American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 4

our upcoming 16th Annual Pain Medicine Meeting [#ASRAFall17]
are due September 6. Visit www.asra.com/pain for more
information.)
Perhaps you are not interested in conducting formal research
projects. You may still have interesting subjects in your daily
practice that would be ideal topics to address in a medically
challenging abstract submission. Abstracts often evolve as
discussions ensue during formal presentation and result in further
dissemination, collaboration, and research.
ASRA's Professional Development Committee led by Brian Sites,
MD, is also working on identifying projects related to mentoring
new researchers and authors as well as thing such as learning
how to better interpret research studies, among other ideas. The
ASRA Board will have a strategic session on September 23 to build
on our Faculty Development project. The ASRA Board recognizes
the value of investing in our future, developing tomorrow's faculty,
researchers, and leaders.
As I mentioned, one of the more difficult challenges of putting
evidence into practice lies with the larger institutions and
organizations in which we move. Your best intentions may
be very difficult to put into action if insurance will not cover
procedures. This is another arena in which ASRA is working hard
on your behalf. We regularly interact with organizations such
as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, the Food and Drug
Administration, and state health organizations to provide testimony
and expert commentary on guidelines and other regulatory
matters.
As a testament to our role in the health care community, regulatory
bodies and other organizations often approach us with invitations
to get involved. For example, the Centers for Disease Control
invited us to be a part of its Adaptation & Dissemination of
Outpatient Infection Prevention project, the Accreditation Council
on Graduate Medical Education asked for our feedback on its pain
medicine graduate medical education guidelines, and the American
Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS) has invited us to

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participate in a number of projects, most recently development of
tranexamic acid guidelines.
We also monitor regulations at the state level and regularly
provide insight, sharing the latest research findings, such as
when threats to coverage of epidural steroid injections occurred
in California, Oregon, Washington, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania.
An understanding of the latest research, putting the research into
a larger framework, and having access to these decision-making
groups are some of the ways that ASRA is able to help you in your
efforts to be a better provider. In addition to AAHKS, we regularly
partner with groups such as the North American Neuromodulation
Society, the International Anesthesia Research Society, and the
Oncology Nursing Society, to name a few, as we work to encourage
multidisciplinary collaboration.
To emphasize the importance of ASRA's role in advocating for
improved patient outcomes through our various education,
research, and advocacy efforts, we have officially changed our
mission. The new mission reads, "Advancing the science and
practice of regional anesthesia and pain medicine to improve
patient outcomes through research, education, and advocacy."
You'll begin to see our new mission on all of your ASRA materials
over the next few months.
Medicine is constantly evolving. As health care organizations
work to standardize treatments, insurance companies try to fit
everyone into a predetermined slot, and health care costs continue
to escalate, it is more important than ever that we question the
status quo. You may feel that you are too busy to interpret the latest
research findings. Your organization likely has protocols in place.
Insurance covers only specific procedures. It is not easy to make
changes in this busy and complicated environment, but ASRA is
committed to being your partner through this challenging journey.
Be sure to take advantage of these resources.
As always, if you have suggestions on this or any other aspect of
ASRA, please email me at ASRAPresident@asra.com. And thank you
for your support of ASRA!

American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
2017
https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ASRAFall17&src=typd https://www.asra.com/page/1356/pain-medicine-meeting https://www.asra.com/page/1398/professional-development
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017
