenda Hargett, CPA, CAE, Staff Liaison Executive Committee            Gayle E. Woodson, MD, President, 15                       Sujana S. Chandrasekhar, MD, President-Elect, 15 Richard W. Waguespack, MD, Immediate Past President, 15       Michael G. Stewart, MD, MPH, Director-At-Large, 15                   Gavin Setzen, MD, Secretary-Treasurer, 15 Paul T. Fass, MD, Director-At-Large, 15 Wendy B. Stern, MD, Chair BOG, 15  David R. Nielsen, MD, Executive Vice President/CEO Estella Laguna, Staff Liaison                 Heather K. McGhee, Staff Liaison        Finance & Investment Subcommittee Gavin Setzen, MD, Chair, 15                  Jerry M. Schreibstein, MD, Member, 16 J. Pablo Stolovitzky, MD, Member, 15                       David R. Nielsen, MD, Ex-Officio       Lynn Frischkorn, Staff Liaison             Carrie Hanlon, CPA, Staff Liaison       Brenda Hargett, CPA, CAE, Staff Liaison Nominating Committee        Richard W. Waguespack, MD, Chair, 15 Ellen S. Deutsch, MD, Member, 15      Stacey L. Ishman, MD, MPH, Member, 16 Susan D. McCammon, MD, Member, 16 Albert L. Merati, MD, Member, 16       Brian A. Moore, MD, Member, 16         Brian Nussenbaum, MD, Member, 15  Shannon P. Pryor, MD, Member, 15     Lawrence M. Simon, MD, Member, 15                        Wendy B. Stern, MD, Member, 15        Ken Yanagisawa, MD, Member, 15      David R. Nielsen, MD, Ex-Officio       Estella Laguna, Staff Liaison                 Physicians Resources Committee        David W. Kennedy, MD, Chair, 15      Patrick G. McMenamin, MD, Chair-Elect, 15 Ramesh K. Agarwal, MD, Member, 16                         Reginald F. Baugh, MD, Member, 16    David W. Eisele, MD, Member, 16       Isaac D. Erbele, MD, Member*, 16       Berrylin J. Ferguson, MD, Member, 16                        Bruce J. Gantz, MD, Member, 16           Eric M. Gessler, MD, Member, 15         Marie T. Gilbert, PA-C, Member*, 15  Joseph E. Hart, MD, MS, Member, 16  Karl Hoermann, MD, Member*, 16      Steven B. Levine, MD, Member, 16      Vikas Mehta, MD, Member, 16              Robert H. Miller, MD, MBA, Member, 16 William P. Potsic, MD, Member, 16     Shannon P. Pryor, MD, Member, 16     Jonathon O. Russell, MD, Member*, 16                     Gavin Setzen, MD, Member, 15             Pell Ann Wardrop, MD, Member, 16   Lauren S. Zaretsky, MD, Member, 16   Harold C. Pillsbury III, MD, Consultant, 15 Jean Brereton, MBA, Staff Liaison       Science and Educational Committee   Sukgi S. Choi, MD, Chair, 16                 Lisa E. Ishii, MD, Member, 18               John H. Krouse, MD, Member, 18        Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, Member, 15  Eben L. Rosenthal, MD, Member, 16   James E. Saunders, MD, Member, 17   Brenda Hargett, CPA, CAE, Ex-Officio                      David R. Nielsen, MD, Ex-Officio       Mary Pat Cornett, CAE, CMP, Staff Liaison Board of Governors BOG Executive Committee Wendy B. Stern, MD, Chair, 15             David R. Edelstein, MD, Chair-Elect, 15                   Peter J. Abramson, MD, Immediate Past Chair, 15 Sanjay R. Parikh, MD, Secretary, 15     Spencer C. Payne, MD, Member-at- Large, 16                         Susan R. Cordes, MD, Member, 16       Stacey L. Ishman, MD, MPH, Member, 16 Ken Yanagisawa, MD, Member, 16      Steven T. Kmucha, MD, JD, Ex-Officio, 16 J. Scott Magnuson, MD, Ex-Officio, 16                      Haynes H. Wanamaker, Ex-Officio, 16                       Richard N. Carson, Jr, Staff Liaison     Bethany D. Clifton, Staff Liaison         BOG Legislative Affairs Committee    Susan R. Cordes, MD, Chair, 16            J. Scott Magnuson, MD, Vice Chair, 16                      Paul C. Bryson, MD, Member, 16          Scott R. Chaiet, MD, Member, 16          Nathan A. Deckard, MD, Member, 15  Soha N. Ghossaini, MD, Member, 15  Joseph E. Hart, MD, MS, Member, 15  Charles F. Koopmann, Jr, MD, MHSA, Member, 16                        Phillip L. Massengill, MD, Member, 15                      Kevin X. McKennan, MD, Member, 16                       Zara M. Patel, MD, Member, 16              Brian K. Reilly, MD, Member, 16         Brianne B. Roby, MD, Member, 16       Michelle M. Roeser, MD, Member, 16 Lawrence M. Simon, MD, Member, 16                        Hayes H. Wanamaker, MD, Member, 15 Philip B. Zald, MD, Member, 16            Art A. Ambrosio, MD, Member*, 15   Hamad Chaudhary, MD, Member*, 15                        Javad A. Sajan, MD, Member*, 15        Ashley E. Wenaas, MD, Member*, 15                         K. Paul Boyev, MD, Consultant, 16     Paul M. Imber, DO, Consultant, 16      Richard Capparell, Staff Liaison           Richard N. Carson, Jr, Staff Liaison     BOG Nominating Committee              Peter J. Abramson, MD, Chair, 15         David S. Boisoneau, MD, Member, 15                        Jayme R. Dowdall, MD, Member, 15   Duane J. Taylor, MD, Member, 15        Richard N. Carson, Jr, Staff Liaison     Bethany D. Clifton, Staff Liaison         BOG Rules and Regulations Committee            Stacey L. Ishman, MD, MPH, Chair, 16                       Steven T. Kmucha, MD, JD, Vice Chair, 16 Boris Chernobilsky, MD, Member, 15                        Robert A. Frankenthaler, MD, Member, 16 Satish Govindaraj, MD, Member, 15   Paul M. Imber, DO, Member, 15            H. Baltzer LeJeune, MD, Member, 15  Spencer C. Payne, MD, Member, 16      Jesse G. Wardlow, Jr, MD, Member, 15                      Kanwar S. Kelley, MD, JD, Member*, 15 Sami Pierre Moubayed, MD, Member*, 15 Richard N. Carson, Jr, Staff Liaison     Bethany D. Clifton, Staff Liaison         BOG Socioeconomic and Grassroots Committee               Ken Yanagisawa, MD, Chair, 15           Haynes H. Wanamaker, MD, Vice Chair, 16 Paul A. Abson, MD, Member, 16          David S. Boisoneau, MD, Member, 16                        Phyllis B. Bouvier, MD, Member, 15   Soha N. Ghossaini, MD, Member, 15  Basem M. Jassin, MD, Member, 16       Eric J. Kezirian, MD, MPH, Member, 16                     Ayesha N. Khalid, MD, Member, 15    Mark E. Prince, MD, Member, 15          Brianne B. Roby, MD, Member, 15       Lawrence M. Simon, MD, Member, 15                        Robert J. Stachler, MD, Member, 16     Mark J. Syms, MD, Member, 15             Ira D. Uretzky, MD, Member, 15           Michael H. Weiss, MD, Member, 16    Daniel L. Wohl, MD, Member, 16        Kevin K. Motamedi, MD, Member*, 15                      Samantha Anne, MD, Consultant, 16  Joseph E. Hart, MD, MS, Consultant, 16 Douglas L. Worden, MD, Consultant, 16 Richard N. Carson, Jr, Staff Liaison     Bethany D. Clifton, Staff Liaison         Women in Otolaryngology Section WIO Awards Committee     Valerie A. Flanary, MD, Chair, 16        Anca M. Barbu, MD, Member, 16          Elizabeth A. Blair, MD, Member, 16    Megan L. Durr, MD, Member, 16           Soha N. Ghossaini, MD, Member, 16  Catherine K. Hart, MD, Member, 16     Amanda C. Hu, MD, Member, 16          Inna A. Husain, MD, Member, 16         Stacey L. Ishman, MD, MPH, Member, 16 Mimi S. Kokoska, MD, Member, 16     Tomoko Makishima, MD, PhD, Member, 15 Nikhila P. Raol, MD, Member, 16         Eileen M. Raynor, MD, Member, 16     Marika D. Russell, MD, Member, 16    Amanda L. Stapleton, MD, Member, 16 Tammara L. Watts, MD, PhD, Member, 15 Richard N. Carson, Jr, Staff Liaison     Bethany D. Clifton, Staff Liaison         WIO Council on Committees Mona M. Abaza, MD, Chair, 15             Carol R. Bradford, MD, Member, 15     Valerie A. Flanary, MD, Member, 16   Suman Golla, MD, Member, 15             Jamie R. Litvack, MD, Member, 16      Pell Ann Wardrop, MD, Member, 15   Erika A. Woodson, MD, Member, 16  Richard N. Carson, Jr, Staff Liaison     Bethany D. Clifton, Staff Liaison         WIO Communications Committee                Erika A. Woodson, MD, Chair, 16       Sarah N. Bowe, MD, Member, 16          Cristina Cabrera-Muffly, MD, Member, 16 Susan R. Cordes, MD, Member, 16       Maura Cosetti, MD, Member, 16           A. Kristina E. Hart, MD, Member, 16  Deborah S. Kacmarynski, MD, Member, 16 Melissa G. Kress, DO, Member, 16      Mina N. Le, MD, Member, 15                 Nila M. Novotny, MD, Member, 16     Pamela C. Roehm, MD, PhD, Member, 16 Jayde M. Steckowych, MD, Member, 16 Kathleen Yaremchuk, MD, MSA, Member, 16 Richard N. Carson, Jr, Staff Liaison     Bethany D. Clifton, Staff Liaison         WIO Endowment Committee              Pell Ann Wardrop, MD, Chair, 15        Phyllis B. Bouvier, MD, Member, 15   Sujana S. Chandrasekhar, MD, Member, 15 Elizabeth Guardiani, MD, Member, 15                       A. Kristina E. Hart, MD, Member, 15  Ayesha N. Khalid, MD, Member, 15    Beth N. McNulty, MD, Member, 15     Eileen M. Raynor, MD, Member, 15     Andrea S. Wang, MD, Member, 15        Ron Sallerson, CFRE, Staff Liaison     WIO Leadership Development and Mentorship               Carol R. Bradford, MD, Chair, 16          Meredith E. Adams, MD, Member, 16 Leslie Asbury, MD, Member, 16           Kathleen R. Billings, MD, Member, 16                       Jennifer Decker, MD, Member, 15        Debra M. Don, MD, Member, 16           Soha N. Ghossaini, MD, Member, 16  Rebecca D. Golgert, MD, Member, 16  Mary E. Gorman, MD, Member, 16       Ericka F. King, MD, Member, 16           Jamie R. Litvack, MD, Member, 16      Edith A. McFadden, MD, MA, FAAO, Member, 16                        Abby R. Nolder, MD, Member, 16        Lucia S. Olarte, MD, Member*, 15       Sarah L. Rohde, MD, Member, 16         Jamie Stern, MD, Member, 16                Jayne R. Stevens, MD, Member*, 15    Debra G. Weinberger, MD, Member, 16 Meghan N. Wilson, MD, Member*, 15                        Richard N. Carson, Jr, Staff Liaison     Bethany D. Clifton, Staff Liaison         WIO Nominating Committee              Mona M. Abaza, MD, Chair, 15             Richard N. Carson, Jr, Staff Liaison     Bethany D. Clifton, Staff Liaison         WIO Program Committee    Suman Golla, MD, Chair, 16                  Meredith E. Adams, MD, Member, 16 Stephanie A. Austin, MD, Member*, 15 Lauren Bohm, MD, Member*, 15          Phyllis B. Bouvier, MD, Member, 16   Holly Boyer, MD, Member, 16              Sydney C. Butts, MD, Member, 16       Cecelia Damask, DO, Member, 16        Ilaaf Darrat, MD, Member, 16                 Rebecca D. Golgert, MD, Member, 16  Mary E. Gorman, MD, Member, 16       Stacey T. Gray, MD, Member, 16           Natasha Mirza, MD, Member, 16           Margaret A. Ogden, MD, Member, 16   Michelle M. Roeser, MD, Member, 16 Jayde M. Steckowych, MD, Member, 16 Marita S. Teng, MD, Member, 16           Debara L. Tucci, MD, MBA, Member, 16 Nina S. Yoshpe, MD, Member, 16        Samantha Anne, MD, Consultant, 16  Audrey Erman, MD, Consultant, 16    Evelyne Kalyoussef, MD, Consultant, 16 Joy Obokhare, MD, Consultant, 16     Laura J. Orvidas, MD, Consultant, 16                         Lauren S. Zaretsky, MD, Consultant, 16 Richard N. Carson, Jr, Staff Liaison     Bethany D. Clifton, Staff Liaison         WIO Research & Survey Committee  Jamie R. Litvack, MD, Chair, 16           Carol A. Bauer, MD, Member, 16          Julie L. Goldman, MD, Member, 16     Abby E. Gross, MD, Member, 16          Edith A. McFadden, MD, MA, FAAO, Member, 16                        Beth N. McNulty, MD, Member*, 15   Lucia S. Olarte, MD, Member*, 15       Colleen F. Perez, MD, Member*, 15     Shannon P. Pryor, MD, Member, 16     Pamela C. Roehm, MD PhD, Member, 16 Kristina W. Rosbe, MD, Member, 16   Maya G. Sardesai, MD, MEd, Member, 16 Amanda L. Stapleton, MD, Member, 16 Andrea Vambutas, MD, Member, 16    Kathleen Yaremchuk, MD, MSA, Member, 16 Katherine