SAN DIEGO -- Orthopedic surgeons should be more active in advocating for professional causes and come together as a larger, more efficient force, said incoming American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Board president , said at his introductory speech.
Speaking Thursday morning at the group's , Maloney, a joint replacement specialist at Stanford University School of Medicine, said that AAOS' political action committee "should be the largest" among medical groups in Washington. (It is No. 2 now, he said). "It is more important than ever for our profession for our association to have a strong voice on Capitol Hill," he said. "Every aspect of our profession lives is affected by [Washington politics]."
Maloney later cited a Ben Franklin quote in calling for unity -- as opposed to surgeons continuing to splinter into their subspecialties, for example. "We must indeed hang together or we will all hang separately," he said, echoing a call for unity that outgoing president , issued at annual meeting.
"We need to take a page from our colleagues in business," Maloney said. Noting AAOS now has 23 subspecialties, he added: "In orthopedic surgery, what are we doing? Just the opposite" of the rest of American healthcare.
Maloney promised to address issues AAOS members have expressed to him during his term, citing reforming the recertification process (specific specialty exams are likely coming) and developing a template to apply to subspecialty fellowship accreditation (an issue that Williams also acknowledged was problematic at last year's meeting).
"Please consider," Maloney closed, as the audience inside a massive, dark ballroom at the San Diego Convention Center listened quietly:
- "Be inclusive, be leaders in your community, commit to diversity"
- Share feedback with AAOS
- "Commit to life-long learning"
- Get engaged politically
"Most of us don't have time or the inclination to get directly involved in politics. If you do, let us know." If not, Maloney urged members to donate to the group's political action committee before leaving San Diego.
"Where we are going is unclear," he said. "To say these are disruptive times in healthcare would be an understatement."
Earlier Thursday morning, Williams also urged members to engage politically. "Advocacy remains extremely important," said Williams, a shoulder surgeon at Rothman Institute in Philadelphia. The national cost of treating musculoskeletal diseases makes up 6% of healthcare costs, he said, echoing his speech last year, but "we only get 1% of the NIH (National Institutes of Health) budget and only a portion goes to musculoskeletal research. And quite frankly, that's unacceptable."
Williams cited improving the ) and helping candidates in the most recent election among his accomplishments in office. AAOS-backed candidates had a 94% win rate, he said.
Williams called for his colleagues to develop orthopedic performance measures for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, expand their roles in registries, and develop better educational materials with the specialty societies. He also supported communicating more with the public, citing two introduced at the meeting (one addressing the opioid painkiller epidemic and the other childhood obesity).
In other leadership news from AAOS, it was noted that this was the last annual meeting for Karen Hackett, the group's CEO for the last 14 years; she is retiring.