It’s been six months! Here’s what the Academy has done for you…
From the President
Dr. Kaufmann served as Academy president from March 2022 to March 2023.
By Mark Kaufmann, MD, FAAD, September 1, 2022
It feels like just yesterday that more than 15,000 of us attended the 2022 AAD Annual Meeting in Boston, and it’s hard to believe that I am already halfway through my term serving as your Academy President. It has been a very busy six months, and I thought I would take this opportunity to share with you the various ways your Academy has been working for you and your patients.
The AADA continues to fight against non-physician scope of practice expansion efforts across the country that jeopardize patient safety. In partnership with state dermatology and medical societies, we recently defeated scope expansion bills in Colorado, New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Similarly, the AADA, the Indiana Academy of Dermatology, and the Indiana State Medical Association successfully enacted legislation in Indiana prohibiting the use of the term “dermatologist” (and other “ologists”) by non-physicians.
Additionally, thanks to the AADA’s advocacy efforts, dozens of states have enacted step therapy reform laws, recognizing the value of a physician’s medical judgment. Most recently, our work resulted in strengthening the existing step therapy law in Kentucky. We also worked with the Oregon Dermatology Society to oppose language in an Oregon Medicaid policy that would have created a closed formulary for adult Medicaid patients — providing broad discretion to the state as to whether a drug has “limited or inadequate evidence of clinical efficacy.” Thanks to our advocacy efforts, this closed formulary language was removed from the proposal.
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On the payment front, your Academy advocated against a Cigna policy that would require submission of office notes with claims submitted with E/M codes 99212, 99213, 99214, or 99215 and modifier 25 when a minor procedure is billed. Cigna recently informed us that they would be delaying implementation of this policy.
On the federal policy side, I made the trip to Washington, D.C., for the House Call on the Mall where I met with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle about the critical importance of having to adjust the Medicare physician fee schedule to at least keep up with inflation. This month, I will be attending the AADA Legislative Conference, Sept. 18-20, where I will advocate for top-priority policy issues affecting the specialty to members of Congress. While these policies aren’t changed overnight, I am confident that our voices are being heard and our efforts will make a dent in health care policy decisions.
And it’s not just policymakers we’re reaching. On our website and out in the world, we continue to position dermatologists as the experts, and the public is listening. The AAD’s media relations efforts resulted in more than 500 stories on Melanoma Monday® in a variety of media outlets across the country.
Finally, we haven’t forgotten about your member benefits. We recently gave the AAD Learning Center a facelift and you’ve been reporting an improved and enhanced learning experience. We also launched a resource center that provides a convenient, centralized database of content for people with darker skin tones. Additionally, we launched the AAD Clinical Community — a safe, organized, and moderated forum that is free to Academy members. You can participate in ongoing discussions on clinical issues, guidelines, protocols, product usage, and more. What’s more, your voice will be heard.
This is just a taste of what your Academy has done for you — in only six months! I am proud of all that we have accomplished in such a short period of time, and I look forward to continuing to work on behalf of you and your patients for the next six months.
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