C. Yung, MD, Member, 16   Richard N. Carson, Jr, Staff Liaison     Bethany D. Clifton, Staff Liaison         Academy/Foundation Committees Head and Neck Steering Committee Carol R. Bradford, MD, Chair, 18          Gregory J. Artz, MD, Member, 15         Joseph A. Brennan, MD, Member, 15  Christine G. Gourin, MD, Member, 15                        Donna J. Millay, MD, Member, 15       Ralph P. Tufano, MD, Member, 15        Donald T. Weed, MD, Member, 16       Jeanne M. McIntyre, CAE, Staff Liaison                    Endocrine Committee           Ralph P. Tufano, MD, Chair, 15             Nishant Agrawal, MD, Member, 16      Sarah E. Bailey, MD, Member, 15         Kevin T. Brumund, MD, Member, 15   Salvatore M. Caruana, MD, Member, 15 William S. Duke, MD, Member, 15      D. Gregory Farwell, MD, Member, 16  James A. Geraghty, MD, Member, 16   Deepak Gurushanthaiah, MD, Member, 15 Chase Heaton, MD, Member, 15            Jeffrey J. Houlton, MD, Member, 15    Jason Patrick Hunt, MD, Member, 16  Miriam N. Lango, MD, Member, 15      Wesley S. Low, MD, Member, 16         Sarah L. Rohde, MD, Member, 16         David Rosen, MD, Member, 15             Jonathon O. Russell, MD, Member, 15                       Joseph Scharpf, MD, Member, 15         Prerak D. Shah, MD, Member, 16          Michael C. Singer, MD, Member, 15     Venkat R. Srinivasan, FRCS (ORL), Member*, 15 Mark H. Terris, MD, Member, 16           Jeffrey M. Bumpous, MD, Consultant, 16 F. Christopher Holsinger, MD, Consultant, 15 Christopher Klem, MD, Consultant, 15                      Lisa A. Orloff, MD, Consultant, 15     Merry E. Sebelik, MD, Consultant, 16                        Catherine R. Lincoln, CAE, MA (Oxon), Staff Liaison                 Head and Neck Surgery & Oncology Committee              Christine G. Gourin, MD, Chair, 15     Sarah E. Bailey, MD, Member, 15         Elizabeth A. Blair, MD, Member, 15    Yu-Wai Jimmy Chan, MRCS, FCSHK, Member*, 16                     Carole Fakhry, MD, Member, 16           Christopher Edward Fundakowski, MD, Member, 16                    Neal D. Futran, MD, DMD, Member, 16                     Douglas A Girod, MD, Member, 16     Allen S. Ho, MD, Member, 15                Jason Patrick Hunt, MD, Member, 16  Scharukh Jalisi, MD, Member, 16         Alexander Langerman, MD, Member, 16 Derrick T. Lin, MD, Member, 16           Jeffrey C. Liu, MD, Member, 15            Michael G. Moore, MD, Member, 15    Chan W. Park, MD, Member, 15            Karen T. Pitman, MD, Member, 16        Mark E. Prince, MD, Member, 15          Jeremy D. Richmon, MD, Member, 15                         James W. Rocco, MD, PhD, Member, 16 Bhuvanesh Singh, MD, PhD, Member, 16 Brendan C. Stack, Jr, MD, Member, 15                        Ralph P. Tufano, MD, Member, 15        Steven J. Wang, MD, Member, 16         Barry L. Wenig, MD, MPH, Member, 16                     Barbara Wollenberg, MD, PhD, Member*, 16 David M. Cognetti, MD, Consultant, 16                     Daniel G. Deschler, MD, Consultant, 15                    Marion B. Gillespie, MD, Consultant, 16 Cecelia E. Schmalbach, MD, Consultant, 16 Dain G. Oswald, Staff Liaison              Microvascular Committee    Donald T. Weed, MD, Chair, 16            Keith A. Casper, MD, Member, 16        John J. Chi, MD, Member, 16                 Jason A. Diaz, MD, Member, 16            David P. Goldstein, MD, FRCSC, Member, 16 Christian Hasney, MD, Member, 16     Kevin M. Higgins, MD, FRCSC, Member, 16 Jeffrey J. Houlton, MD, Member, 15    Jeffrey B. Jorgensen, MD, Member, 15                        Kiran Kakarala, MD, Member, 16         Samir Khariwala, MD, Member, 16      Jason M. Leibowitz, MD, Member, 16                        Oleg N. Militsakh, MD, Member, 16    Brian A. Moore, MD, Member, 16         Jessica J. Peck, MD, Member, 16           Liana Puscas, MD, Member, 16             Jason Thomas Rich, MD, Member, 15 Marita S. Teng, MD, Member, 16           Paul A. Tennant, MD, Member, 16        Douglas B. Chepeha, MD, MSPH, Consultant, 16 D. Gregory Farwell, MD, Consultant, 16 Thomas J. Gal, Jr, MD, MPH, Consultant, 16 Matthew M. Hanasono, MD, Consultant, 16 Urjeet Patel, MD, Consultant, 16          Yelizaveta Shnayder, MD, Consultant, 16 Paul G. Van der Sloot, MD, Consultant, 16 Collin B. Grabarek, Staff Liaison         Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Committee    Donna J. Millay, MD, Chair, 15            Marcelo B. Antunes, MD, Member, 16                        Artemus J. Cox III, MD, Member, 15   Shaun Desai, MD, Member*, 15            William M. Guy, MD, Member*, 15    Benjamin D. Liess, MD, Member, 16   Daniel O. Manrique, MD, Member*, 16                      Jeff D. Markey, MD, Member*, 15        Kate E. McCarn, MD, Member, 16        John M. Morehead, MD, Member, 16   Larry L. Myers, MD, Member, 15          Mohsen Naraghi, MD, Member*, 15    Krishna G. Patel, MD, PhD, Member, 15 John S. Rhee, MD, MPH, Member, 15  Taha Z. Shipchandler, MD, Member, 16 Stefan W. Shuaib, MD, Member*, 15   Shelby G. Topp, MD, Member*, 15      Preston D. Ward, MD, Member, 16       Heather K. McGhee, Staff Liaison        Skull Base Surgery Committee            Gregory J. Artz, MD, Chair, 15              Seilesh Babu, MD, Member, 16             Anand K. Devaiah, MD, Member, 16   Rodney Diaz, MD, Member, 15             Ivan H. El-Sayed, MD, Member, 15      John C. Goddard, MD, Member, 15      Stacey T. Gray, MD, Member, 15           Brian D. Nicholas, MD, Member, 16    Ryan G. Porter, MD, Member, 16          Sampath Chandra Prasad Rao, MBBS, DNB, Member*, 16           Peter Santa Maria, MBBS, Member*, 16 B. Todd Schaeffer, MD, Member, 15     George B. Wanna, MD, Member, 16     Robert A. Williamson, MD, Member, 15 Erika A. Woodson, MD, Member, 15 Rhoda Wynn, MD, Member, 15             Rick A. Friedman, MD, PhD, Consultant, 16 Eric H. Holbrook, MD, Consultant, 15                       J. Walter Kutz, Jr, MD, Consultant, 15                       Dain G. Oswald, Staff Liaison              Trauma Committee              Joseph A. Brennan, MD, Chair, 15       Brian T. Andrews, MD, Member, 16     Ben J. Balough, MD, Member, 15          Jose E. Barrera, MD, Member, 15          Mark E. Boston, MD, Member, 15        Robert O. Brown III, MD, Member, 16                        Marion E. Couch, MD, PhD, Member, 15 Paul J. Donald, MD, Member, 15          Robert L. Eller, MD, Member, 15          Neal D. Futran, MD, DMD, Member, 16                     Jason C. Goodwin, MD, Member*, 15                        David K. Hayes, MD, Member, 15        Michael R. Holtel, MD, Member, 15    Robert M. Kellman, MD, Member, 16  Stephen C. Maturo, MD, Member, 15   Eric J. Moore, MD, Member, 15             Whitney A. Pafford, MD, Member, 16                         Douglas S. Ruhl, MD, Member*, 15     Cecelia E. Schmalbach, MD, Member, 16 Joseph C. Sniezek, MD, Member, 15    Christian L. Stallworth, MD, Member, 15 Courtney C. J. Voelker, MD, DPhil, Member, 15 Meghan N. Wilson, MD, Member*, 15                        G. Richard Holt, MD, D-BE, MSE, MPH, Consultant, 15             David Buckner, Staff Liaison                Hearing and Equilibrium Steering Committee Michael G. Stewart, MD, MPH, Chair, 15 Douglas D. Backous, MD, Member, 15                       Craig A. Buchman, MD, Member, 16    Joel A. Goebel, MD, Member, 15          Joy L. Trimmer, JD, Staff Liaison         Equilibrium Committee       Joel A. Goebel, MD, Chair, 15               Meredith E. Adams, MD, Member, 15 Oliver F. Adunka, MD, Member, 16     Yuri Agrawal, MD, Member, 15            Giacinto Asprella Libonati, MD, Member*, 16 James S. Atkins, Jr, MD, Member, 16  Sanjay Bhansali, MD, Member, 16       Jacob Brodsky, MD, Member, 16          Edward I. Cho, MD, Member, 16           Hamid R. Djalilian, MD, Member, 16  Simon W. Eisenberg, MBBCh, Member*, 16 David Kaylie, MD, Member, 16            J. Walter Kutz, Jr, MD, Member, 16     James Lin, MD, Member, 16                   Tomoko Makishima, MD, PhD, Member, 15 Hamed Sajjadi, MD, Member, 16          Kianoush Sheykholeslami, MD, PhD, Member, 16 James R. Carlson, MD, MBA, Consultant, 16 Lucio A. Castagno, MD, PhD, Consultant, 16 Sujana S. Chandrasekhar, MD, Consultant, 16 Jeremy Hornibrook, FRACS, Consultant, 16 Jeffrey J. Kuhn, MD, Consultant, 16   Allan M. Rubin, MD, PhD, Consultant, 15 Eric E. Smouha, MD, Consultant, 16   Judith A. White, MD, PhD, Consultant, 16 Lorraine Nnacheta, MPH, Staff Liaison                      Hearing Committee Douglas D. Backous, MD, Chair, 15    Alexander Ashford, MD, Member*, 15                       Marc L. Bennett, MD, Member, 15        Alexander G. Bien, MD, Member, 15   Kay W. Chang, MD, Member, 15           Alan G. Cheng, MD, Member, 16          Roberto A. Cueva, MD, Member, 15    Jose N. Fayad, MD, Member, 16            Neil A. Giddings, MD, Member, 15     Richard K. Gurgel, MD, Member, 16    Michael S. Harris, MD, Member*, 16   Tina C. Huang, MD, Member, 15           Ana H. Kim, MD, Member, 16               Greg R Licameli, MD, Member, 16       Frank R. Lin, MD, Member, 16              Cliff A. Megerian, MD, Member, 15     Sami J. Melki, MD, Member*, 15          Ted A. Meyer, MD PhD, Member, 16   Elias M. Michaelides, MD, Member, 15                      Kourosh Parham, MD, PhD, Member, 16 Ryan G. Porter, MD, Member, 15          Jess C. Roberts, MD, Member, 15         Cameron C. Wick, MD, Member*, 15  Sujana S. Chandrasekhar, MD, Consultant, 15 Robert A. Dobie, MD, Consultant, 15                         John L. Dornhoffer, MD, Consultant, 16 Robert K. Jackler, MD, Consultant, 15                       Alan G. Micco, MD, Consultant, 16    Leslie Caspersen, MBA, Staff Liaison                        Implantable Hearing Devices Committee           Craig A. Buchman, MD, Chair, 15         Oliver F. Adunka, MD, Member, 15     Kevin D. Brown, MD, PhD, Member, 16                    Daniela S. Carvalho, MD, Member, 15                        Douglas A. Chen, MD, Member, 15      Robert Cullen, MD, Member, 15           Adrien A. Eshraghi, MD, MSc, Member, 15 John C. Goddard, MD, Member, 15      Matthew B. Hanson, MD, Member, 15                        Douglas M. Hildrew, MD, Member*, 16                     Robert S. Hong, MD, Member, 16         Anita S. Jeyakumar, MD MS, Member, 16 J. Walter Kutz, Jr, MD, Member, 15     Kenneth H. Lee, MD, PhD, Member, 16                      Samuel C. Levine, MD, Member, 15     Christopher J. Linstrom, MD, Member, 15 Eric A. Mann, MD, PhD, Member, 16  Brian J. McKinnon, MD, MBA, Member, 16 Sean O. McMenomey, MD, Member, 16 Douglas S. Ruhl, MD, Member*, 15     Ravi N. Samy, MD, Member, 16            Jack A. Shohet, MD, Member, 16          Elizabeth H. Toh, MD, Member, 16      Jack J. Wazen, MD, Member, 15            Cameron C. Wick, MD, Member*, 16  Robert A. Williamson, MD, Member, 15 Soha N. Ghossaini, MD, Consultant, 15                    Jeffery J. Kuhn, MD, Consultant, 16   William H. Slattery III, MD, Consultant, 16 Nancy M. Young, MD, Consultant, 16                        Maureen Corrigan, Staff Liaison           International Steering Committee James E. Saunders, MD, Chair, 17        Susan R. Cordes, MD, Member, 16       Soha N. Ghossaini, MD, Member, 16  Patrick Joseph Gullane, MD, CM, FRCSC, FRCSI, Member, 16  K J Lee, MD, Member, 16 James L. Netterville, MD, Member, 16                        Milan Profant, MD, PhD, Member*, 15                       Marc J. Remacle, MD PhD, Member, 16                      Anatoly F. Romanchishen, MD, PhD, DSc, Member, 16                Ahmed M. S. Soliman, MD, Member, 15 Elizabeth H. Toh, MD, Member, 