AANS NEWS
ASAE Honors AANS Professional Conduct Program
The American Association of Neurological Surgeons has been elected to the 2002 Associations Advance America Honor Roll for its Professional Conduct Program. The national awards competition is sponsored by the American Society of Association Executives, headquartered in Washington, D.C.
The main purpose of the AANS Professional Conduct Program is to provide an equitable and impartial system for upholding the AANS Code of Ethics and resolving complaints of unprofessional member conduct, including complaints of unprofessional conduct by members who testify inappropriately in professional liability cases. The AANS Expert Witness Guidelines, which are enforced through its Professional Conduct Program, have recently been cited by the Federal Court of Appeals as “the kind of professional self-regulation that furthers the cause of justice.”
“Membership in a professional organization such as AANS requires conduct that meets a high professional standard,” said Russell M. Pelton, JD, legal counsel for the AANS. “When members believe that other members are acting outside this standard, they want their association to have a program in place to respond-our program accomplishes that.”
Now in its 12th year, the Associations Advance America program recognizes associations that propel America forward-with innovative projects in education, skills training, standards setting, business and social innovation, knowledge creation, citizenship, and community service.
“The AANS Professional Conduct Program truly embodies the spirit of the Associations Advance America campaign. It is an honor and an inspiration to showcase this activity as an example of the many contributions associations are making to advance American society,” said ASAE President Michael S. Olson, CAE.
Read about the AANS Professional Conduct Program in the cover story of the Spring 2002 Bulletin.
“My AANS” Features Online Census
Those accessing the abundance of information at www.aans.org lately may have noticed something new in the masthead. A button called “MyAANS.org” takes members to a secure area where they can complete the AANS census. “My AANS” eventually also will allow members to look up neurosurgical ICD-9 codes, pay dues online, access their own continuing medical education transcripts for use in tracking their CMEs, and act as an interactive resource for all speakers at AANS-planned meetings. After selecting the “MyAANS.org” button, members are asked to log in with their user name (e-mail address) and password. First-time users are asked to create a log-in by registering with their last name and member number. Help screens walk users through the process, so that everyone can feel comfortable navigating “My AANS.” Once logged in, users can click on the “Census” tab and complete the census at one sitting or save it for completion at a later time.
“The census is a valuable membership tool because we not only receive the most updated information about our members, we find out how we can serve them better,” said Chris Philips, AANS director of member services. “Our goal is to make it convenient for every member to complete the census, and we hope that providing online access to it via the secure ‘My AANS’ will go far in helping us accomplish this goal.”
SECTION NEWS
On-Call Stipends in Focus
The AANS/CNS Section on Neurotrauma and Critical Care highlighted controversy regarding stipends for on-call coverage in the new “In Focus” section of the latest issue of Neurotrauma and Critical Care News. The following commentary is available in its entirety at https://www.neurosurgery.org/trauma/newsletter/trauma0902.pdf.
As Donald Marion, MD, explained in his Chairman’s Message: “Neurosurgeon availability is a prerequisite forany level I or levell II trauma center. Unfortunately, designated trauma centers outnumber the number of practicing neurosurgeons in this country. In order to help neurosurgeons, and especially those in private practice, provide neurotrauma coverage, the Neurotrauma Section, together with our parent organizations, endorsed the AANS/CNS Position Statement on Improving Access to Emergency Neurosurgical Services, indicating that it is appropriate for hospitals to provide a reasonable stipend for being on the on-call panel at their hospital. As might be expected, many hospitals are resisting this suggestion, and in some locations neurosurgeons have found that they can no longer participate in trauma call, leading to the inability of their particular hospital to continue as a trauma center.”
John McVicker, MD, and Jack Wilberger, MD, provided their respective reviews of the stipend situation and their personal perspectives.
Dr. McVicker called for voluntary contracts between neurosurgeons and hospitals to help ensure neurosurgical availability: “Careful contracting with a hospital or system to provide services with specific safeguards and responsibilities for both parties may be the answer…Neurosurgeons engaged in a trauma program should be able to require the hospital to provide adequate equipment for neurosurgical procedures, maintain nursing and ancillary staffing at appropriate levels, and enter into defined transfer agreements when the on-call doctor unavoidably becomes unavailable. The contract can define fair compensation or the provision of other methods of compensation such as billing services, trauma data management, neurosurgical recruitment, etc. With or without a stipend, contracting for emergency department coverage is an appropriate and necessary step to protect yourself and your patients….”
Dr. Wilberger said that neurosurgeons “…have a moral and ethical obligation to make our talents and services available to deal with emergency neurosurgical problems…Trauma centers need neurosurgeons as part of the team to accomplish this worthy goal…A number of years ago, a true shortage of neurosurgeons in the Western parts of the United States gave rise to payment of stipends to neurosurgeons for trauma call…Has this practice relieved the manpower shortage? Has it made neurosurgeons more responsive to providing neurotrauma care?…In a recent survey I conducted of 150 level I and level II trauma centers, 101 were providing reimbursement for trauma call…In those centers providing reimbursement, neurosurgical commitment was substantially less compared to those centers not providing reimbursement as measured by a neurosurgeon’s specific obligations to not only care for patients, but also to ensure that the trauma center continues to meet all of the oftentimes rigorous requirements for maintaining accreditation or verification. Thus, the Neurotrauma Section’s support of stipends for neurotrauma call has been, in my opinion, a step in the wrong direction.”
Stereotactic Meeting Slated for May
The Quadrennial Meeting of the American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery will be held May 18-21, 2003, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City The event will feature workshops, keynote lectures and open papers on the topics of technology in stereotactic surgery, restorative surgery, stereotactic tumor surgery, stereotactic radiosurgery, movement disorder surgery, pain and the newly reemerging field of surgery for psychiatric disorders.
The meeting is being held under the auspices of Douglas Kondziolka, MD, ASSFN president. The scientific program, “Peering Into the Crystal Ball,” will emphasize what is in the pipeline and where stereotactic and functional neurosurgery will be in the not too distant future. Andres Lozano, MD, is serving as committee chair of the Scientific Program. Patrick Kelly, MD, the local meeting organizer, has produced an outstanding meeting environment and a roster of social activities to take advantage of springtime in New York.
Expected to attrract 300 participants, ranging from neurosurgeons and scientists to surgical instrument manufacturers and other healthcare professionals, the meeting will provide a venue for experts and those new to the field to present their views and discuss controversies and coming therapies and technologies. Attendees will be able to gain awareness of the procedures and practices that are currently in use in stereotactic surgery and gain the knowledge they need to expand the field further.
Registration for the meeting can be completed online at https://www.med.nyu.edu/cme. Enrollment is limited. Abstracts can be submitted online until Nov. 15, 2002, at . ]]>
