SGR Repeal, Replacement Legislation Introduced

Thomas C. Barber, MD; Elizabeth Fassbender

On Feb. 6, 2014, key committees in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate reached an agreement on legislation to permanently repeal and replace the flawed sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula that governs physician payments under Medicare. Since 2003, the SGR formula has generated increasingly larger proposed cuts to physician payments, and Congress has responded by enacting legislative “patches” to prevent them while simultaneously promising a permanent solution.

New Orleans Welcomes AAOS!

Felix H. Savoie, MD

The birthplace of jazz, the capital of food and fun, New Orleans, “the Big Easy,” is one of the truly unique cities in the world. As local chair, I encourage AAOS members attending the Annual Meeting to relax and have fun outside the Morial Convention Center, while advancing knowledge and skills inside. New Orleans treated the orthopaedic community royally when last we gathered here in 2010, in what was the first convention of its size since Hurricane Katrina.

Big Hair, Big Ideas, Big Creativity . . . You Betcha!

S. Terry Canale, MD

Some years ago, before there was an AAOS Communications Council or even a Communications Cabinet, we orthopaedic surgeons had an image problem. It wasn’t that we had a bad image, rather that we had no image at all. Back in 1998, the AAOS conducted a survey to see how aware members of the public were about orthopaedic surgeons and the conditions we treat. When people were asked about who treated spine problems, they answered chiropractors or neurosurgeons.

Joshua J. Jacobs, MD, Looks Back on an Eventful Presidency

Jennie McKee

When Joshua J. Jacobs, MD, began his term as AAOS president at the 2013 Annual Meeting in his hometown of Chicago, he had clear goals in mind for the year ahead. Under his leadership, some of the Academy’s many objectives would include leveraging and growing the Academy’s educational programs throughout the world, as well as ensuring that patients are well represented and continue to have access to high-quality musculoskeletal health care. AAOS Now spoke with Dr.

New Orleans: Jackson, Voodoo, Jazz, and Saints

Stuart J. Fischer, MD

New Orleans was founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne Sieur de Bienville, commandant general of the Louisiana Colony, then controlled by the French Company of the West, as a trading post on the Mississippi River. The city was named for the French Regent Philippe, the Duke of Orleans. In 1821, Adrien de Pauger laid out the grid that became the French Quarter or Vieux Carre. He named Bourbon Street in honor of the French royal family.

In Memoriam

Riad Barmada, MD Jan. 10, 2014 Chicago Doreen Di Pasquale, MD Jan. 7, 2014 La Jolla, Calif. William M. Heston III, MD July 17, 2013 Ann Arbor, Mich. John J. Hugus, MD Oct. 6, 2013 Wausau, Wisc. J. Robert Kisiel Jr, MD May 25, 2012 South Hadley, Mass. Harold A. Kozinn, MD Rockville Centre, N.Y. Michael J. Larkin, MD Nov. 9, 2013 New Castle, Pa. William C. Lauerman, MD Sept. 23, 2013 Washington, D.C. David M. O’Neal, MD Nov.

Bringing SIGN to Syria

Samer Attar, MD, FACS

Most of the medical work on the ground in northern Syria is being provided by local Syrian doctors and nurses. Many are supported by humanitarian organizations such as the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), the group that facilitated my trip. While in Syria, I had noticed that several patients were being treated with definitive external fixation due to a sparse supply of intramedullary nail systems. Moreover, many of the makeshift hospitals in Syria have no C-arms.

New LFP Class Selected

Selected by the Leadership Development Committee, the Leadership Fellows Program (LFP) class of 2014–2015 consists of 10 new LFP fellows. Established in December 2001, the LFP is a 1-year program that identifies future leaders and prepares them to assume roles of responsibility within AAOS. The LFP combines didactic leadership training with an ongoing mentoring program that matches each participant with an established leader within the orthopaedic community.

Vote Now for AAOS Leadership

Voting closes March 12 All Fellows can now vote electronically for the slate of officers proposed by the 2014 Nominating Committee. The ballot was sent electronically on Feb. 26 and can also be found on the AAOS website at www.aaos.org/leadershipelection (member login required). Voting closes at 1 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, March 12. The results of the balloting will be announced on Thursday, March 13, during the 2014 Business Meeting, scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.