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| Fremont P. Wirth MD |
I have the good fortune to follow a long line of outstanding AANS leaders and I have inherited a strong, well-organized and effective organization. The educational opportunities the AANS has offered this past year are unexcelled, including an outstanding annual meeting; four superb journals — the Journal of Neurosurgery, the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, the Journal of Neurosurgery Pediatrics, and the online journal Neurosurgical Focus; continuing medical education and professional development courses; free journal subscriptions and annual meeting registration for residents in North America; and practical clinics, among others.
The Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation has experienced tremendous growth. Guidelines for future relations between the AANS and its industrial partners have been developed and are consistent with those of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, which accredits AANS educational programs. Information and testimony have been provided when requested to a myriad of government agencies and other organizations. CME tracking, directories and other brochures and educational materials have been produced for members’ use.
With all of these expanded activities and member benefits, the financial health of the AANS nevertheless has improved. The organization’s reserves have increased, allowing the AANS to avoid a dues increase for the fourth straight year and to consider new initiatives that will benefit our members.
CME: Top Priority for AANS
Continuing medical education is increasingly important to all of us in neurosurgery; as such, CME remains a top priority for the AANS. While CME is necessary for membership in the AANS, equally importantly it is necessary for state licensure, hospital privileges, and Maintenance of Certification by the American Board of Neurological Surgery. The ABNS requirements for Maintenance of Certification have of necessity been evolving over the last two years as the project moved from idea through planning to implementation: Beginning in January 2006, Maintenance of Certification will become a reality for neurosurgeons certified by the ABNS beginning in 1999.
The AANS is making every effort to parallel its CME requirements for AANS membership with the ABNS’ requirements for Maintenance of Certification. Currently there are three methods of obtaining qualifying CME for the AANS’ requirement of 60 neurosurgical credits earned in every three-year cycle. These include attendance at sponsored or jointly sponsored programs, such as annual meetings of the AANS and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, section meetings and many neurosurgical society meetings. The second method is through enduring materials such as books or online CME initiatives such as Neurosurgical Focus, for which up to 12 credits are available each year.
The third method is by attending ACCME-accredited programs which have been cosponsored-endorsed by the AANS, a simple process that is free through 2006. To receive cosponsored-endorsed status, programs first need to apply. The criteria for acceptance include that the program: is important to neurosurgeons; has ACCME accreditation; demonstrates meaningful neurosurgical input in the planning; and is not commercially sponsored. Thus, most state neurosurgical society meetings and many other educational offerings will qualify if the program’s sponsoring organization applies for cosponsorship-endorsement.
CME is a very important issue, and the AANS is committed to making the entire CME experience as easy as possible for all of our members by tracking CME credits and ensuring that there are an abundance of quality programs that will meet the requirements of various national and state entities. For additional information, I refer you to an article in this issue by Christopher Loftus, MD, chair of the AANS Education and Maintenance of Certification Committee.
Additional information always is available on the AANS Web site, www.AANS.org, or from AANS Member Services, (888) 566-AANS.
Quality Care Is Safe Care
Quality of care and patient safety are intrinsically related issues which have received increasing attention recently from the media, government and even third party payers. The AANS has been addressing just these issues for many years, and our programs, already in place, attest to the importance attributed to these concerns. Our efforts include, among others, CME requirements for membership, extensive educational offerings for AANS members and residents, support of prevention efforts through public service announcements and support of Think First, and the AANS Professional Conduct Committee, which is a model for all of medicine.
In an effort to further improve quality, the AANS is fostering the development of outcomes research. Guided by Robert Harbaugh, MD, the AANS is working on methods and programs to facilitate the gathering of this data in a user-friendly and cost-effective manner. Also under development are patient education materials such as compact discs that discuss operative consent for a variety of neurosurgical procedures. Patient safety and quality of care will continue as a priority for the AANS in the coming years.
