Reflecting on the past year of achievements and challenges, one word comes to mind…teamwork. In our committees, staff, governance structures, physician leadership, and with 56,000 members - ASA is a team effort. The privilege of serving as ASA President for the best specialty in medicine representing the finest physicians has been both exhilarating and humbling. As you will see in this report, the team effort achieved outstanding results.
In 2022, we initiated new programs, expanded our education portfolio as well as our professional and leadership development resources, increased media attention and strengthened our authority as go-to experts in medicine, made consensus-based progress on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and continued to advance our robust advocacy agenda.
Advocacy: We brought awareness and action on the No Surprises Act (NSA), Safe VA Care, the doubly broken Medicare system, medical title misappropriation, and other state level issues. As a leader with other specialties, state medical societies, and our component state societies we established strong momentum to tackle the negative impact of the flawed NSA and to prevent further Medicare cuts.
Medical Student, Resident, Fellow, and New Grad Programs: To build membership, the Early-Career Membership Program was launched to increase connection to ASA for those in their first years of practice. To ensure that we continue to attract the best and the brightest, the Pathways to Anesthesiology video series will help to expose medical students to our dynamic specialty earlier in their medical education.
Workforce: We are also moving forward with the deliverables from ASA’s Workforce Summit held in June 2022. These include “New Training Paradigms,” “Harnessing the Workforce Potential,” “Staffing and Efficiency in the Operating Room (OR),” and “Anesthesiologist Utilization, Non-operating Room Anesthesia (NORA), and Sedation Models.” Each of these areas have a dedicated task force to develop recommendations.
Education: We acquired the Anesthesia Toolbox, a respected educational platform and learning community.
This is just a snapshot of ASA’s many 2022 accomplishments. You’ll see more impressive details in this annual report.
One of the most meaningful aspects of my time as President has been hearing from all of you. ASA works for you, and I have appreciated your passion, sincerity, and diverse perspectives which demonstrate your dedication to our profession and, most importantly, to the patients in our care. I thank all of you for being engaged and active members of ASA. Acting together, we have and will continue to achieve great things!
Achieved all-time high in resident and medical student memberships.
Membership Trends 2018-2022
Our dedicated Advocacy team and members worked together on a wide range of issues impacting the specialty. From Medicare payment cuts and the flawed implementation of the No Surprises Act (NSA) to protecting physician-led care, there was no shortage of advocacy work in 2022.
We relaunched the first phase of the Safe VA Care Initiative at ANESTHESIOLOGY 2022, already generating thousands of comments in support of physician-led anesthesia care for Veterans with the support of Safe VA Care Ambassadors.
ASA secured introduction of HR 7048, the Protect Lifesaving Anesthesia Care for Veterans Act, with 28 bipartisan cosponsors, and amendment related to Safe VA Care.
With 449 attendees, including 90 residents, LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE 2022 returned to an in-person format, allowing members to again advocate for the specialty and their patients on Capitol Hill.
We filed a formal amicus brief in support of litigation pending in Texas to fix the flawed implementation of the federal surprise billing law.
We secured changes in federal agencies’ rule to bar insurer gaming of elements of the No Surprises Act following ASA-initiated and co-funded independent study of insurer manipulation of median in-network rates.
ASAPAC is the #1 physician PAC and one of the top association PACs in the nation.
We hosted a successful Pain Summit in February 2022, producing seven consensus principles for the complex pain patient.
At the urging of the ASA, the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities (AAAASF) revised their standards to remove nurse anesthetists as staff members who could serve as medical directors of office-based and ambulatory surgical facilities.
We unveiled a new ASA Advocacy App, designed to increase member engagement and awareness of federal and state grassroots activities.
In the States
ASA is committed to lifelong learning each and every year, but 2022 stood out for the continued success of enduring products like SimSTAT, ACE and SEE, impressive growth in new online offerings like POCUS, and some new entries that will set the standard for years to come like Anesthesia Toolbox and PeRLS. Here are just a few highlights from among our many educational resources:
Introduced the Anesthesia Toolbox with ASA re-brand and saw strong sales with 110 residency programs subscribed, more than 1,000 content resources, and a quiz bank of over 2,500 questions and growing.
The 2022 Virtual Simulation Education Network Summit was held in March in collaboration with the American College of Surgeons attracting 80 attendees.
The Diagnostic POCUS Certificate Program is a pathway to improve learners’ skills, competence, and achieve distinction in POCUS image acquisition and interpretation. We offered six new POCUS workshops at the annual meeting. In 2022, we had 1,580 learners and 126 were awarded the Certificate of Completion.