16      Gregory W. Randolph, MD, Consultant, 15 Nikhil J. Bhatt, MD, Ex-Officio, 15    Merry E. Sebelik, MD, Ex-Officio, 15                         Catherine R. Lincoln, CAE, MA (Oxon), Staff Liaison                 Humanitarian Efforts Committee       Merry E. Sebelik, MD, Chair, 15           Susan R. Cordes, MD, Vice Chair, 15  Anthony Del Signore, MD, Member, 15 Ronald W. Deskin, MD, Member, 15   Susan D. Emmett, MD, Member*, 16   Nazaneen N. Grant, MD, Member, 15  Clifford R. Hume, MD, PhD, Member, 16 Wayne M. Koch, MD, Member, 16       Alexander Langerman, MD, Member, 16 James P. Malone, MD, Member, 15       Anya J. Miller, MD, Member*, 15        Peggyann Berguer Nowak, MD, Member, 16 Roger C. Nuss, MD, Member, 15           Harold S. Pine, MD, Member, 15           Liana Puscas, MD, Member, 16             Mitchell J. Ramsey, MD, Member, 15  Carol G. Shores, MD PhD, Member, 16                       Mark G. Shrime, MD, Member, 15        James D. Sidman, MD, Member, 15      Sandra M. Skovlund, MD, Member, 15                       Peter G. Volsky, MD, Member*, 15     Brent Wilkerson, MD, Member*, 15    Eric P. Wilkinson, MD, Member, 16    Mark E. Zafereo, Jr, MD, Member, 15   Matthew L. Bush, MD, Consultant, 16                       Bruce H. Campbell, MD, Consultant, 16 Kevin L. Potts, MD, Consultant, 16    Bethany D. Clifton, Staff Liaison         International Otolaryngology Committee          Nikhil J. Bhatt, MD, Chair, 15               Carl H. Snyderman, MD, MBA, Chair-Elect, 15 Dunia Abdul-Aziz, MD, Member, 16  Zahoor Ahmad, MBBS, FRACS, Member, 16 Nicolas Y. BuSaba, MD, Member, 16  Juan A. Chiossone Kerdel, MA, MD, FRCS, Member*, 15           W J Cornay III, MD, Member, 16          Satoshi Fukuda, MD, PhD, Member*, 16 Mohammed A. Gomaa, MD, Member, 15 Sheng-Po Hao, MD, FICS, Member*, 16                     Anthony F. Jahn, MD, Member, 15      Herman A. Jenkins, MD, Member, 16  Rajesh S. Kakani, MD, Member, 16      Karen M. Kost, MD, FRCSC, Member, 16 Francis Marchal, MD, Member*, 16     Dinesh C. Mehta, MD, Member, 15      Shri K. Nadig, MD, FRCS, DLO, Member*, 16 Hassan H. Ramadan, MD, MSc, Member, 16 Nikhila P. Raol, MD, Member, 15         Michael J. Rutter, MD FRACS, Member, 15 Segun Segun-Busari, MBBS, FWACS FICS, Member*, 16 Aristides Sismanis, MD, Member, 15  Jesse G. Wardlow, Jr, MD, Member, 15                      K. John Yun, MD, Member, 16              David W. Clark, MD, Consultant, 15  Kevin Christopher McMains, MD, Consultant, 15 Samuel H. Selesnick, MD, Consultant, 16 Catherine R. Lincoln, CAE, MA (Oxon), Staff Liaison                 Panamerican Committee      Juan Manuel Garcia Gomez, MD, Chair, 16 Jacqueline Alvarado Medina, MD, Member*, 16 Hemendra N. Bhatnagar, MD, Member, 15 Emiro E. Caicedo Granados, MD, Member, 15 Gabriel Calzada, MD, Member, 16        Victor M. Da Costa, MD, Member, 16 Alejandra Daza, MD, Member*, 16      Leon-Felipe Garcia Lara, MD, Member*, 16 Hernan Goldsztein, MD, Member, 16  Adam M. Klein, MD, Member, 15         Luis A. Macias Fernandez, MD, Member*, 16 Anael B. Marinho, MD, Member*, 16  Mauricio A. Moreno-Vera, MD, Member, 16 Kevin D. Pereira, MD, MS(ORL), Member, 15 Steven Daniel Pletcher, MD, Member, 15 Edmund A. Pribitkin, MD, Member, 16                      Antonio J. Reyes Solarte, MD, Member*, 15 Alejandro Rivas, MD, Member, 16       Jonathon O. Russell, MD, Member*, 16                     Hector M. Santini, MD, Member, 15    Giovana R. Thomas, MD, Member, 16                         Tulio A. Valdez, MD, Member, 15        Alejandro M. Vargas Aguayo, MD, Member*, 16 Eric P. Wilkinson, MD, Member, 16    Richard L. Voegels, MD PhD, Consultant, 16 Catherine R. Lincoln, CAE, MA (Oxon), Staff Liaison                 Laryngology and Sleep Steering Committee Kathleen Yaremchuk, MD, MSA, Chair, 15 Joel H. Blumin, MD, Member, 15         Clark A. Rosen, MD, Member, 15         Thomas D. Killam, CAE, Staff Liaison                       Airway and Swallowing Committee   Joel H. Blumin, MD, Chair, 15              Stacey Leigh Halum, MD, Chair-Elect, 15 Jonathan M. Bock, MD, Member, 16    Paul C. Bryson, MD, Member, 15          Alexander T. Hillel, MD, Member, 15 Chandra M. Ivey, MD, Member, 16       Sid Khosla, MD, Member, 15                 Priya D. Krishna, MD, Member, 15      Catherine R. Lintzenich, MD, Member, 16 Donna Lundy, PhD, Member, 15          Richard K. McHugh, MD, PhD, Member, 15 Michele P. Morrison, DO, Member, 16                        Reza Nouraei, MA, MB, MRCS, Member, 15 Michael J. Pitman, MD, Member, 16    Lindsay Reder, MD, Member, 16          Scott M. Rickert, MD, Member, 16       Joshua B. Silverman, MD, PhD, Member, 15 Seckin Ulualp, MD, Member, 16           Philip A. Weissbrod, MD, Member, 15                       Christopher Wootten, MD, Member, 16 VyVy N. Young, MD, Member, 16       Milan R. Amin, MD, Consultant, 15    Alessandro de Alarcon, MD, Consultant, 15 Albert L. Merati, MD, Consultant, 15 Lynn Frischkorn, Staff Liaison             Sleep Disorders Committee  Kathleen Yaremchuk, MD, MSA, Chair, 15 Raj C. Dedhia, MD, Member, 15            Karuna Dewan, MD, Member, 15          Michael Friedman, MD, Member, 16    Norman R. Friedman, MD, DABSM, Member, 16    Oleg Froymovich, MD, Member, 16     Susan L. Garetz, MD, Member, 16        Jennifer C. Hsia, MD, Member, 15        Tod C. Huntley, MD, Member, 15         Alan Kominsky, MD, Member, 16       Michael J. Kortbus, MD, Member, 15  Douglas Carl Kubek, DO, Member, 16                        Andrea Furr Lewis, MD, Member, 15  Kevin E. McLaughlin, MD, Member, 15                     Caroline M. Schlocker, MD, Member, 15 Ryan J. Soose, MD, Member, 16            Gerald D. Suh, MD, Member, 15           Maria V. Suurna, MD, Member, 16       Ofer Jacobowitz, MD, PhD, Consultant, 16 Ho-sheng Lin, MD, Consultant, 16      Hsin-Ching Lin, MD, Consultant, 16  Pell Ann Wardrop, MD, Consultant, 15                     Jenna Minton, Esq, Staff Liaison         Voice Committee   Clark A. Rosen, MD, Chair, 15              Michael M. Johns III, MD                       Milan R. Amin, MD, Member, 15          Joseph P. Bradley, MD, Member*, 15  Ryan C. Branski, PhD, Member, 16      Thomas L. Carroll, MD, Member, 16    Joe D. Depietro, MD, Member*, 15      Gregory R. Dion, MD, Member*, 15    Norman D. Hogikyan, MD, Member, 16 Nausheen Jamal, MD, Member, 15       Richard Kelley, MD, Member, 16         Robbi A. Kupfer, MD, Member, 16      Catherine R. Lintzenich, MD, Member, 16 I-fan Theodore Mau, MD, PhD, Member, 15 Julina Ongkasuwan, MD, Member, 15                        Robert H. Ossoff, DMD, MD, Member, 16 Michael J. Pitman, MD, Member, 15    David E. Rosow, MD, Member, 15       C. Blake Simpson, MD, Member, 15    Libby J. Smith, DO, Member, 16          Salvatore J. Taliercio, MD, Member, 16                      Chad Whited, MD, Member*, 15          VyVy N. Young, MD, Member, 16       Katherine C. Yung, MD, Member, 16   Lee M. Akst, MD, Consultant, 15         David O. Francis, MD, Consultant, 15                        Jeanne M. McIntyre, CAE, Staff Liaison                    Member Relations Steering Committee Gayle E. Woodson, MD. Chair, 15       Sujana S. Chandrasekhar, MD, Chair- Elect, 15 Nikhil J. Bhatt, MD, Member, 15          David W. Kennedy, MD, Member, 15 Pierre Lavertu, MD, Member, 15           Lawrence R. Lustig, MD, Member, 15 Wendy B. Stern, MD, Member, 15        Christine Blanche Franzese, MD, Member, 15 Thomas D. Killam, CAE, Staff Liaison                       Credentials and Membership Committee          Pierre Lavertu, MD, Chair, 15                Nicolas Y. BuSaba, MD, Member, 15  Edward J. Damrose, MD, Member, 16 Brendan Gaylis, MD, Member, 16        Michael S. Harris, MD, Member, 16     Jennifer Y. Lee, MD, Member, 16         Ellie Maghami, MD, Member, 15          Nitin A. Pagedar, MD, Member, 16       Matthew J. Provenzano, MD, Member, 16 Eileen M. Raynor, MD, Member, 15     Imran Samad, MD, Member, 16              Joshua Tokita, MD, Member*, 15         Chad A. Zender, MD, Member, 16         Thomas D. Killam, CAE, Staff Liaison                       Rodneikka Scott, MSMC, Staff Liaison                      Development Committee      Nikhil J. Bhatt, MD, Chair, 15               Sujana S. Chandrasekhar, MD, Member, 16 David R. Edelstein, MD, Member, 16  Lee D. Eisenberg, MD, MPH, Member, 16 Stacey L. Ishman, MD, MPH, Member, 16 Phillip L. Massengill, MD, Member, 15                      Spencer C. Payne, MD, Member, 16      Anna M. Pou, MD, Member, 16             Ira D. Uretzky, MD, Member, 16           Pell Ann Wardrop, MD, Member, 16   Mark K. Wax, MD, Member, 15             Ken Yanagisawa, MD, Member, 15      Jay S. Youngerman, MD, Member, 15  Mark E. Zafereo, Jr, MD, Member, 16   Ron Sallerson, CFRE, Staff Liaison     Diversity Committee             Lisa C. Perry-Gilkes, MD, Chair, 16    Melynda A. Barnes, MD, Member, 15  Candice C. Colby, MD, Member, 15     Opeyemi Daramola, MD, Member, 15 Valerie A. Flanary, MD, Member, 15   Carrie L. Francis, MD, Member, 16       Tamer Abdel-Halim Ghanem, MD, PhD, Member, 15                     Soha N. Ghossaini, MD, Member, 15  Mohammed A. Gomaa, MD, Member*, 16 Adedoyin Kalejaiye, MD, Member*, 15                     Ted H. Leem, MD, Member, 15              Christina M. McAlpin, MD, Member, 16                    Miriam I. Redleaf, MD, Member, 15     Farrah N. Siddiqui, MD, Member, 16   Tulio A. Valdez, MD, Member, 15        Kimberly N. Vinson, MD, Member, 15                       Jesse G. Wardlow, Jr, MD, Member, 15                      Troy D. Woodard, MD, Member, 16     Noriko Yoshikawa, MD, Member, 16 Phyllis B. Bouvier, MD, Consultant, 16                     Gina D. Jefferson, MD, Consultant, 16                       Charles E. Moore, MD, Consultant, 16                       Duane J. Taylor, MD, Consultant, 16  Janelle Tait, Staff Liaison                       History and Archives Committee        Lawrence R. Lustig, MD, Chair, 15      Marc D. Eisen, MD, PhD, Chair-Elect, 15 John M. Carter, MD, Member*, 16        Michael B. Cohen, MD, Member*, 15  Secundino Fernandez, MD PhD, Member*, 16 John K. Jarboe, MD, Member, 15          Christopher P. Poje, MD, Member, 15 Anais Rameau, MD, Member*, 16        Samuel H. Selesnick, MD, Member, 15                       Blakely N. Thornton, MD, Member*, 16 Calhoun D. Cunningham III, MD, Consultant, 16 David R. Edelstein, MD, Consultant, 16                    Eric P. Wilkinson, MD, Consultant, 16                      William A. Wood, MD, Consultant, 16                      Catherine R. Lincoln, CAE, MA (Oxon), Staff Liaison                 Media and Public Relations Committee             Wendy B. Stern, MD, Chair, 15             Dale A. Tyler, MD, Chair-Elect, 16      C. W. David Chang, MD, Member, 16  Christopher Y. Chang, MD, Member, 16 Hamad Chaudhary, MD, Member*, 16                        Antoine Eskander, MD, Member*, 16                         Michael Friedman, MD, Member, 16    Christina M. Gillespie, MD, Member, 15 Steven T. Kmucha, MD JD, Member, 16 Priya D. Krishna, MD, Member, 15      Christina M. McAlpin, MD, Member, 16                    Colleen T. Plein, MD, Member*, 15     James E. Saunders, MD, Member, 15   Gordon J. Siegel, MD, Member, 15       Gordon H. Sun, MD, MS, Member, 15                         Duane J. Taylor, MD, Member, 15        Marcella R. Bothwell, MD, Consultant, 16 Boris Chernobilsky, MD, Consultant, 15 Christopher R. Grindle, MD, Consultant, 16 Rajesh S. Kakani, MD, Consultant, 15                        Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, Consultant, 