March is a strange month
From the Editor
Dr. Schwarzenberger is the former physician editor of DermWorld.
By Kathryn Schwarzenberger, MD, March 1, 2021
Other than the AAD Annual meeting (sadly, canceled for the second year, courtesy of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic), there’s usually not much to look forward to in March. Sure, we have the Ides of March and that dreaded Sunday when we “spring forward” and lose that precious hour of sleep. March 30 is Doctor’s Day, and I would be remiss if I didn’t thank you all for your continued devotion to your patients and to bettering our specialty. But in reality, you have to look hard to find exciting moments to look forward to in March. Perhaps this year is even harder, as we “celebrate” the one-year mark since our personal and professional lives were turned upside down by the virus.
March is a placeholder, stuck between winter and spring, while not really being either. However, it is a time of hope, one that promises the end of rain and snow, sunnier and warmer days, and flowers to come. I think March this year brings us hope that, with the adoption of effective vaccines and a national commitment to defeating this plague, we will get our lives back. It’s just so hard to be patient anymore.
We have lots of great reading for you in this month’s DermWorld! Contributing writer Ruth Carol speaks with experts in and outside the organization to predict the early impact of the new Biden administration on health care. Already, we have seen a push to strengthen provisions of the Affordable Care Act, and it is likely we will see more changes in the future. Hopefully, these changes will enhance access to care for all who need our services. Expect to see renewed interest in alternative payment models. How this will affect a relatively small specialty such as ours remains unclear; however, please know that the AAD/A has been actively engaged in this topic for years and we will continue to work to help ensure that any changes made going forward have a positive impact on our patients and practices.
Another advocacy area in which the AAD/A remains active is step therapy. Step therapy policies create headaches for physicians and often prohibit our patients from receiving appropriate and timely access to medications and other treatments they desperately need. Assistant Editor Emily Margosian takes a deep dive into the step therapy realm and offers advice on managing appeals once a prescription is denied. She also discusses possible ways to get involved in your state to help change the process. At this time, 28 states have existing step therapy laws; 27 of those have enacted reforms, some of which were supported by the AADA. If you haven’t been involved in health care advocacy in your state, this might be a great way to start, and the AADA can help you at every step of the way.
We round out our features with a lively discussion about warts and where we are with treatment options. Despite newer treatment options, I still find myself freezing a lot of them and, as often as not, telling my patients to curse at them and to wish them away. Sometimes, it even seems to work!
I hope by now you are getting comfortable with the 2021 coding changes! If not, review our coding articles published in the past few months or visit the Academy Coding Resource Center. I’m old enough to have weathered quite a few changes in coding over the years, so I guess I’m not terribly fazed by these. I just hope to get it right before they change the rules again!
