President's Column

Read monthly updates from AAN President Carlayne E. Jackson, MD, FAAN, to learn about Academy news and action on issues important to the neurology profession and patients.

August 2023

40,000 Reasons Why the AAN Is Driven to Succeed

The mission of the AAN is to promote the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care and enhance member career satisfaction. As we enter the second half of 2023, I want to update you on our recent work to succeed in this mission.

Recruit and Retain Members

We are very proud that, entering our 75th year, recruitment continued to grow as we surpassed 40,000 members for the first time. Our efforts year to date look strong in increasing the number of US neurologists, advanced practice providers, and student members. What is particularly remarkable is that our retention numbers have been enviable at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic put great pressure on organizations and associations such as ours. Our total membership grew five percent in 2020, four percent in 2021, and three percent in 2022. All indications are for continued growth for 2023—which tells us that the AAN is successfully providing significant value to those we serve.

Grow and Strengthen the Neurology Workforce

Again, because your AAN leaders are your peers, the Academy recognizes staffing issues and burnout, reimbursement frustrations, challenges to revenue flows coming into practice, and the demand to meet productivity targets. We know recruitment is a huge task and how difficult it is to find neurologists, particularly general neurologists. We know that more documentation is not improving patient care, and regulations like prior authorizations are the number one thing members want to change.

Our determined advocacy efforts have helped push back regulations on telehealth. We have scored big wins that benefit not only practitioners but their patients as well, who can access the help they need with greater convenience. Telehealth, remote neurology, and artificial intelligence will play increasingly important roles in delivering care and the AAN remains vigilant against any attempts to impede progress.

Enhance Advocacy Engagement

Speaking of advocacy, nearly 200 of your colleagues went to Washington, DC, in March to participate in Neurology on the Hill. They told members of Congress about your frustrations with prior authorization, the need to reform the Medicare Physician Payment System, and how increasing funding for NINDS, the VA Neurology Centers of Excellence, and the BRAIN Initiative is imperative for the nation’s health. We are now preparing for the next Legislative Summit on September 22 in Washington.

Even with the commitment of invaluable member volunteers, we can’t do what we do without more neurologists getting involved in grassroots advocacy. Your participation is essential! The success of our Action Alert emails—where you can easily contact your members of Congress in as little as 60 seconds—makes a big difference. Please respond when you see these Action Alerts in your email and learn more about how you can be an advocate for your patients and profession at AAN.com/Advocacy.

Strengthen Neurologists Through Education

The AAN’s education products have been reviewed by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and awarded full accreditation for four years as a provider of continuing medical education for physicians. Accreditation in the ACCME system assures the medical community and the public that the AAN delivers education that is relevant to clinicians’ needs, evidence-based, evaluated for its effectiveness, and independent of commercial influence.

We have been adding to our vast education offerings Academy-wide, in our Annual Meeting and conferences—such as last month’s new Summer Conference with its focus on emergency and hospital neurology—as well as convenient online learning resources, including a Neurology Question of the Day (QOD) pilot with a number of questions from the 2023 RITE^® (Residency In-service Training Exam). The QOD pilot is designed to assess the quality of the questions and encourage more residents to practice answering clinical neurology questions before sitting for the RITE.

Advance the Brain Health Initiative

The Academy is deep into planning our second annual Brain Health Summit, which will be held on September 21 in Washington, DC. This year, we are expecting attendance to double to more than 200 experts from organizations from across the US, such as NINDS, AARP, and industry leaders. We plan to announce more advances in brain health at this summit and are working on another declaration of National Brain Health Day. Our work in this area has crossed borders, as well, as AAN leaders have promoted our efforts in Mexico, Sri Lanka, India, and Europe at the recent European Academy of Neurology Brain Health Summit. We also had the pleasure of our international colleagues sharing their perspectives at our Annual Meeting in Boston in April. We also participated in the World Federation of Neurology “World Brain Day” on July 22.

Promote and Expand Neuroscience Research

Research is the vital element in treating and curing brain disease, and the AAN is steadfastly committed to supporting the bright minds who will bring us those treatments and cures. We recently launched our call for applications for the 2024 AAN Research Program Funding, and you can learn more about these many career-lifting opportunities at AAN.com/ResearchProgram. In this issue of AANnews^®, we announce the call for abstracts for the 2024 Annual Meeting, which will be held next April 13 to 18 in Denver. The Academy continues to promote research through the Neurology^® journals and other platforms like the Annual Meeting and AAN.com.

Promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

While the AAN exists as the home of everyone in neurology, we recognize that the need for equity and inclusiveness has never been greater, both within our profession and in our communities. Our work to address health care disparities is constant and Annual Meeting programming advanced these efforts, as well as compelling research articles in our journals.

Encourage Member Wellness

Nobody better understands the challenges our members continue to face post-pandemic than your peers who serve as voluntary leaders in the AAN. Like you, they work in the clinics, classrooms, and labs, and they experience the same pressures you do when it comes to regulatory burdens, the need to constantly demonstrate value, and the financial impact on your work. The Academy continues to fight against these encroachments on your time, energy, and sense of fulfillment you draw on to keep going each and every day. The Wellness Subcommittee has been busy increasing the number of resources for individual members and organizations, and I encourage you to visit AAN.com/Wellness to avail yourself of them.

The vision of the AAN is to be indispensable to our members. Amid the vast challenges you face in today’s health care environment, you can count on the AAN to have your back. All 40,000 of you!

Carlayne E. Jackson, MD, FAAN
President, AAN
cjackson@aan.com
@CarlayneJackson on Twitter