16 Lindsey Walter, Staff Liaison               Section for Residents and Fellow-in-Training Governing Council  Kanwar S. Kelley, MD, JD, Chair, 15  Meghan N. Wilson, MD, Vice Chair, 15                     Nikhila P. Raol, MD, Immediate Past Chair, 15 Kara Davis, MD, Member-at-Large, 15                        John M. Carter, MD, Information Officer, 15 David S. Cohen, MD, BOG Governor, 15                  Peter M. Vila, MD, BOG Legislative Representative, 15 Claire M. Lawlor, MD, BOG Socioeconomic and Grassroots Rep, 15              Michael Bassiri-Tehrani, MD, ABOto Representative, 15            Kara Davis, MD, SUO Delegate, 15     Frank G. Garritano, MD, RAS-ACS Delegate, 15     Joshua B. Green, MD, AMA Alternate Delegate, 15                       Rebecca S. Harvey, MD, SUO Alternate Delegate, 15                     Douglas M. Hildrew, MD, ENTPAC SRF Rep, 15                   Rosemary B. Ojo, MD, ABOto Liaison, 15 Arjun Parasher, MD, AMA Delegate, 15 Jordan Paul Sand, Alternate, 15            Richard N. Carson, Jr, Staff Liaison     Bethany D. Clifton, Staff Liaison         Women in Otolaryngology Governing Council  Christine Blanche Franzese, MD, Chair, 15 Kathleen Yaremchuk, MD, MSA, Chair-Elect, 15   Mona M. Abaza, MD, Immediate Past Chair, 15       A. Kristina E. Hart, MD, Information Officer/Secretary, 16         Pell Ann Wardrop, MD, Financial Officer, 15 A. Kristina E. Hart, MD, Historian, 15                       Dale A. Tylor, MD, Member-at-Large, 15 Suzanne Kim Doud Galli, MD, PhD, Member-at-Large, 16          Sujana S. Chandrasekhar, MD, Member, 15 Richard N. Carson, Jr, Staff Liaison     Bethany D. Clifton, Staff Liaison         Young Physicians Section Governing Council   Lawrence M. Simon, MD, Chair, 15     Samantha Anne, MD, Chair-Elect, 15  Ayesha N. Khalid, MD, Immediate Past Chair, 15 Lauren C. Anderson de Moreno, MD, Member, 15  Leslie Asbury, MD, Member, 16           Daniel C. Chelius, Jr, MD, Member, 15                       Maura Cosetti, MD, Member, 16           Gregory R. Dion, MD, Member, 16       Carrie L. Francis, MD, Member, 15       Mary E. Gorman, MD, Member, 16       Trevor G. Hackman, MD, Member, 16 David L. Horn, MD, Member, 16          Jonathan C. Kopelovich, MD, Member, 16 Jeffrey C. Liu, MD, Member, 15            Alexander R. Manteghi, MD, Member, 15 Abby R. Nolder, MD, Member, 16        Jeremy D. Prager, MD, Member, 15       Jeffrey C. Rastatter, MD, Member, 16  Amy Richter, MD, Member, 15              Michelle M. Roeser, MD, Member, 16 Sarah L. Rohde, MD, Member, 16         Kevin F. Wilson, MD, Member, 16      David H. Hiltzik, MD, Consultant, 15                        Michael E. Stadler, MD, Consultant, 15                     Rhoda Wynn, MD, Consultant, 15       Richard N. Carson, Jr, Staff Liaison     Bethany D. Clifton, Staff Liaison         Patient Groups Steering Committee Wendy B. Stern, MD, Chair, 15             Allan M. Rubin, MD PhD, Member, 16                       David E. Tunkel, MD, Member, 15       Jeanne M. McIntyre, CAE, Staff Liaison                    Geriatric Otolaryngology Committee  Allan M. Rubin, MD, PhD, Chair, 16   Joseph P. Bradley, MD, Member, 15    Daniel H. Coelho, MD, Member, 16     David R. Edelstein, MD, Member, 15  Seth Chalmers Janus, MD, Member, 15 William I. Kuhel, MD, Member, 15      Christopher G. Larsen, MD, Member, 15 Frank R. Lin, MD, Member, 16              Susan D. McCammon, MD, Member, 16 Brian J. McKinnon, MD MBA, Member, 16 Natasha Mirza, MD, Member, 16           Carrie L. Nieman, MD, MPH, Member*, 16 Kourosh Parham, MD, PhD, Member, 15 Natasha Pollak, MD MS, Member, 16  Elliot Regenbogen, MD, Member, 16   John H. Shelby, MD, Member, 16         Ozlem E. Tulunay-Ugur, MD, Member, 15 Courtney C. J. Voelker, MD, DPhil, Member, 16                    Yuri Agrawal, MD, Consultant, 15      Karen M. Kost, MD, FRCSC, Consultant, 15 Robert I. Oberhand, MD, Consultant, 16 Michael J. Pitman, MD, Consultant, 16                      Stephen J. Wetmore, MD, Consultant, 16 Jeanne M. McIntyre, CAE, Staff Liaison                    Pediatric Otolaryngology Committee  David E. Tunkel, MD, Chair, 15            David R. White, MD, Chair-Elect, 15  Margo M. Benoit, MD, Member, 16      Kathleen R. Billings, MD, Member, 16                       Jeffrey Cheng, MD, Member, 16            Shelagh A. Cofer, MD, Member, 16      Eric A. Gantwerker, MD, Member, 16 Steven L. Goudy, MD, Member, 16      Eliav Gov-Ari, MD, Member, 15          Russel Kahmke, MD, Member*, 16      Timothy Lander, MD, Member, 16       Deepak Mehta, FRCS, DLO, Member, 16 Jeremy D. Meier, MD, Member, 16       Laura L. Neff, MD, Member, 16             Maria T. Pena, MD, Member, 15             James W. Schroeder, Jr, MD, Member, 16 Denise Sherman, MD, Member, 16       Joshua B. Silverman, MD, PhD, Member, 15 Jeffrey P. Simons, MD, Member, 16     Megan Marcinko, Staff Liaison             Research & Quality Steering Committee Lisa E. Ishii, MD, MHS, Chair, 16        David R. Friedland, MD PhD, Member, 16 Christine G. Gourin, MD, Member, 15                        David W. Roberson, MD, Member, 15                        Richard M. Rosenfeld, MD, MPH, Member, 15 Rodney J. Schlosser, MD, Member, 17                        Seth R. Schwartz, MD MPH, Member, 15 Rahul K. Shah, MD, Member, 15           Jennifer J. Shin, MD SM, Member, 16 Jean Brereton, MBA, Staff Liaison       Outcomes, Research, and Evidence-Based Medicine Committee     Jennifer J. Shin, MD SM, Chair, 16      Seth M. Cohen, MD, MPH, Member, 16                      Greg E. Davis, MD, MPH, Member, 15                        Antoine Eskander, MD, Member*, 15                         Lisa E. Ishii, MD, MHS, Member, 15   Stacey L. Ishman, MD, MPH, Member, 16 Eric J. Kezirian, MD MPH, Member, 15                      Stella Lee, MD, Member, 15                   Walter T. Lee, MD, Member, 16             Stephanie Misono, MD, MPH, Member, 16 Melissa A. Pynnonen, MD, Member, 16 Seth R. Schwartz, MD, MPH, Member, 15 Rodney J. Schlosser, MD, Member, 16                        Stephanie Shintani Smith, MD, Member, 15 Gordon H. Sun, MD, MS, Member, 15                         Marc C. Thorne, MD, Member, 16         Debra G. Weinberger, MD, Member, 15 Scott E. Brietzke, MD, MPH, Consultant, 16 Samir Khariwala, MD, Consultant, 16                        Giri Venkatraman, MD, MBA, Consultant, 16 Maureen Corrigan, Staff Liaison Stephanie L. Jones, Staff Liaison         Patient Safety & Quality Improvement Committee          David W. Roberson, MD, Co-Chair, 15                      Rahul K. Shah, MD, Co-Chair, 15         Michael J. Brenner, MD, Chair-Elect, 15                    Julie L. Goldman, MD, Chair-Elect, 15                      Emily F. Boss, MD, MPH, Member, 15                       Ellen S. Deutsch, MD, Member, 15      Berrylin J. Ferguson, MD, Member, 16                        Jedidiah J. Grisel, MD, Member, 15     Mimi S. Kokoska, MD, Member, 15     Jonathan C. Kopelovich, MD, Member, 16 Sean M. Lewis, MD, Member*, 15        Michael E. McCormick, MD, Member, 15 Brian Nussenbaum, MD, Member, 15  Ryan K. Sewell, MD, Member, 15         Margaret L. Skinner, MD, Member, 15                         Carl H. Snyderman, MD, MBA, Member, 16 Robert J. Stachler, MD, Member, 16     Giri Venkatraman, MD, MBA, Member, 15 Peter M. Vila, MD, Member*, 15           Daniel L. Wohl, MD, Member, 16        John J. Zappia, MD, Member, 15           Reginald F. Baugh, MD, Consultant, 15                      C. W. David Chang, MD, Consultant, 16                    David H. Chi, MD, Consultant, 16       Benjamin D. Malkin, MD, Consultant, 16 Edward J. Shin, MD, Consultant, 15   Michael E. Stadler, MD, Consultant, 15                     Mark A. Varvares, MD, Consultant, 16                       Jean Brereton, MBA, Staff Liaison       Gene Cunningham, MS, Staff Liaison Rhinology, Allergy, Immunology, & Infectious Diseases Steering Committee Paul T. Fass, MD, Chair, 15                     Farrel J. Buchinsky, MBChB, Member, 15 Joseph Han, MD, Member, 16                James W. Mims, MD, Member, 15        R. Christopher Miyamoto, MD, Member, 16 Thomas D. Killam, CAE, Staff Liaison                       Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology Committee James W. Mims, MD, Chair, 15             Mary G. Ashmead, MD, Member*, 15 Jay Chavda, MD, Member, 15                Cecelia Damask, DO, Member, 16        Douglas E. Dawson, MD, Member, 16                        Nathan A. Deckard, MD, Member, 16  Jean Kim, MD PhD, Member, 15           Benjamin D. Liess, MD, Member, 16   Amber U. Luong, MD PhD, Member, 15 Jacques C. Peltier, MD, Member, 15     Michael P. Platt, MD, Member, 16        Minka L. Schofield, MD, Member, 15 Ahmad R. Sedaghat, MD, Member*, 15 Samuel E. Sprehe, MD, Member, 16     Elina M. Toskala, MD PhD, Member, 16                    Maria C. Veling, MD, Member, 16        Sarah K. Wise, MD, Member, 16           Barbara Wollenberg, MD, PhD, Consultant, 16 Karen H. Calhoun, MD, Consultant, 15                    Stephanie L. Jones, Staff Liaison   Infectious Disease Committee Farrel J. Buchinsky, MBChB, Chair, 15                      Fuad M. Baroody, MD, Member, 15     Swapna K. Chandran, MD, Member, 16 Titus Sunday Ibekwe, MBBS, FWACS, Member*, 16                    Evelyn A. Kluka, MD, Member, 16      Li-Xing Man, MSc, MD, Member, 16   Michael D. Poole, MD PhD, Member, 16 Matthew W. Ryan, MD, Member, 15    Eric W. Sargent, MD, Member, 16         Segun Segun-Busari, MBBS, FWACS, FICS, Member*, 16           Alan H. Shikani, MD, Member, 16       Michael P. Underbrink, MD, Member, 16 Tulio A. Valdez, MD, Member, 15        Eric W. Wang, MD, Member, 16            Joseph E. Dohar, MD, Consultant, 16                         Yosef P. Krespi, MD, Consultant, 16  Gene Cunningham, MS, Staff Liaison Rhinology & Paranasal Sinus Committee          Joseph Han, MD, Chair, 16                     Mary G. Ashmead, MD, Member*, 15 James H. Atkins, Jr, MD, Member, 15 Nathan A. Deckard, MD, Member, 16  Frederick A. Godley III, MD, Member, 16 Stacey T. Gray, MD, Member, 16           Andrew Lane, MD, Member, 15            Jivianne Lee, MD, Member, 15              Kevin W. Lollar, MD, Member, 15       Jeremy D. Meier, MD, Member, 16       Richard R. Orlandi, MD, Member, 16  Aaron N. Pearlman, MD, Member, 15  Eric S. Rosenberger, MD, Member, 16 Nathan B. Sautter, MD, Member, 16     Andrew J. Victores, MD, Member*, 15                       Kevin C. Welch, MD, Member, 16        Michael S. Benninger, MD, Consultant, 16 Yosef P. Krespi, MD, Consultant, 16  Graciela Pepe, MD, PhD, Consultant, 16 Scott P. Stringer, MD, Consultant, 16  Danielle Jarchow, Esq., Staff Liaison Treatment Modalities Steering Committee Duane J. Taylor, MD, Chair, 16             Subinoy Das, MD, Member, 15             Anand K. Devaiah, MD, Member, 15   R. Christopher Miyamoto, MD, Member, 16 Jean Brereton, MBA, Staff Liaison       Complementary/Integrative Medicine Committee             Marilene B. Wang, MD, Chair, 15         Gregory J. Artz, MD, Member, 15         Agnes Czibulka, MD, Member, 15        Joseph R. Di Bartolomeo, MD, Member, 15 Jason C. Goodwin, MD, Member*, 15                        Srinivas R. Kaza, MD, Member, 16       Michael J. Kelleher, MD, Member, 15 Elizabeth A. Leon, MD, Member, 15   Tomoko Makishima, MD, PhD, Member, 15 Chau T. Nguyen, MD, Member, 16        Jing Shen, MD, Member, 15                    Malcolm B. Taw, MD, Member, 16       Keith M. Wilson, MD, Member, 15      Edmund A. Pribitkin, MD, Consultant, 15 Colleen Kmiecik, Staff