Anesthesia SimSTAT – Five interactive screen-based simulations of crisis scenarios were still popular with 1,200 individuals enrolled in the program in 2022 and new Modules 6 and 7 coming in 2023. More than 6,880 course licenses have been purchased.
More than 12,000 unique users enrolled in the ACE: Anesthesiology Continuing Education program during 2022.
Summaries of Emerging Evidence (SEE) remains a highly regarded educational offering, garnering a 99.3% recommendation rating for the 2022 editions.
The program had 4,800 subscribers during the year.
MOCA Minute CME program continues to be strong with over 21,000 ABA Diplomates participating in the program.We worked hard to evolve our meetings to provide a variety of options to meet the diverse needs of our members since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, ASA hosted more than 50 in-person, virtual, and hybrid meetings, including the first in-person LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE since 2019. We also returned to hosting revenue generating events partnering to hold more than 20 events at the ASAHQ Conference Center in 2022.
From advocating for physician-led care and preserving the highest-quality anesthesia care for our nation’s Veterans, to record-breaking coverage on the scientific research presented at ANESTHESIOLOGY 2022, ASA’s coverage in top-tier national and local consumer and trade media was unprecedented.
In 2022, we secured 4,169 media placements that reached a potential audience of 7.3 billion. Top placements included The Wall Street Journal, TIME Magazine, Yahoo! News, U.S. News & World Report, Reuters Health, Bloomberg News, MSN.com, Huffington Post, and Allure Magazine.
In 2022, the Made for This Moment (MFTM) digital ad campaign earned more than 18 million impressions, 10 million video ad views, and 38,000 website visits. A new suite of ads launched, engaging the three priority audiences of health care executives, policymakers, and members -- on topics such as medical title transparency, health equity, and the unique value and role of anesthesiologists.
Our new resource “Be the Solution: Sell Your C-Suite on the Value and Leadership of Anesthesiologists” was developed through the MFTM campaign with content to equip ASA members to meaningfully engage with health care executives.
We launched the Enhancing Patient Communications Program, a member-exclusive resource to guide positive patient interactions.
Our social media properties posted content across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, earning:
Collaboration continued with our 53 component societies, 12 affiliated subspecialty societies, and 13 international societies.
The Anesthesia Foundation provides loans to anesthesiology residents of up to $7,500 at no interest if repaid within six months of completing training. In 2022, 31 residents received $221,400 in loans; 38 former loan recipients completed repaying their loan, 24 of which repaid before maturity without incurring any interest charges; and the 116 COVID-related loans totaling $870,000 paid out in 2020 matured in 2022 and nearly all have been repaid without incurring any interest charges. The Anesthesia Foundation has received many notes of gratitude for the assistance we have provided.
The APSF formed 10 Patient Safety Priority Advisory Groups aligned with our 10 patient safety priorities to advise the board on actions that advance patient safety. The APSF Stoelting Conference was held in September 2022 with 150 in-person and virtual attendees discussing “Crucial Patient Safety Issues in Office-Based and Non-Operating Room Anesthesia (NORA),” an event addressing the unique challenges associated with providing safe care to patients in NORA environments. The APSF hosted 60 attendees at a second consensus conference in November 2022 that discussed “Perioperative Hemodynamic Instability, Hypotension and Perioperative Outcomes.” The APSF awarded more than $14 million in grants during 2022.
FAER’s inaugural Academic Giving Competition (AGC) saw 19 academic anesthesiology departments compete for most funds raised and most donors. A total of $164,718 was raised during the 11-day competition, far exceeding original goals. FAER is dedicated to developing the next generation of physician-investigators and in 2022, FAER awarded funding to 15 anesthesiologists totaling $2,875,000. Additionally, more than 60 past FAER grantees were awarded NIH funding in 2022. This year saw record levels of participation in the Medical Student Anesthesia Resident Fellowship (MSRAF) program, with 61 medical students matched to 39 host institutions. In 2022, FAER also voted to increase the number of allowable student participants.
In March 2022, the ASA Charitable Foundation (ASACF) launched a fundraising effort to provide relief for Ukraine, with a focus on support for the medical and anesthesia community where possible. The response was significant, raising just north of $110,000. In addition, the ASACF Global Scholars Program provided support for eight young leaders in the specialty from low- and middle-lower income countries to participate in the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2022 annual meeting. Prior to the ANESTHESIOLOGY annual meeting, the scholars participated in three-day observerships at one of three hospitals: Tulane, Ochsner, and LSU.
In 2022, the WLM purchased a 24,000-square-foot building to be converted into a permanent collections and research facility. WLM nearly completed the GOLD level in the Standards and Excellence Program for History Organizations (STEPS) and participated in the ASA annual meeting in New Orleans with a robust slate of history sessions, meetings, and events. WLM also engaged a consultant to conduct board training in 2023 and started laying the groundwork for a capital campaign to begin in 2023.
