There and Back Again

Carter L. Alleman, J.D.

I find it hard to believe that it has been a month since the Annual Clinical Assembly (ACA) in Chicago. I want to thank all of you who attended and made my first ACA memorable. I look forward to seeing you in Phoenix in 2016.

One of my many highlights from the ACA was keynote speaker Michael Dunn. He highlighted the College’s need to get engaged and involved in advocacy, as he put it best, “any profession’s future is dependent on their advocacy.” As much as we would like to believe that ACOS is a giant society that every policy maker listens to, we are actually quite small in comparison to other societies. However, as Mr. Dunn pointed out, our size gives us advantages that other societies don’t have, one of which is making personal connections with policy makers.

With the possible changes to graduate medical education, outlined in this month’s Washington Watch, now more than ever - we need to establish these relationships and foster them through the years. Simply introducing yourself to your member of Congress in a letter or at an event opens the door to later communications. Inviting the member to your practice gives you the ability to share your experiences, your staff’s experiences, and your patients’. The personal touch lasts longer than a form letter emailed to the office that will just be collected by a Congressional staffer. Engaging with the member on a personal level gives you the ability to become their “expert” on matters that effect you and the profession and strengthens and improves ACOS’ ability to impact policy for its members and their patients.

After arriving back from Chicago, ACOS joined fellow osteopathic associations in President Obama’s call for efforts to curb the prescription drug abuse and opioid epidemic. ACOS along with partnered organizations will be encouraging our members to take part in discussions on how best to address this matter and participate in programming addressing this. Look forward to more information regarding this matter in the near future.

ACOS participated in the Health Care Plan Learning Action Network symposium on alternative payment models (APMs). The organization released a draft plan describing the direction of APMs which outlines the ultimate goal of APMs to focus on population based payments and bundled payments. As with most of MACRA, nothing is set in place, yet, everyone is waiting on CMS to release rulemaking before establishing clear positions on health care payment models.

If you have any input on these issues or questions, please feel free to contact me at [email protected].