Liaison             Imaging Committee              R. Christopher Miyamoto, MD, Chair, 16 Jay Chavda, MD, Member, 15                David R. Friedmann, MD, Member, 16                        Neil Gildener-Leapman, MD, Member, 15 Michael S. Harris, MD, Member*, 16   Selena E. Heman-Ackah, MD, MBA, Member, 16    Hung J. Kim, , Member, 15                      Christopher Klem, MD, Member, 16    Kevin X. McKennan, MD, Member, 16                       Lisa A. Orloff, MD, Member, 16           Matthew J. Provenzano, MD, Member, 16 Jeremy T. Reed, MD, Member, 16          Joseph Scharpf, MD, Member, 16         Gavin Setzen, MD, Member, 16             Robert A. Sofferman, MD, Member, 16 N. Wendell Todd, MD. MPH, Member, 16 David B. Conley, MD, Consultant, 16                        Jolene Eicher, Consultant, 16                Karen T. Pitman, MD, Consultant, 16  Robert Pizzutiello, Jr., MS, PMP, Consultant, 16 Koichi Tomoda, MD, PhD, Consultant, 16 Danielle Jarchow, Esq., Staff Liaison Medical Devices and Drugs Committee              Anand K. Devaiah, MD, Chair, 16        Michael Broniatowski, MD, Member, 16 Edward J. Damrose, MD, Member, 16 James J. Daniero, MD, Member, 16      Paul C. Frake, MD, Member, 16             Ethan B. Handler, MD, Member, 16     Rajesh S. Kakani, MD, Member, 15      Eric J. Kezirian, MD MPH, Member, 16                      Kenneth H. Lee, MD PhD, Member, 16                       Anthony Mikulec, MD, Member, 16    Kevin D. Pereira, MD, MS(ORL), Member, 15 Frank L Rimell, MD, Member, 15         Bryan N. Rolfes, MD, Member*, 15     Davud Baradaran Sirjani, MD, Member, 15 Sven-Olrik Streubel, MD, Member, 16                        Rhoda Wynn, MD, Member, 15             Ofer Jacobowitz, MD, PhD, Consultant, 16 John T. Lanza, MD, Consultant, 16      Jennifer L. Long, MD, PhD, Consultant, 16 Eric A. Mann, MD, PhD, Consultant, 16                    Scott R. Schoem, MD, Consultant, 16 Udayan K. Shah, MD, Consultant, 16 Harrison Peery, Staff Liaison                 Medical Informatics Committee          Jayde M. Steckowych, MD, Chair, 16  Subinoy Das, MD, Co-Chair, 16           Gregory A. Ator, MD, Member, 16       Patrick C. Barth, MD, Member, 16        Jason P. Calligas, MD, Member*, 15    Alexander Gelbard, MD, Member, 16  Lawrence J. Gordon, MD, Member, 15                        Joseph E. Hart, MD, MS, Member, 16  Allen S. Ho, MD, Member, 15                Alexander Malone, MD, Member*, 15                        Lance Anthony Manning, MD, Member, 16 Sachin Pawar, MD, Member, 16             Joseph W. Rohrer, MD, Member, 16    Joshua D. Rosenberg, MD, Member, 16 Afser Shariff, MD, Member, 16              Gordon H. Sun, MD, MS, Member, 16                         Shelby G. Topp, MD, Member*, 16      Eloy Villasuso III, MD, Member, 16   K J Lee, MD, Consultant, 16                  Mike A. Robey, Staff Liaison                Education Steering Committee Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, Chair, 15       Kenny H. Chan, MD, Member, 15         Sukgi S. Choi, MD, Member, 16            Stacey L. Ishman, MD, MPH, Member, 15 J. Randall Jordan, MD, Member, 15     Bradley W. Kesser, MD, Member, 15   Daniel J. Kirse, MD, Member, 16          Catherine R. Lintzenich, MD, Member, 15 Karen T. Pitman, MD, Member, 15        Eben L. Rosenthal, MD, Member, 16   Brent A. Senior, MD, Member, 16         Richard V. Smith, MD, Member, 16     Brendan C. Stack, Jr, MD, Member, 16                        Mary Pat Cornett, CAE, CMP, Staff Liaison Bryan May, Staff Liaison                        Audrey E. Shively, MSHSE, MCHES, CCMEP, Staff Liaison     Core Otolaryngology & Practice Management Education Committee            Brendan C. Stack, Jr, MD, Chair, 16     Manali S. Amin, MD, Member HSC, 16                      Marina Boruk, MD, Member HSC, 16  Scott E. Brietzke, MD, MPH, Member HSC, 18 David J. Brown, MD, Member HSC, 18                      Cristina Cabrera-Muffly, MD, Member, 16 Swapna K. Chandran, MD, Member, 16 Roger W. Farmer, MD, Member, 15       Eric M. Gessler, MD, Member HSC, 16                       Christopher Gouveia, MD, Member*, 15 David M. Jakubowicz, MD, Member, 15 Anita S. Jeyakumar, MD, MS, Member, 16 Cristine N. Klatt-Cromwell, MD, Member*, 15 Timothy D. Knudsen, MD, Member, 16                      Charles F. Koopmann, Jr, MD, MHSA, Member, 16 Jennifer Y. Lee, MD, Member, 16         H. Baltzer LeJeune, MD, Member HSC, 16 Lance Anthony Manning, MD, Member, 16 Johnathan D. McGinn, MD, Member HSC, 16 Frank R. Miller, MD, Member, 16         Graciela Pepe, MD, PhD, Member*, 16                       Nina L. Shapiro, MD, Member, 16        Edward J. Shin, MD, Member, 15         Lawrence M. Simon, MD, Member HSC, 16 Vasu Divi, MD, Consultant, 16            Christopher H. Rassekh, MD, Consultant, 16 Elie E. Rebeiz, MD, Consultant, 16     Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, BOD Liaison, 15 Bryan May, Staff Liaison                        Audrey E. Shively, MSHSE, MCHES, CCMEP, Staff Liaison     Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Education Committee      J. Randall Jordan, MD, Chair, 15          Todd M. Brickman, MD, Member HSC, 16 Scott R. Chaiet, MD, Member, 16          John J. Chi, MD, Member, 16                 Benjamin W. Cilento, MD, Member HSC, 18 Suzanne Kim Doud Galli, MD, PhD, Member, 16 Hugo Galera-Ruiz, MD, PhD, Member*, 16 Clinton D. Humphrey, MD, Member, 15 Andrea Jarchow, MD, Member, 16       Maurice M. Khosh, MD, Member, 16   Kate E. McCarn, MD, Member, 16        Steven R. Mobley, MD, Member, 15    Krista L. Olson, MD, Member, 16        Samuel L. Oyer, MD, Member*, 15      Eunice E. Park, MD, MPH, Member HSC, 18 Edmund A. Pribitkin, MD, Member HSC, 16 Scott B. Roofe, MD, Member, 16           Mahdi A. Shkoukani, MD, Member, 15                      Neil Tanna, MD, Member, 16                 Travis T. Tollefson, MD, MPH, Member HSC, 16    Preston D. Ward, MD, Member HSC, 16 Ivan Wayne, MD, Member, 16               Anthony E. Brissett, MD, Consultant, 15 Paul J. Carniol, MD, Consultant, 16    Robert W. Dolan, MD, Consultant, 16                        Rebecca Fraioli, MD, Consultant, 16   Robert M. Kellman, MD, Consultant, 16 Donna J. Millay, MD, Ex-Officio, 15  Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, BOD Liaison, 15 Bryan May, Staff Liaison                        Audrey E. Shively, MSHSE, MCHES, CCMEP, Staff Liaison     General Otolaryngology Education Committee Karen T. Pitman, MD, Chair, 16             Stacey L. Ishman, MD, MPH, Chair-Elect, 15 Lauren C. Anderson de Moreno, MD, Member, 15  Steven S Ball, MD, Member, 15             Matthew L. Carlson, MD, Member, 15                        Robert H. Chun, MD, Member, 15        James I. Cohen, MD, PhD, Member HSC, 18 Jeffrey S. Fichera, PA-C, Member, 16   Stacey T. Gray, MD, Member, 15           Amy Clark Hessel, MD, Member HSC, 16 Evelyne Kalyoussef, MD, Member, 16                       Kanwar S. Kelley, MD, JD, Member, 15                     Phillip S. LoSavio, MD, Member, 15   Ian K. Mcleod, MD, Member HSC, 16 Jason Meyers, MD, Member*, 15          C. Elliott Morgan, MD, DMD, Member, 16 Minka L. Schofield, MD, Member HSC, 16 Rodney J. Taylor, MD, MSPH, Member HSC, 16     Andrea S. Wang, MD, Member, 16        Hiroshi Watanabe, MD, Member*, 16                         Philip E. Zapanta, MD, Member HSC, 18 Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, BOD Liaison, 15 Bryan May, Staff Liaison                        Audrey E. Shively, MSHSE, MCHES, CCMEP, Staff Liaison     Head and Neck Surgery Education Committee Richard V. Smith, MD, Chair, 16          Isaac A. Bohannon, MD, Member, 16  Marc A. Cohen, MD, Member, 16          Audrey Erman, MD, Member, 16          Christian Hasney, MD, Member, 16     Chase Heaton, MD, Member*, 15         Benjamin L. Judson, MD, Member, 15                        Russel Kahmke, MD, Member*, 15      Samir Khariwala, MD, Member, 16      Greg Krempl, MD, Member HSC, 15    Alexander Langerman, MD, Member, 16 Ted H. Leem, MD, Member HSC, 19    Derrick T. Lin, MD, Member, 16           Kelly Michele Malloy, MD, Member, 15                    Oleg N. Militsakh, MD, Member, 15    Frank R. Miller, MD, Member, 16         Matthew O. Old, MD, Member, 15       Urjeet Patel, MD, Member, 15                Yash J. Patil, MD, Member HSC, 15    Mark E. Prince, MD, Member HSC, 17                        Liana Puscas, MD, Member, 16             Jeremy D. Richmon, MD, Member, 15                         William R. Ryan, MD, Member, 15      Joseph Scharpf, MD, Member HSC, 15                       Bradley Schiff, MD, Member HSC, 19                         Yelizaveta Shnayder, MD, Member, 16 Robert J. Sinard, MD, Member, 16        Bhuvanesh Singh, MD, PhD, Member HSC, 17 Steven M. Sperry, MD, Member, 16      Michael E. Stadler, MD, Member, 15   Jeffrey S. Wolf, MD, Member HSC, 17                        Alfred A. Simental, Jr, MD, Consultant, 15 Joseph C. Sniezek, MD, Consultant, 15                      Gregory J. Artz, MD, Ex-Officio, 15    Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, BOD Liaison, 15 Bryan May, Staff Liaison                        Audrey E. Shively, MSHSE, MCHES, CCMEP, Staff Liaison     Laryngology & Bronchoesophagology Education Committee         Catherine R. Lintzenich, MD, Chair, 15                      Lee M. Akst, MD, Member HSC, 19     Ronda E. Alexander, MD, Member, 16                        James A. Burns, MD, Member HSC, 15                       Thomas L. Carroll, MD, Member HSC, 17 Edward J. Damrose, MD, Member, 16 Brad W. DeSilva, MD, Member HSC, 17                    Ellen S. Deutsch, MD, Member, 15      Alexander Gelbard, MD, Member, 16  Amanda C. Hu, MD, Member, 15          Romaine F. Johnson, MD, Member, 16                       Katherine A. Kendall, MD, Member, 16                     Priya D. Krishna, MD, Member HSC, 17                    Maggie A. Kuhn, MD, Member, 15       Deepak Mehta, FRCS, DLO, Member, 16 Claudio F. Milstein, PhD, CCC-SLP, Member, 16 Matthew C. Mori, MD, Member, 15      Michele P. Morrison, DO, Member, 15                        Robert H. Ossoff, DMD, MD, Member, 16 Linnea Peterson, MD, Member HSC, 15                     Kristina W. Rosbe, MD, Member HSC, 15 David E. Rosow, MD, Member HSC, 19                     Maya G. Sardesai, MD, MEd, Member, 16 Chih-Kwang Sung, MD, Member HSC, 17 Mona M. Abaza, MD, Consultant, 15  Kenneth W. Altman, MD, PhD, Consultant, 15 Robert F. Ward, MD, Consultant, 15   Sonya Malekzadeh, MD BOD Liaison, 15 Bryan May, Staff Liaison                        Audrey E. Shively, MSHSE, MCHES, CCMEP, Staff Liaison     Otology and Neurotology Education Committee               Bradley W. Kesser, MD, Chair, 15        Simon I. Angeli, MD, Member HSC, 15                      Seilesh Babu, MD, Member, 15             David M. Barrs, MD, Member HSC, 19                       Marc L. Bennett, MD, Member, 15        Matthew Carfrae, MD, Member, 16       David H. Chi, MD, Member, 16             Daniel H. Coelho, MD, Member, 15     Maura Cosetti, MD, Member, 16           James V. Crawford, MD, Member, 15  Adrien A. Eshraghi, MD, MSc, Member, 16 John C. Goddard, MD, Member, 15      Brandon Isaacson, MD, Member HSC, 15 Darius Kohan, MD, Member HSC, 17 Harrison W. Lin, MD, Member, 15       Cliff A. Megerian, MD, Member HSC, 17 Brian D. Nicholas, MD, Member, 16    Bradley P. Pickett, MD, Member, 15    J. Thomas Roland, Jr, MD, Member HSC, 17 Eric E. Smouha, MD, Member, 16         Betty S. Tsai, MD, Member, 16              George B. Wanna, MD, Member, 16     Cameron C. Wick, MD, Member, 