When Washington, D.C., comes to you
From the President
Dr. Thiers served as Academy president from March 2020 to March 2021.
By Bruce Thiers, MD, November 1, 2020
If we’ve learned anything this year, it’s the importance of being flexible. For example, before COVID-19, less than 10% of our members were using telemedicine; now, 90% are. Many didn’t have a stockpile of personal protective equipment in their offices; now, they do. COVID-19 changed so many aspects of our practice that we were forced to wade into uncharted waters. One recent example is the shift to our first-ever virtual AADA Legislative Conference.
The AADA Legislative Conference is dermatology’s premier meeting focused on legislative, regulatory, and political issues of importance to our patients and our practices. Every year, hundreds of dermatologists, patients, patient advocates, dermatology practice administrators, and dermatology nurses descend on Washington, D.C., to advocate on behalf of issues that affect our specialty. This year, unfortunately, we could not meet in person. That didn’t stop us. When we couldn’t go to Washington, Washington came to us!
AADA Legislative Conference
Learn more about the AADA Legislative Conference and access advocacy tools and resources.
There was no shortage of interest in this first-ever virtual conference. In fact, more than 330 individuals attended the event — exceeding our previous attendance record by more than 100. Political analyst Amy Walter kicked off the event with an overview of the current political landscape. Then we reviewed our advocacy “asks” that we would later be sharing with members of Congress, as well as some tips on how to effectively communicate them.
On the final day of the event, attendees booted up their computers and met with the offices of 269 legislators, including 183 members of the House and 86 members of the Senate. We asked them to take action to preserve patient access to care and to mitigate the financial distress facing dermatology practices because of the pandemic, and to ensure that dermatologists on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic can focus on helping patients without the fear of being targeted in unwarranted lawsuits.
Of the 269 congressional meetings, 60 were member-level meetings that included either the senator or representative, and 102 included senior-level congressional staff. My delegation from South Carolina visited the offices of Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, and Reps. James Clyburn, Joe Cunningham, and Tom Rice. I am honored to have had the opportunity to speak on behalf of my patients and our specialty, and grateful for the technology that enabled this.
Now that we know we can advocate successfully from the comfort and safety of our homes, let’s make sure we continue to do so. There are a number of critical issues coming down the pike that will directly affect our patients and practices, and we cannot be complacent. The Academy will be calling on you to make your voice heard, and I strongly encourage everyone to heed that call.