Quality Resources for High-Quality Care
Anesthesiology Quality Institute (AQI)
Quality and Regulatory Affairs highlights:
Total = $50M
■ Membership Dues - $25M
■ Continuing Education Products - $9M
■ Annual Meeting - $8M
■ Grants and Contributions - $3M
■ Other Income - $3M
■ Publications and Journals - $2M
■ Other Meetings - $0M
Total = $99.4M
■ Investments - $85.7M
■ Cash - $12.2M
■ Receivables - $1.5M
Restricted and Unrestricted Reserves 2014-2022
($ in millions)
• $2.1 million Unrestricted Support / Sponsorship Revenue
• $3.3 million Annual Meeting Exhibits /Advertising
• $300,000 ADVANCE 2022 Exhibits and Advertising
• $500,000 Restricted / CME Education Funding
As Dr. Clark notes, working together we achieved great things in 2022. During a year that brought no shortage of challenges, our shared mission of providing the safest care possible to our patients was the unifying force that enabled us to be successful and create strong momentum on the issues impacting our profession.
I thank Dr. Clark for his leadership and firm hand on the tiller, steering the ship through rough waters, or in his case, piloting the aircraft through turbulent skies to a safe landing!
Like all of my predecessors, I am truly honored to represent this great organization and will rely not only on my fellow ASA leaders, but also on all of you, our members, for counsel and guidance during the upcoming year. None of us, acting alone, has the knowledge or wisdom to navigate the storms that have beset our profession. But, working together—meshing our perspectives—increases our chances of sailing the proper line.
Our foundation is strong going into 2023 with new initiatives in place to grow and better serve our membership. We are also working on new tactics to address the serious economic and payment issues facing us. In addition, I am committed to inspiring a broader spectrum of our members to seek leadership positions, so as to better represent our membership, not just with respect to age, gender, and race but also practice setting, location, and more. We will work to ensure there are more voices in leadership that are reflective of our 56,000 members.
A more diverse society, and a more inclusive one, is a better society. I look forward to working alongside you to meet the challenges ahead and celebrate our future successes.
I am immensely proud of how ASA leadership and membership worked together to meet the challenges of 2022. Dr. Clark’s steady hand at leading our diverse Society of 56,000 members through an eventful year with many difficult issues to address, met the moment and set the stage for a prosperous future.
Our membership is growing and as Dr. Clark mentioned, we have established new initiatives for our early-career physicians and to attract medical students to the profession. We’ve also created task forces to address workforce issues impacting the specialty. Our business model is sound, and we’ve implemented a revenue growth strategy that will keep the Society financially strong for years to come. I’m privileged to work with world-class professional staff who offer our members the highest quality customer service. For the sixth consecutive year, ASA has been selected as a Best and Brightest Companies to Work For®in the Nation.
As important, this was a year in which the leadership of anesthesiologists and ASA itself became increasingly recognized in the health care ecosystem. Consider the elections of Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld to President-Elect of the American Medical Association and Dr. Joanne Conroy to Chair-Elect of the American Hospital Association. We led on several initiatives relative to the No Surprises Act, including a legal challenge brought in conjunction with the American College of Emergency Physicians and the American College of Radiologists. ASA continues in its collaboration with American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) to foster the development of anesthesiologist executives and hosted two standing room only sessions at the ACHE Congress on Healthcare Leadership in March.
I look forward to working with Dr. Champeau, the Administrative Council, and our ASA members to carry out our mission of “advancing the practice and securing the future;” and stay true to our values as “a world leader improving health through innovation in quality and safety.”
The 2022 ASA Administrative Council took office on October 13, 2021, with their one-year terms concluding on October 26, 2022.
Seated, from left to right: Jeffrey S. Jacobs, MD, MBA, FASA, Vice Speaker of the House of Delegates; Ronald L. Harter, MD, FASA, First Vice President; Randall M. Clark, MD, FASA, President; Michael W. Champeau, MD, FAAP, FASA, President-Elect; Beverly K. Philip, MD, FACA, FASA, Immediate Past President.
Standing, left to right: Jeff T. Mueller, MD, FASA, Vice President for Professional Affairs; Andrew D. Rosenberg, MD, FASA, Vice President for Scientific Affairs; Kenneth Elmassian, DO, FASA, Secretary; Patrick Giam, MD, FASA, Speaker of the House of Delegates; Donald E. Arnold, MD, FASA, Treasurer; James “Jay” R. Mesrobian, MD, MBA, FASA, Assistant Treasurer; and Kraig S. de Lanzac, MD, FASA, Assistant Secretary.