16     Erika A. Woodson, MD, Member, 15  Daniel M. Zeitler, MD, Member HSC, 19 Calhoun D. Cunningham III, MD, Society Rep, 16  Blake C. Papsin, MD, FRCSC, Society Rep, 16 Richard K. Gurgel, MD, Consultant, 16                      Maroun Semaan, MD, Consultant, 16  Bryan May, Staff Liaison                        Audrey E. Shively, MSHSE, MCHES, CCMEP, Staff Liaison     Pediatric Otolaryngology Education Committee               Kenny H. Chan, MD, Chair, 16              Cristina Baldassari, MD, Member, 16  Joshua R. Bedwell, MD, Member, 16   Matthew T. Brigger, MD, Member HSC, 16 John M. Carter, MD, Member*, 15        Eunice Y. Chen, MD PhD, Member HSC, 16 Alan G. Cheng, MD, Member, 16          Tendy Chiang, MD, Member, 15            William O. Collins, MD, Member HSC, 16 Nira A. Goldstein, MD, MPH, Member, 15 Carlos Gonzalez Aquino, MD, Member, 15 Johannes Fredrik Grimmer, MD, Member HSC, 18 Noel Jabbour, MD, Member, 16            Anita S. Jeyakumar, MD, MS, Member, 15 Shelby C. Leuin, MD, Member, 16       Kevin D. Pereira, MD, MS(ORL), Member, 15 Jeffrey C. Rastatter, MD, Member HSC, 18 Luke J. Schloegel, MD, Member, 16     Andrew R. Scott, MD, Member, 16       Udayan K. Shah, MD, Member HSC, 16                     Marc C. Thorne, MD, Member HSC, 16                       David R White, MD, Member, 15         Todd M. Wine, MD, Member, 16           Carlton J. Zdanski, MD, Member HSC, 18 Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, BOD Liaison, 15 Stacey L. Ishman, MD, MPH, Consultant, 15 Bryan May, Staff Liaison                        Audrey E. Shively, MSHSE, MCHES, CCMEP, Staff Liaison     Rhinology & Allergy Education Committee      Brent A. Senior, MD, Chair, 16              Mary G. Ashmead, MD, Member*, 15 Fuad M. Baroody, MD, Member HSC, 15 Pete S. Batra, MD, Member, 15               Benjamin Saul Bleier, MD, Member HSC, 19 John D. Burgoyne, MD, Member, 16    Felix W. K. Chu, MD, Member, 15       Christopher A. Church, MD, Member HSC, 17 Samer Fakhri, MD, FRCSC, Member HSC, 15 Adam J. Folbe, MD, Member HSC, 19                         David R. Friedmann, MD, Member*, 15 Parul Goyal, MD, MBA, Member, 15   Stacey T. Gray, MD, Member, 15           Oswaldo A. Henriquez Ajami, MD, Member, 15 Ashutosh Kacker, MD, Member, 16     Esther Kim, MD, Member, 15                Devyani Lal, MD, Member HSC, 19    Annie S. Lee, MD, Member, 16              Jivianne Lee, MD, Member, 15              Stella Lee, MD, Member, 15                   Jonathan Liang, MD, Member, 15         Amber U. Luong, MD PhD, Member HSC, 15 Li-Xing Man, MSc, MD, Member, 15   Peter Manes, MD, Member, 15               Zara M. Patel, MD, Member, 15              Maria T. Pena, MD, Member, 15             Steven Daniel Pletcher, MD, Member, 16 David Poetker, MD, MA, Member HSC, 17 Allen M. Seiden, MD, Member, 16       Wade G. Swenson, MD, Member*, 15                         Masayoshi Takashima, MD, Member, 16 Kevin C. Welch, MD, Member, 16        Bryan May, Staff Liaison                        Audrey E. Shively, MSHSE, MCHES, CCMEP, Staff Liaison     Advisory/Other Groups Ad Hoc Payment Model Workgroup   Robert Lorenz, MD, MBA, Workgroup Co-Chair, 15                     Jane T. Dillon, MD, MBA, Co-Chair, 15                     Emily F. Boss, MD, MPH, Member, 15                       David R. Edelstein, MD, Member, 15  Lisa E. Ishii, MD, MHS, Member, 15   Richard M. Rosenfeld, MD, MPH, Member, 15 John S. Rhee, MD, MPH, Member, 15  J. Pablo Stolovitzky, MD, Member, 15                       Richard W. Waguespack, MD, Member, 15 James C. Denneny III, MD, Advisor, 15                     David R. Nielsen, MD, Advisor, 15     Jean Brereton, MBA, Staff Liaison       Jenna Kappel, MPH, MA, Staff Liaison                      Core Study Section The 2014 CORE Study Section was listed in the July edition of the Bulletin. The 2015 section will not be confirmed until early 2015 and will be listed in a later edition. Guideline Task Force (GTF) The GTF is made up of representatives from various Academy committees, specialty societies, and other allied health stakeholders. Positions are assign by the organizations. CPT & Relative Value Committee      John T. Lanza, MD, Chair, 15                 Pete S. Batra, MD, Member, 15               William R. Blythe, MD, Member, 16   Seth M. Brown, MD, MBA, Member, 16                     James R. Carlson, MD, MBA, Member, 16 Martin J. Citardi, MD, Member, 16       Yolanda D. Heman-Ackah, MD, Member, 16 Stephanie Joe, MD, Member, 16            Jivianne Lee, MD, Member, 15              Peter Manes, MD, Member, 16               Bradley F. Marple, MD, Member, 16    Keith E. Matheny, MD, Member, 16    Matthew R. Naunheim, MD, Member*, 15 Bryan N. Rolfes, MD, Member*, 15     Clark A. Rosen, MD, Member, 15         Lawrence M. Simon, MD, Member, 16                        Preston D. Ward, MD, Member, 16       Bevan Yueh, MD, MPH, Member, 15   Yolanda D. Heman-Ackah, MD, Consultant, 15 Charles F Koopmann, Jr, MD MHSA, Consultant, 15                    Brendan C. Stack, Jr, MD, Consultant, 15 Jane T. Dillon, MD, MBA, Ex-Officio, 15                 Albert L. Merati, MD, Ex-Officio, 15  Richard W. Waguespack, MD, Ex-Officio, 15 Moises A. Arriaga, MD, MBA, Society Rep., 15 Kay W. Chang, MD, Society Rep., 15  Ian N. Jacobs, MD, Society Rep., 15    Wayne M. Koch, MD, Society Rep., 15                       Jenna Minton, Esq, Staff Liaison         Instruction Course Advisory Committee           Sukgi S. Choi, MD, Chair, 16                 Kenny H. Chan, MD, Member, 16         Daniel C. Chelius, Jr, MD, Member, 16                       Joseph Han, MD, Member, 16                Brandon Isaacson, MD, Member, 15    J. Randall Jordan, MD, Member, 15     James Lin, MD, Member, 16                   Catherine R. Lintzenich, MD, Member, 16 J. Scott Magnuson, MD, Member, 15   Lance Anthony Manning, MD, Member, 16 Ron B. Mitchell, MD, Member, 16        Karen T. Pitman, MD, Member, 16        Edmund A. Pribitkin, MD, Member, 16                      Clark A. Rosen, MD, Member, 16         Brent A. Senior, MD, Member, 16         William H. Slattery III, MD, Member, 16 Jeffrey H. Spiegel, MD, Member, 16     Brendan C. Stack, Jr, MD, Member, 16                        Jeffrey S. Wolf, MD, Member, 16          Kathleen Yaremchuk, MD, MSA, Member, 16 Paolo Campisi, MD, Consultant, 16    Todd T. Kingdom, MD, Consultant, 16                       Brian A. Moore, MD, Consultant, 16   Phillip C. Song, MD, Consultant, 16   Eben L. Rosenthal, MD, Ex-Officio, 16                     Tami Rollins, CMP, CEM, Staff Liaison                     Program Advisory Committee             Eben L. Rosenthal, MD, Chair, 16        Dole P. Baker, Jr, MD, Member, 16       Benjamin B. Cable, MD, Member, 16   H. Peter Doble II, MD, Member, 16      Charles A. Elmaraghy, MD, Member, 15 Philip A. Harris, MD, Member, 16        Jennifer C. Kim, MD, Member, 15        John H. Krouse, MD, PhD, Member, 15                      Brian J. McKinnon, MD, MBA, Member, 16 Cherie-Ann O. Nathan, MD, Member, 15 Michael D. Seidman, MD, Member, 16                        Mark J. Syms, MD, Member, 16             Mark K. Wax, MD, Member, 16             Emiro E. Caicedo Granados, MD, Consultant, 16 Russell B. Smith, MD, Consultant, 16                        Dana M. Thompson, MD MS, Consultant, 16 Sukgi S. Choi, MD, Ex-Officio, 16       Tami Rollins, CMP, CEM, Staff Liaison Physician Payment Policy (3P) Workgroup       Jane T. Dillon, MD, MBA, Co-Chair, 15                     Robert Lorenz, MD, MBA, Co-Chair, 15                    Emily F. Boss, MD, MPH, Member, 15                       Lee D. Eisenberg, MD, MPH, Member, 15 Wayne M. Koch, MD, Member, 15       Charles F. Koopmann, Jr., MD, MDHSA, Member, 15                   John T. Lanza, MD, Member, 15            Peter Manes, MD, Member, 15               Bradley F. Marple, MD, Member, 15    Willard B. Moran, Jr., MD, Member, 15                      Lawrence M. Simon, MD, Member, 15                        Robert J. Stachler, MD, Member, 15     Brendan C. Stack, Jr., MD, Member, 15                       Michael Setzen, MD, Member, 15         Richard W. Waguespack, MD, Member, 15 Jenna Kappel, MPH, MA, Staff Liaison                      Specialty Society Advisory Council (SSAC)      Richard M. Rosenfeld, MD, MPH, Chair, 15 (ASPO)                      Kathleen Yaremchuk, MD, MSA, Chair-Elect, 15 (TRIO)             Albert L. Merati, MD, Immediate Past Chair, 15 (ABEA) Milan R. Amin, MD, Member, 16 (ABEA) Brian B. Burkey, MD, Member, 16 (AHNS) Roberto A. Cueva, MD, Member, 16 (AOS) Edward H. Farrior, MD, Member, 16 (AAFPRS)      Gady Har-El, MD, Member, 17 (ALA)                        Michael J. McKenna, MD, Member, 16 (ANS) J. David Osguthorpe, MD, Member, 15 (AAOA) James N. Palmer, MD, Member, 16 (ARS) Gayle E. Woodson, MD, Member, 15 (AAO-HNS)                        Thomas D. Killam, CAE , Staff Liaison
Nielsen_Leader
The Making of a Physician, a Surgeon, and an EVP/CEO: David R. Nielsen, MD
By M. Steele Brown David R. Nielsen, MD, never planned any of this. He did, how- ever, work hard to get here. The Executive Vice President and CEO of the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery and its Foundation, Dr. Nielsen—one of 11 children—several of them trial attorneys, did not grow up dreaming of becoming a physician. “When I started college, I had no idea what I wanted to do for a living,” he said. “I did know I did not want to be a lawyer. Frankly, most of the things I’ve accomplished in my life I didn’t intentionally set out to do from the beginning, and choosing medicine is probably a good example.” A Lofty Goal The medical school option began to crystallize strangely enough after a self-described “lousy” first year at the University of Utah, where he “spent too much time skiing and not enough time attending class or doing homework.” On scholarship from an insurance company executive who valued education, Dr. Nielsen decided it was time to grow up and get to work, even if he had no clear idea what that work should look like. “So I set a goal so lofty that I’d still be better off than I was in the first place if I didn’t make it,” he said. “I thought, ‘OK, medical school’s a lofty goal, but I don’t really know what it means to be a doctor, but that’s OK. I’ll see whether or not this is for me.’ I decided a business degree would be good to have as a back-up.” Unfortunately, Dr. Nielsen’s advisor believed that lackluster first year was going to be tough to overcome and told him to abandon medicine. Dr. Nielsen was determined to try. “His response was, ‘OK, if you want to do this…you will go to every one of your professors at the beginning of the semester and ask them to write you an evaluation and a personal letter of recommendation at the completion of the class.” So Dr. Nielsen had the conversation with every professor, every semester. “I know I annoyed the heck out of them, but every one of them wrote me one,” he said. When he finally applied to the University of Utah School of Medicine, Dr. Nielsen had a 4.0 GPA, as well as a phone book- thick folder of those letters. Even after the hard work and good grades, Dr. Nielsen still didn’t believe he would get accepted. Yet he did and that, as he puts it, “created a conundrum for me because I knew nothing about medicine.” Making an ENT At the same time he’d been studying, Dr. Nielsen also had been working for a family neighbor—an orthopedic surgeon—as an office assistant. “I worked mornings for him and took a bus up to campus in the afternoon or evening every day for a couple years,”Dr. Nielsen said. “By the time I was done, I was doing all of his cast work and taking care of all of his traumas. So, when I first went to medical school, I was going to be an orthopedic surgeon.” That notion changed in his third year. “I had a couple of weeks of elective to fill and I just picked ENT out of the hat.” Working with a microscope, Dr. Nielsen discovered he had real skills with his hands. “It’s like building ships in a bottle,” he said. “The head and neck is just so full of anatomy, and it’s really tiny, delicate work—even breathing or sweating is enough to throw you off. Not everybody can do it and I just fell in love with it.” Dr. Nielsen discovered his love of otology during his residency at Utah, which featured one of the world’s first laser labs. “John Dixon, MD, was doing some pioneer work with lasers treating esophageal varices and stomach problems in general surgery, and there weren’t many laser applications being used in the head and neck back then, but our department was starting to use them for lesions of the tongue and the nose and to excise some cancers,” he said. “Then I discovered there were a couple of pioneers using the laser to do these microscopic ear procedures that hadn’t really been accepted yet.” One of those pioneers, Ted McGee, MD, had developed a technique for using a laser to perform a stapedectomy at his practice in Detroit. “He had a fellowship program, and I went to work with him doing laser stapes work,”he said. “In fact, Providence Hospital had just started to do laser surgery, and I actually wrote the laser safety manual for the hospital.” Arizona Highways In 1984, Dr. Nielsen set up a solo otology practice in Phoenix. About 13 years later, he became a senior consultant at the newly built Mayo Clinic campus in Scottsdale where he stayed until he joined the Academy in 2002. Early on in his solo career, Dr. Nielsen got a call from former AAO-HNS President Neil O. Ward, MD, MALS, then president of the Arizona Medical Association. Dr. Ward was looking to start a young physician section. “He invited 30 or 40 young doctors and six of us showed up,”Dr. Nielsen said. “The new section had six officer positions, so every one of us got one.” As a result, Dr. Nielsen attended American Medical Association (AMA) meetings as a delegate and got to know people. “I’d listen to Dr. Ward talk about health policy and legislation and government affairs and think, ‘Oh man, how does he know so much?’” Dr. Nielsen said. “He told me that the only school for learning is to get involved and participate.” Dr. Nielsen did and eventually was elected chair of the AAO-HNS Board of Governors, which gave him a seat on the Academy’s Board of Directors. The Road to Alexandria When former EVP Michael D. Maves, MD, MBA, left the AAO-HNS in 1999 to join the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, several people encouraged Dr. Nielsen to apply. “It seemed like everyone who had served in that position in the last 100 years had either been a dean or a department chair or program director,” Dr. Nielsen said. “We’d never had anybody from the West; and solo private practitioners don’t preside over anyone beside their nurse and their assistant. I didn’t take it seriously until I got a call from someone at the (Academy) saying I should apply.” Dr. Nielsen applied, confident that he would not be chosen, but certain it would be good to “stretch my wings a little bit and see,” he said. The person who did get it, G. Richard Holt, MD, whom Dr. Nielsen describes as “an absolutely spectacular man,” like Dr. Maves, chose another career path. “The (then) president of the Academy, KJ Lee, MD, who was chairing the search committee, called and said I should apply,” Dr. Nielsen said. “My youngest son was just graduating high school and we figured that if we were going to do something like this, now was the time.” This time the offer came and he accepted. Visionary Changes In Dr. Nielsen’s view, both the Academy and the specialty of otolaryngology—head and neck surgery have changed more in the last 12 years than they did in the previous century. As one of the smallest (in terms of membership) of the 24 primary specialty societies, Dr. Nielsen said he is proud of the range of services the AAO-HNS provides. “We do it all—practice management, IT, health policy, state and federal regulatory and legislative affairs, research, education, and the best meeting in the world—and the cost of that is roughly the same as it is for other societies, but we have to spread that out over just 10,000 doctors,” he said. “We have learned to become more effective or efficient as a staff and we require and benefit from a much higher level of volunteerism from our members than many other societies. That’s been quite successful.” Compared to 12 years ago, Dr. Nielsen said the Academy has doubled the amount of work it is doing, even though it has reduced staff levels from 87 to 64 people since 2002. “We now have a department that combines research, quality and health policy, as well as an IT (now called Information and Knowledge Management) unit that was paired down by half, but is now much more effective and efficient offering support around various processes, including the new website and community portal,” he said. “Overall, we’re doing a lot of things that we couldn’t do 12 years ago and we are doing them with more efficiency.” He also takes pride in the Academy’s increased visibility and voice. “We’ve gone from being kind of invisible in certain conversations to being sought out,” he said. “Government agencies and other organizations want to hear our ideas about healthcare, delivery, and payment reform. The respect we are given, owing to the Academy’s involvement in issues and our evidence-based opinion, has gone up dramatically.” Quality Is Job No. 1 Nowhere can this increased visibility be seen more than in the area of quality and evidence-based guidelines, according to Dr. Nielsen. In the past decade, the AAO-HNS has become extremely skillful in addressing quality medicine in a formal way. The Academy has always had good doctors who care more about quality than about anything else, he said, but it never had a systematic, organized method of approaching or documenting the quality the specialty and its physicians offered. When Dr. Nielsen took over in 2002, he mobilized the leaders of all the subspecialty societies in otolaryngology to develop evidence-based guidelines for the specialty that could take up the challenge issued by the National Guidelines Clearinghouse (NGC). “To have your guidelines published, they have to be of a certain rigor, meet a certain set of criteria; you can’t just make up a guideline and have the NGC publish it,” Dr. Nielsen said. “When we started this push, there were dozens and dozens of guidelines related to otolaryngology, and not a single one of them had been accepted by the NGC and none of them had been produced by the Academy.” The AAO-HNSF has now produced more than a dozen NGC-published guidelines and has been cited by both the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) as an example of how best to produce effective and appropriate evidence-based standards. The Academy has also diverted its resources to support more broadly based research, instead of focusing exclusively on the basic sciences and clinical translational research. “We still maintain our support for those types of research, but we’ve expanded to health services research—focusing on how we get from the bedside into systems and populations so we can eliminate unwanted variations in healthcare and outcomes for the sake of improving public health.” Dr. Nielsen said that with all of the changes taking place with regard to how healthcare is delivered, the Academy wants to make sure quality doesn’t suffer. “There’s a real temptation for physicians and physician organizations to start checking boxes,” he said. “If we’re going to (offer care), we’re going to do it because it really makes patients better. We also want to aggregate the demand, because if we’ve set our standards so high that we exceeded everybody else’s, we are in pretty good shape.” The Transition When Dr. Nielsen turns his office over to the new EVP/CEO, James C. Denneny III, MD, on January 15, 2015, it will cap off a transition plan that has been in the works for more than year. “I sat down with the executive leadership team a year ago to get processes in place and I told them my retirement could not be a distraction because we had too much work to do.”Dr. Nielsen said he started by having open conversations with senior leaders on staff to minimize any disruptions. “I want my staff to feel secure and know they’re supported, because whatever we’ve changed, whatever we’ve accomplished, it isn’t me that’s accomplishing it,” Dr. Nielsen said. “It’s this incredible staff around me, and the thousands of doctors who make life-and-death decisions every single day and put in long hours and then, when they’re done, devote more time and energy and creativity and effort to the Academy. They give up their weekends and holidays with their families to do that. All we’ve accomplished has really been done by these people, and our success is really based on that.” Dr. Nielsen said while it will be most important for the staff to help on board Dr. Denneny, he also outlined how he spends his days to give Denneny a sort of playbook to which he can refer. “I kept a log of how I spend my days—where I traveled, how I spent my days for the last year-and- a-half—and I’ll hand that off,” he said. “You can see my estimate of the hours that I spend on the College of Surgeons, the AMA, the Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement (PCPI), the CMSS and all the other alphabet soup of meetings I attend.” He also wrote his successor an executive summary of just what goes on at the Academy. “I wrote it so he could read through it within 30 minutes and get a fair overview of what the Academy does,” he said. “I want this to go so smoothly that next year at this time, people say, ‘Is he gone? I didn’t realize that,’” Dr. Nielsen said. The Future From here, Dr. Nielsen said he has a lot of options, but no formal plan in place. “I’d like to serve a mission for the (Mormon) church with my wife, Rebecca,” Dr. Nielsen said. “And since all of our four children and 12 grandchildren have moved back to Arizona within 50 miles of each other, it’s time to get back there to see them.” On the work front, Dr. Nielsen said it is too early to tell what he’s going to do next. “Right now I have plenty of work to do for 2015,” he said. “I’ll be busy fulfilling obligations (to organizations such as PCPI and CMSS).” But he does say this with certainty to the members, “I have spent more than a decade in your debt for the honor of being allowed to serve with our excellent staff and our outstanding specialty leaders. And between now and the end of the year, it will be time for me to perform the last responsibility of a leader—to say thank you. “Thank you for your membership in the Academy. Thank you for your trust—in me, in your fellow Academy members, in your leaders, and in your staff. And most of all, thank you for your dedication to medicine and to your patients.” And now, it is our turn to say thank you to Dr. Nielsen, Thank you for sharing and caring. Thank you for your knowledge and vision, for your passion and dedication. Thank you for making a difference and for helping to ensure that when the next generation comes along, we hand them tomorrow’s Academy.
