The Excitement of the Recent AAOA Annual Meeting is Still Upon Us…

by Alpen Patel, MD, FAAOA

The excitement of the recent AAOA Annual Meeting is still upon us. It was a time for friends and colleagues to reunite at a world–class destination and an opportunity to learn the latest information about hot topics like biologics, SLIT, food allergy, and even practice management in our ever-evolving health care system. For those of you who could not join me and 500 of your colleagues in New Orleans this past September, please come meet us in Scottsdale in October 2020 for another free Annual Meeting—this promises to be another extraordinary educational experience for those who attend. In a few short months, we will also be having our Advanced Course at the Live Music Capital of the World, Austin, Texas, where we will start using problem-based learning techniques in some of our sessions. I hope to see you there!

For the last several months, I have been trying to determine the unmet needs of our members. Thanks to those who completed our survey and participated in focus groups with me. Much interest was expressed to add more content to our AAOA website and make the website more user-friendly so we can readily access this information. Our remarkable leadership team and staff remain committed to our strong advocacy
efforts in regulatory and socioeconomic matters. As some of you may already know, implementation of the new USP 797 sterile compounding standards has been postponed due to an appeals process. We will continue to monitor this and will alert you once a new implementation date is announced.

The AAOA is an organization committed to your professional growth and provides you with the knowledge and tools to make a meaningful impact for the patients you serve. This year holds incredible promise as we expand value for your membership and strengthen our engagement with our members. As we begin another year together, I am fortunate to be surrounded by a great group of physician volunteers and staff. Our goal is quite simple: to make our organization better than it already is.

Shortly after our upcoming Advanced Course, we will convene and develop our organization’s strategic plan for the next few years to come. This will give us an opportunity to evaluate our efforts and determine our gaps in our initiatives. We have invested heavily in our live educational programming, which I believe is the best in the business. We will need to prioritize our resources so that we continue to deliver maximum member value in a fiscally sound manner.

All of us want to keep abreast of the most recent medical literature in determining the best course of treatment for our patients. As a result, we are reviewing and updating our online Clinical Care Statements. This compendium shares evidence-based summaries on recommended therapies and practices from the current medical literature. We are excited to soon launch our new Practice Resource Tool Kit, which will be a valuable online resource for you. Now you will have access to useful information, like the SLIT calculator, coding tips, sample office forms, and how to add allergy to your practice.

Many of you have expressed interest in earning online CME. Although no substitute for our top-notch live courses, the AAOA’s Clinical Insights modules offer interactive eLearning designed to expand understanding of current practice trends and clinical research in allergy diagnosis and management. We are augmenting this educational series by creating more
modules for your continuing education.

Lastly, I am happy to report that we are reaching out to the ACCME so that we can start the process of registering our live CME courses to meet the Lifelong Learning and Self Assessment (Part II) requirement of the American Board of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery.

I am grateful and honored to be leading an energetic and enthusiastic group as we work together to better our organization by providing more resources and value for your membership. I have no doubt that we will continue to offer exceptional educational experiences at our courses. I am confident that we will have a successful and productive year, and I look forward to serving you.