Learn about the Academy's advocacy priorities and how to join efforts to protect your practice.
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Who do you turn to?
From the President
Dr. Cronin served as Academy president from March 2023 to March 2024.
By Terrence A. Cronin Jr., MD, FAAD, June 1, 2023
Dr. Cronin speaking at the Plenary at the 2023 Annual Meeting in New Orleans.
When you need financial advice where do you go? A financial planner perhaps? Need help picking out a tie or earrings? Chances are your partner or a trusted friend is your go-to guide. But where do you go when you need help advocating for your patients? Or educating the public about dermatology’s expertise in skin, hair, and nails? Where do you go when you need CME credits or help with coding?
Where do you go for all things dermatology from soup to nuts? The answer, I hope, is obvious: the American Academy of Dermatology/Association.
At the Academy, we tackle the issues head on that are the most important for you and your patients. Take scope of practice, for example: In 2022, in partnership with state dermatology and medical societies, the AADA defeated non-physician scope of practice expansion bills in Colorado, New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
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Dr. Cronin at the 2022 AADA Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C.
On the payment side, as you hopefully know by now, last year, your Academy fought against Medicare payment cuts of 8.5% or more that were scheduled to begin on Jan. 1, 2023. As a result of our advocacy efforts, the 2023 Medicare cuts were reduced from 8.5% to 2%. We also made some strides with private payers last year. As a direct result of our advocacy efforts, UnitedHealthcare agreed to amend its policies on prior authorization for Mohs and adjacent tissue transfer. While we made a dent in these unfair policies, payment instability will continue to threaten our capacity to provide care. But rest assured, your Academy is on it.
The Academy continues to position dermatologists as the experts in skin, hair, and nails with the public and the house of medicine. We recently launched a groundbreaking consumer positioning strategy, Your Dermatologist Knows, and it has been a resounding success. From launch to the end of December 2022, Academy-created Your Dermatologist Knows content was viewed 108 million times, experienced 5.8 million interactions, and generated 123,000 clicks!
In addition to advocating for the specialty to policymakers and the public, we offer a staggering number of popular member benefits like our CME opportunities, publications like DermWorld, and coding resources. In 2022, there was an average of 12,670 CME claims per month, with thousands of you taking advantage of all we have to offer — 7,681 of us utilized the Question of the Week platform; 4,372 of us took JAAD article quizzes; and 1,438 of us subscribed to Dialogues in Dermatology.
This is just a taste of what the Academy has to offer — I could fill up this entire magazine with details on all the Academy does for us as a specialty! (I’m tempted but I won’t; if you want to know more, read the Impact Report.)
For now, I hope it is clear to all Academy members that the AAD/A is here for you through every step of your career journey. Academy membership is an asset that none of us can practice without.
“The Academy is successful because it deals with a rare commodity — knowledge — and it works hard at dispensing that commodity.”
─ John Haserick, MD, Academy President 1973
Presidential spotlight
It takes a dedicated and engaged membership to move the needle on the issues facing our patients and practices, and sometimes our most diligent members can go unrecognized. As a toast to our unsung heroes within the Academy, I will be featuring one hardworking member at the end of this column each month.
This month’s recipient of the Presidential Spotlight goes to: George W. Elgart, MD, FAAD.
George W. Elgart, MD, FAAD
George Elgart is a renowned Florida dermatologist and an even more remarkable educator of dermatologists.
He is the son of a dermatologist and maintains that legacy at the highest level. What many don’t know about George is that he played hockey in college. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics, and worked at NASA. He worked in John Stanley’s lab and cloned the bullous pemphigoid BP 230 antigen.
He has become a highly regarded dermatopathologist, international speaker, and a recognized iconoclastic expert on pigmented lesions. He aspires to be a bon vivant and raconteur.
His 30 years of service at the University of Miami Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery have made him a mentor to a generation of dermatologists. Many of his mentees have talked to him on a daily basis for decades.
His commitment to his residents and his legendary mentorship deserve our admiration and certainly the Presidential Spotlight!
AAD/A Impact Report
Read more about the Academy’s most recent advocacy wins.
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