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History of Facial Plastic Surgery in Iran – ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
Mohsen Naraghi, MD The history of plastic surgery is an interesting and essential field of medicine that can enlighten the path of surgical developments. Archeological discoveries suggest that the outset of plastic surgery dates back to 5,000 years ago in ancient Persia. Thus far, this magnificent history has been studied in different ways. Broadly, the history of plastic surgery in Iran can be categorized into three major eras, namely ancient Persia, post-Islam, and contemporary. The ancient Persian subcategory is a long period between roughly 3000 B.C. and the Arab invasion about 1,400 years ago. The next era is, hereby, called post-Islam. This interval, started by a war imposed on the Sassanid Empire by Arabs, faded several decades ago. The last era began about half a century ago when trained surgeons from around the world entered Iran to share their surgical sciences. Undoubtedly, no precise year or century can be considered as the beginning of the first time period. As archeological evidence from ancient Persia illustrates, about 5,000 years ago, reconstructive surgeries were performed to reconstruct tissue deformities. Hence, this rough date may be considered as the start of the first era. Moreover, there is evidence that Darius the Great (King of Persia 522-486 BC) made an effort to enrich Persian physicians’knowledge in several ways. For instance, he employed hundreds of physicians from Greece and Egypt to educate Persian physicians. Future archeological advances may bring more to light on the nature and quantity of surgical procedures in ancient Persia. The Arab invasion around 1,400 years ago put an end to the first era in the history of plastic surgery in Iran. After that incident and its concomitant book-burning, Arabic became the prevailing scientific language of Persian physicians and philosophers. In this era, great physicians such as Avicenna, Rhazes, Al-Jurjani, and Haly Abbas emerged. Many firsts in the history of medicine and especially surgery took place in this great era. For instance, Avicenna penned more than 450 writings on a wide range of topics. From the surviving works, 150 are on philosophy and 40 of them concentrate on medicine. His best-known books are the Book of Healing and Canon of Medicine. Avicenna performed many surgical and medical treatments. For example, he was the first to define tendon repair for the arm. Rhazes is another scientist whose works are still inspiring in many respects. His medical works range from experimental medicine and pediatrics to ophthalmology. Al-Jurjani and Haly Abbas were also great pioneers in describing medical conditions of patients. Many great books written in this period were taught in medieval universities. While there is no clear ending to this period, usually the 1940s is roughly considered to be the outset of contemporary history of plastic surgery in Iran. Many excellent physicians have worked in the modern period. Furthermore, the 1980s may be regarded as a turning point of reconstructive surgery as the Iraq-imposed war on Iran left thousands of wounded soldiers who required reconstructive surgical attention. In the past few decades, aesthetic surgery, especially aesthetic rhinoplasty, has gained momentum. Some writers consider Iran as having the highest rate of aesthetic rhinoplasty in the world. The abundance of aesthetic rhinoplastic patients in clinical settings has led to improvement of knowledge in this field. Many Iranian surgeons have conducted research in this field and their publications inside and outside the country prove this development. In sum, studying the history of plastic surgery in different countries is of great importance to both clinicians and academicians. Hereby, a brief categorization of history of plastic surgery in Iran was performed. Plastic surgery is currently a dynamic field of research in Iran and its future looks bright.
Advantage Premier Partner Officite – ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
One Simple Thing that Makes Patients Come to, or Run from, Your Practice Put yourself in a patient’s shoes for a moment. Imagine that you are a particularly unfortunate patient. If something can be wrong, it is wrong. Your allergies are running rampant, your nose bleeds regularly, you have intermittent bouts of vertigo, and your spouse can’t sleep because you snore like a chainsaw. You have absolutely no luck. But you do have the common sense to know you need to contact an ENT. So you go where all patients go to gather information: Google. Your search results are likely to include a few options, all within a reasonable distance and all who accept your insurance. But the wealth of options only makes the choice harder. Without a recommendation from a friend or primary physician, how can you choose? Your answer, for better or worse, will likely come in the form of online reviews. And since online reviews can be a thorn in the side of any practice, it’s tempting to brush that inconvenient fact aside. Unfortunately, the stats speak for themselves. A 2013 Local Consumer Review survey indicated that 79 percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, and 67 percent of consumers read six or fewer reviews before making a decision. That means that your reviews earn you more new patients—or cause you to lose them. This leaves every ENT with one all-important directive: monitor the heck out of your online reputation, and do everything you can to start improving it. The most effective way to do that is by using a reputation tracking program that collects, organizes, and analyzes all your practice’s online mentions and reviews. With these, you can pinpoint which aspects of your practice are making a splash and which might need improvement. The good ones even help you monitor the competition. From there, you can start generating enough positive reviews that negative ones will be outweighed organically. Officite, an Academy Advantage participant, offers reputation tracking services with exclusive discounts of up to 30 percent for AAO-HNS members. Get the tools you need for success and start taking control of your online reputation by calling 877-889-4042, or visiting www.Officite.com/ENT today.
Call for 2015 AAO-HNS Election Candidates
The Nominating Committee of the Academy is calling for recommendations of individuals to be considered for an AAO-HNS elective office. Academy members must be in good standing, have proven leadership ability, be active in the Academy, be familiar with the strategic direction of the Academy, and be able to dedicate the necessary time to serve. Please complete the application packet of materials and submit to any member of the Nominating Committee requesting he or she support your nomination for elected office. For more information and the application packet, please visit www.entnet.org/content/annual-election.
Susan R. Cordes, MD, Chair, BOG Legislative Affairs Committee
A Few of My Favorite Things
This is an interesting time of year. The excitement of the Annual Meeting is behind us, and we are getting ready for the upcoming holidays followed by a long winter. It is a good time to take a breath and appreciate how fortunate we are to be in the greatest profession, led by our top-notch Academy. There are so many reasons to be a part of the Academy, including unity, collegiality, and the advancement of our specialty. What follows are just a few of my favorite things about the Academy. Networking Networking is one of the most rewarding aspects of being a professional. It is refreshing to get out of one’s own practice environment and interact with other otolaryngologists from across the country and around the world. The Academy offers many ways to do this. Attending the Annual Meeting is, of course, one way; after all, it is the largest gathering of otolaryngologists in the world. The spring leadership meeting is another excellent opportunity. It is generally a less busy meeting, with greater opportunity to meet and greet. Another option, committee participation, allows interaction with a small, like-minded group of people throughout the year via projects, conference calls, etc. The Board of Governors is another great way to connect, especially related to grassroots issues affecting our specialty. Also, we are now fortunate to have our own ENT-only social media network, ENT Connect. Publications There are too many excellent educational products from the Academy to list them all here, but some of my favorites are the journal for cutting-edge research, the guidelines for keeping pace with the latest recommendations based on the literature, and the very Bulletin you are reading right now for a great mix of practice and advocacy related issues as well as Academy “goings-on.” Countless staff and otolaryngologist hours go into the production of every Academy product, and that is reflected in the quality of these and all Academy offerings. Of course, all of these products take months to produce, so for up-to-the-minute information, the weekly email “The News” fills the gap. Strong Leadership These are trying times in medicine. We are so fortunate to have excellent leaders in our Academy to guide us through these difficult times. The Advocacy branch of the Academy makes sure we are at the table regarding any important policy issues that could affect our practices. And for every section, committee, board, etc., there is a hard-working Academy staff member making sure deadlines are met, goals are realized, and members are satisfied. We are so fortunate to have the best staff in the business. No doubt, each of us has our own favorite aspects of the Academy. So, before you dive into that turkey or travel to see your relatives, let’s take a few minutes to be thankful for our otolaryngology colleagues, our excellent Academy, and the privilege to provide our patients with the best ear, nose, and throat care.
David R. Nielsen, MD AAO-HNS/F EVP/CEO
Now What?
I am often stopped by members and asked, “What are you working on?” As we address programs, projects, work plans, and ongoing services we perform every day, it’s good to take a moment, step back and look at the “big picture” view of how we are addressing not only what keeps us up at night today, but what appears to be the biggest challenges of tomorrow. Here are some of the high level concerns that require our attention if we are to thrive in the future: The traditional business model for association services is evolving. Clay Shirkey, in his book, Here Comes Everybody, describes the differences between how humans have “associated” for centuries around a common link, and then shared ideas and action for a common purpose. He shows how today we share almost everything indiscriminately with everyone, and then decide what we have in common. This “reverse association” process alters how associations engage, serve, and support physicians. What do we have of value that not only serves our physician members, but that they can use to serve their patients, allied health colleagues, and other physicians, too? “Transparency” is an expectation of ever increasing importance. Data of questionable accuracy, validity, relevance, and usefulness are being publicly reported in the name of accountability. How can we meet the needs for reasonable accountability and prevent negative consequences from such actions as the CMS physician payment data release, the Open Payments (Sunshine) Act, and published interpretations of misleading or inaccurate information? There is a proliferation of competing reporting requirements linked to physicians’ services. How can we create solutions (rather than just react to ill-conceived demands) that collectively meet the needs of patients, employers, health plans and systems, and government, each with their own quality and performance expectations? So, in addition to our year-round work on educational programming, regulatory health policy advocacy, legislative oversight and advocacy, communications, Annual Meeting and OTO EXPOSM, evidence-based guidelines, and other quality products, we are applying strategic governance, structure, and operational efforts to ensure you have all the support you need to provide the best otolaryngology care possible.