Advocacy

Guided by the Health Policy Committee, AAHKS provides physicians and their patients comprehensive and timely analysis of health policy issues pertaining to hip and knee surgery. Each year, there are changes in regulations affecting patient care reimbursement for hip and knee surgery. AAHKS develops strategies to keep up with changes and to influence the law-making process. Advocacy is necessary to maintain adequate compensation and reimbursement for services performed by hip and knee surgeons, as well as to ensure the quality of patient care.

Advocacy Supporting Studies and Opinion Pieces

What Happens When Your Doctor And Insurance Plan Disagree? (Forbes.com, November 14, 2021 by Prem Ramkumar, MD, MBA)

If Patients Knew: Surgeon Stewardship Versus Balance Sheet Bureaucracy In Orthopaedic Surgery (Forbes.com, October 21, 2021 by Prem Ramkumar, MD, MBA)

Devalue The Doctor: The Response Of A Manipulated System To Orthopaedic Surgeons (Forbes.com, September 4, 2021 by Prem Ramkumar, MD, MBA)

 

2022 Medicare Payment Chart

AAHKS and our advocacy partner Epstein Becker Green have prepared a summary of the changes in Medicare payment for hip and knee surgeries from 2018-2022. The chart covers hospital inpatient, hospital outpatient and ASC settings, as well as the physician fee schedule. Review the chart. Review examples of regional variations in TJA rates for 2021.

 

Advocacy is Time Well Spent

A 2020 Orthopedics Today issue features the cover story, “Advocacy gives physicians a voice, benefits patients” including interviews with leaders in orthopaedics who are making a difference in Washington, D.C. AAHKS Advocacy Committee Chair, James I. “Hutch” Huddleston, MD and 2020 AAHKS Presidential Award recipient, advises orthopaedic surgeons to get involved in their subspecialty advocacy groups. A strong presence on Capitol Hill that AAHKS has established amplifies the impact that volunteers can have on health policy. Full story.