Annual Meeting participant guidelines

The AAOS has long taken seriously the matter of physician self-disclosure of potential conflicts in all of its continuing medical education activities. Requirements that presentations at its Annual Meeting be free of commercial bias and that presenters complete a financial disclosure statement have been in effect for several years.

Fellows weigh in on aspects of healthcare reform

Healthcare delivery is changing faster than a Los Angeles Lakers fast break. Insurance premiums are rising to the breaking point. Multiple plans have been proposed in Congress and are currently being hotly debated. One thing is clear: the status quo is not going to be “status quo” much longer. Change is in the air. One of the issues being discussed is the creation of a “public option.”

Treasurer’s Report — November 2009

Frederick M. Azar, MD, MBA

The bylaws of the AAOS direct the Finance Committee to “manage, supervise and control the financial affairs” of the organization. The members of the AAOS Finance Committee in 2009 include me as the treasurer and chair of the committee; E. Anthony Rankin, MD, the immediate past president; and John J. Callaghan, MD, the first vice president. Other participants in Finance Committee meetings include Joseph D. Zuckerman, MD; Daniel J. Berry, MD; Karen L.

Surgeon on the street

What developments in your field do you see as having the greatest impact on clinical practice in the upcoming years/future? At the recent meeting of the Council on Research, Quality Assessment, and Technology, AAOS Now asked the chairs of the Evidence-Based Practice and Biomedical Engineering Committees, the liaison from the Women's Health Issues Advisory Board, and the Orthopaedic Research Society representative to assess the landscape of the future. Here's what they told us.

Board approves position statement on medical liability reform

Mary Ann Porucznik

“Reform is necessary to improve the overall healthcare system” At its meeting in September, the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Board of Directors approved a revised position statement on medical liability reform. The new statement outlines the challenges of the current medical liability system, basic principles of reform, and program components required to achieve medical liability reform.

Disclosure is “good” for the soul

For a number of years I have been a reviewer for The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery and the Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics (I often wondered why), and now I have a chance to use these skills in reviewing an article from The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). First of all, the objective part of the article cannot be challenged: only 71.2 percent of payments made to orthopaedists from five orthopaedic device companies were self-disclosed prior to the AAOS 2008 Annual Meeting.

In memoriam

Richard T. Chiroff, MD Aug. 23, 2009 Columbia, Md. William B. Dial, MD Aug. 11, 2009 Blackshear, Ga. Melvin H. Jahss, MD Feb. 14, 2009 New York City Alan M. Levine, MD Oct. 25, 2009 Baltimore, Md. Lowell Dean Lutter, MD Oct. 4, 2009 Saint Paul, Minn. Ignacio V. Ponseti, MD Oct. 18, 2009 Iowa City, Iowa R. Dee Robbins, MD July 21, 2009 Santa Rosa, Calif. Gerald D. Schuster, MD July 9, 2009 Hollywood, S.C. Jack M. Walker, MD Oct. 2, 2009 Yorktown, Ind.

New Orleans lagniappe

Michele M. Zembo, MD, MBA

Local chair shares the many ways the “Big Easy” offers you a little more “Lagniappe” (pronounced lan-yap) is an old French word that’s quite well understood in New Orleans. It means something extra, a little more than you asked for, and that’s just what you’ll find when you come to the AAOS 2010 Annual Meeting in New Orleans. Take food, for example. Nowhere will you find as many interesting, fabulous restaurants as in New Orleans.

Forging new alliances

Annie Hayashi

AAOS offers arthroscopy educational exchange program with Vietnam Hue Central Hospital in Vietnam is unlike any hospital in the United States, according to Pietro M. Tonino, MD. “Without actually being there, it’s difficult to grasp the enormous number of people who need care. It would be like announcing a free medical clinic and people just showing up,” Dr. Tonino said. Dr.

Pat on the back…

• 2009-2010 board members for the American Foundation for Surgery of the Hand: Peter J. Stern, MD, chairman; Andrew J. Weiland, MD, vice chairman; Frederick F. Fakharzadeh, MD, president; John M. Bednar, MD, secretary; Arnold-Peter C. Weiss, MD, treasurer; and trustees Robert M. Szabo, MD; Thomas E. Trumble, MD; L. Andrew Koman, MD; James Chang, MD; J. Mark Evans, MD; Fraser J. Leversedge, MD; William H. Seitz Jr., MD.

Will you speak on our behalf?

Frank B. Kelly, MD

Register now for media training workshops in New Orleans Undoubtedly, as you sit and talk one-on-one with patients, you provide information and education on a range of orthopaedic topics. But have you considered reaching out to a wider audience—perhaps to thousands or millions of people watching television or listening to the radio?

Building relationships through patient education

Maureen Leahy

Print, Internet materials help you educate, inform patients Would you like to provide your patients with reliable, take-home materials to enhance their understanding of a condition or upcoming procedure? Or enhance your practice Web site with a variety of online educational materials? AAOS patient education resources provide patient-friendly information on a variety of topics designed to complement your office consultations.