Tag Archive for ‘advocacy’

Executive Director’s Update: Improving Patient Care through Surgeon Leadership and Advocacy
As the ACS hosts its first in-person Leadership and Advocacy Summit since 2019 this month, Dr. Turner reflects on the qualities that define an innovative leader particularly as advocates for quality patient care for all.

Sylvia M. Ramos Cruz, MD, MS, FACS: Surgeon, Writer, and Activist
Dr. Sylvia Ramos Cruz featured in “A Matter of Pride,” a classroom poster/biography series honoring women of achievement in math and science careers. Sponsored by the Organization for Equal Education of the Sexes, Inc. 1986.

Executive Director’s update: Building together for a stronger future
In her first Bulletin column as ACS Executive Director, Dr. Patricia L. Turner outlines her strategic priorities for the organization, including expanding the College’s influence as the leading advocate for surgeons and patients.

Importance of surgeon engagement in surgical health policy advocacy
Summarizes the goals of the Surgical Care Coalition, a group of 13 surgical organizations formed in 2020 with the common aim of improving quality of care for all patients through advocacy-related work.

Tips for turning a strategic plan into active advocacy
Summarizes the differences between passive and active advocacy and identifies the importance of strategic planning for developing policy solutions.
Your ACS benefits: We have the tools for you to become an effective surgeon-advocate
ACS advocacy resources, including SurgeonsVoice, which are intended to help facilitate engagement in health policy-related initiatives are summarized.

The surgeon’s role in health policy: An introduction
Serving as a busy surgeon or surgical trainee is always a balancing act. Making time to fill a seat on one committee often means leaving an unfilled seat someplace else. Each time a surgeon is unable to attend a meeting leads to less inclusivity at future meetings, as these are often scheduled by, and with […]

Getting started in advocacy and health policy: The ACS can help
Identifies how young surgeons can participate in advocacy and health policy activities, and summarizes issues affecting physicians today, including reimbursement and policy related to information technology.

Surgical societies: Their impact on health policy
Outlines the role of surgical societies in developing health care policy and summarizes current policy initiatives led by the ACS Commission on Cancer, the American Urological Association, and others.

Surgeon advocacy in action: Challenges, accomplishments, and future direction
Summarizes examples of advocacy-related successes in the areas of surprise billing and administrative burden, and describes current issues, including pandemic-related challenges, that are the focus of surgeon-advocates today.

This is our lane: Advocating for firearm injury prevention as surgeons
Summarizes the role of the ACS Committee on Trauma and other medical societies in supporting firearm violence prevention legislation and policy.
Leveraging the surgeon’s role in health policy to address global road traffic injury
The surgeon’s role in addressing the economic and health burden of road traffic injury worldwide through an evidence-based approach is described.

COVID-19’s impact on advocacy: Virtual versus in-person meetings
The benefits and challenges of virtual advocacy activities are described as are the advantages of hybrid virtual and in-person advocacy meetings.

Record number of surgeons participate in virtual 2021 Leadership & Advocacy Summit
This article summarizes the highlights of the virtual 2021 Leadership & Advocacy Summit.

Letters to the Editor
The following comments were received regarding the business of health care and the importance of maintaining appropriate surgical training, particularly during the pandemic.

Adopting telemedicine in surgical care: What you need to know
HIGHLIGHTS Discusses logistics for implementing telemedicine for pre- and postoperative patient visits Describes institutional and user-related factors that may impede telemedicine adoption Summarizes opportunities for innovation in patient care, communication, and education Outlines reimbursement and regulatory considerations for expanded use of telehealth Telemedicine is a rapidly accelerating new avenue for delivering health care services. Although […]

Securing the future of surgery requires the vision and voice of young ACS members: An introduction
This article underscores the importance of surgeon advocacy and suggests looking to younger surgeons’ commitment to this work for inspiration.

It’s not enough: A call to action for surgeon advocates
The Secretary for RAS-ACS’ Executive Committee describes how she became an active participant in ACS advocacy efforts and provides examples of recent ACS-led policy-related accomplishments.

How the San Diego-Imperial Chapter maintained surgical health policy advocacy in the era of COVID-19
Summarizes the efforts of an ACS chapter to organize a virtual advocacy meeting with a California state senator and other stakeholders.

2019 Advocate of the Year offers tips for effective advocacy
Dr. Cavanagh, the 2019 SurgeonsVoice Advocate of the Year, describes why she became a surgeon-advocate and offers guidelines for others interested in getting involved in the advocacy process.