2021 is finally here
From the Editor
Dr. Schwarzenberger is the former physician editor of DermWorld.
By Kathryn Schwarzenberger, MD, January 1, 2021
While 2020 started off innocently enough, the cancellation of the Annual Meeting, shocking as it seemed at the time, was perhaps the first hint that this was not to be a normal year. Little did we know then that it would be the first of many important changes to come.
2020 was, to say the least, an interesting year. The speed with which our profession identified and came to know the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been incredible, and it was fascinating to see how we used nontraditional means, including social media, to share our knowledge. Now we wait for an effective vaccination and, hopefully, a more coordinated and rational approach to mask wearing and social distancing, which will allow us to go back to what we all fondly remember as our more “normal,” pre-COVID-19 lives.
Despite the losses of the past year, it has not been all bad. I suspect most of us can look back and find good things that resulted from our many months in social isolation. Some of us used the time to return to old hobbies or to develop new ones. It has been fun seeing on social media the many “COVID creations” from some of our members, ranging from amazing looking baked goods (I’m thinking of you, Dr. Peter Lio) to creative artwork (Dr. Peter Schalock) that the pandemic chaos perhaps helped inspire. While the events that may have helped awaken our organization to the necessity of addressing racial equity were painful to watch, the end result has been, I think, inspiring in its sincerity. Dermatology has a problem with skin of color. It starts with gaps in our training in the recognition of dermatologic conditions in more darkly pigmented skin, and, over time, may have resulted in our profession providing less optimal care to our skin of color patients. Our workforce lacks diversity. In our feature “Behind the lens,” Member Communications Specialist Stacia Johnston explores these problems, speaking with several of our members who have been involved in identifying, addressing, and attempting to right the racial inequities that impact our specialty. I encourage you to read her excellent article and to make a commitment to making racial equity in dermatology a priority.
Last January, before the world came to a sudden halt, I had the privilege of attending the AAD’s Tropical Dermatology in Tanzania course at the Regional Dermatology Training Center (RDTC) in Moshi, Tanzania. This was, without doubt, one of the most inspirational experiences I have had over the years. Joining a diverse (and very entertaining!) group of fellow AAD members, we were shown another side of medicine, one in a part of the world where resources are scarce, but excellent care is provided by caring and dedicated physicians who diagnose their patients with what they see and feel, rather than from lab results. It reminded me what being a doctor is all about. Read about the RDTC this month and watch for the next time the AAD hosts this meeting. It sells out quickly!
As you are hopefully already aware, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has implemented some significant changes in the evaluation and management visit codes. The documentation burden has decreased, and we can now bill visits based on essentially the entire time we spend on the encounter, including charting time. While our specialty overall is projected to see a slight revenue decrease from these changes, the promise of never again having to count bullets in the history and physical may well be worth it. And that (insert your own adjective) review of systems? Buh bye!