New PAC Drives Legislative Agenda Forward
By the time you receive this issue of the Bulletin, the new political action committee for neurosurgery — the American Association of Neurological Surgeons Political Action Committee, or AANS PAC — will be operational. Because it will be allied with our 501(c)(6) organization (the American Association of Neurological Surgeons), it will be a much more efficient vehicle for influencing liability reform and other issues of importance and for soliciting funds that support these crucial efforts. For example, the new structure will allow AANS PAC contributions to be solicited with the AANS dues statement, making it that much easier for members to support tort reform and neurosurgery’s entire legislative agenda. The PAC that has operated for neurosurgery to this point, ANSPAC, will dissolve; its leaders will be asked to continue their efforts on behalf of our members and our patients through AANS PAC, which will continue the important political activities of the old PAC.
After giving considerable attention to this matter, the Board of Directors primarily was motivated in its decision to form the new PAC by the opportunity the new structure affords to strengthen and build upon neurosurgery’s legislative successes. Efforts in Georgia, Missouri and South Carolina have resulted in significant tort reform at the state level within the last year, thanks in large part to neurosurgery’s support of reform through Neurosurgeons to Preserve Health Care Access; the NPHCA is a coalition member of Doctors for Medical Liability reform, which produced the very successful Protect Patients Now campaign. All of these reforms, however, remain to be tested in the courts. Enacting national legislation continues to be of paramount importance. We have the momentum! Now is the time to “put the power on,” to borrow the metaphor suggested by Robert Ratcheson, MD, in his final President’s Message. I would like to encourage you to join me in support of tort reform by sending your financial contributions to both the NPHCA and the AANS PAC now!
New Leadership for AANS Bulletin, Archives
Changing leadership is important in any dynamic, growing,, effective organization, and the AANS is no exception. In addition to those elected to office at the 2005 AANS Annual Meeting, there were well over 100 committee-level appointments. The AANS is fortunate to have so many talented, dedicated individuals capable of contributing to our organization that the choice of project directors is difficult.
James Bean, MD, has done a magnificent job as editor of the Bulletin and has brought it to its current position as a vital link in the communication of current policies, problems and opinions to the AANS membership. We cannot thank him enough for the hours of work he has devoted to this publication and are pleased that he will continue to devote his energies to his role as AANS treasurer. William Couldwell, MD, who has been serving on the Bulletin Advisory Board, succeeds Dr. Bean as editor of the Bulletin, and I expect that the transition will be seamless. Dr. Couldwell brings to this position tremendous talent and energy which will serve neurosurgery well in the coming years. I am pleased that he has accepted this responsibility.
Eugene Flamm, MD, has been appointed to the newly reinstated position of AANS historian. Chosen from a field of excellent candidates, he will guide the reorganization of the AANS archives into a useful resource for medical historians. This collection of materials has been of necessity neglected for reasons of financial prudence for the past several years and awaits reorganization into usable status. Furthermore, some of our sister societies have asked the AANS to serve as the repository of archival materials, thus adding to the value of this historical endeavor. Dr. Flamm also will provide his own perspective on the history of the organization, drawing from more than 30 years in neurosurgery and as a member of the AANS. Under his direction the archives will prove to be of increasing interest to us all.
The year ahead holds great promise for neurosurgery and for the AANS. Fittingly, the 2006 AANS Annual Meeting, themed Meeting the Challenges of Neurosurgery: Expanding Resources for a Growing Population, will cap the year’s activities; I invite you to mark your calendars now and plan to join me April 22-27 in San Francisco. I hope to see you there.
Fremont P. Wirth, MD, is the 2005-2006 AANS president. He is in private practice at the Neurological Institute of Savannah in Georgia.
| For Further Information
AANS Annual Meeting, page CME Evolution, page From the Hill, Popp, AJ, and Orrico, KO. “2004 DMLR Campaign Posts Huge Successes,” AANS Bulletin Spring 2005. www.AANS.org, Article ID 27710
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