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In Memoriam: Ralph L Sacco, MD, MS, FAHA, FAAN
Ralph L. Sacco, MD, MS, FAHA, FAAN, who served as the 35th president of the AAN from 2017 to 2019, passed away on January 17, 2023. Sacco was the chairman of neurology; Olemberg Family Chair in Neurological Disorders; Miller Professor of Neurology Public Health Sciences, Human Genetics, and Neurosurgery; executive director of the Evelyn McKnight Brain Institute; Senior Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Science, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine; and chief of the neurology service at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Read Sacco’s obituary at Neurology.org. During his tenure as AAN president, Sacco led an initiative to ensure that academic neurology, from department chairs to professors to students, knew about the abundance of Academy resources available to them. He hosted summits with neurology chairs and their business managers to better understand the specific challenges and needs they faced and how the AAN could assist them. He was a strong proponent of enlarging the neurology workforce through the academic pipeline and promoted the concept of the ‘newrologist’ to get people excited in careers in neurology, moving beyond just diagnosis and treatments to include interventions, preventative care, and the future of regenerative care. Sacco also championed the AAN’s Axon Registry® and closer relationships with the international neurology community. (View a clip of Sacco’s 2019 interview at the end of his presidency at AAN.com/History.) A graduate of Cornell University and a cum laude graduate of Boston University School of Medicine, Sacco received a master's in epidemiology from Columbia University, School of Public Health. He completed his neurology residency training and postdoctoral training in stroke and epidemiology at Columbia Presbyterian in New York. He was previously professor of neurology, chief of Stroke and Critical Care Division, and associate chairman at Columbia University before taking most recent position in 2007.
Sacco Sacco was an international expert in stroke epidemiology and health disparities. He was the founding principal investigator of the Northern Manhattan Study, the Florida Puerto Rico Collaboration to Reduce Stroke Disparities, and the Miami Clinical Translational Science Institute, as well as coinvestigator of multiple other NIH grants. Sacco published extensively with over 1,000 peer-reviewed articles (h-index 109) in the areas of stroke prevention, treatment, epidemiology, risk factors, vascular cognitive impairment, human genetics, and outcomes and has been listed as a Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher since 2017. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including the AAN Wartenberg Lecture, AHA Feinberg Award of Excellence in Clinical Stroke, the WSO Global Stroke Leadership Award, AHA Gold Heart Award, the NINDS Javits Award in neuroscience, and numerous named lectures. Sacco was a fellow of both the Stroke and Epidemiology Councils of the American Heart Association, a fellow of the ANA, and an elected member of the Association of American Physicians and National Academy of Medicine. He was the first neurologist to serve as the president of the American Heart Association from 2010 to 2011.
PRACTICE
FDA Approves Lecanemab for Alzheimer's Disease continued from cover
was able to moderately slow decline on measures of cognition and function in patients with early AD and MCI relative to placebo at 18 months. An existing National Coverage Determination (NCD) published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in April 2022 stipulates that monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of AD only receive coverage in the context of an approved clinical trial unless or until it was able to satisfy a variety of criteria as part of Coverage with Evidence Development. This means that lecanemab enters the market under this NCD and therefore access will be limited. In a statement released by CMS upon the approval of lecanemab the agency announced that they are, "examining available information and may reconsider its current coverage based on this review." The AAN will continue its advocacy on this issue and is providing resources and education to help its members understand this new therapy. Visit the Monoclonal Antibodies for Alzheimer's Resources page at AAN.com/MAforAD to stay up to date on the Academy's activity in this space.
Be Aware of Health IT Certification Criteria, New Interoperability Standards
The 21st Century Cures Act Health IT Certification requirements for electronic health record (EHR) vendors are officially in effect. These health IT requirements will help neurologists share medical records with their patients and other medical practices. These requirements also will help neurology practices participate with clinical data registries, such as the AAN Axon Registry, and for needed quality measure components to be identified within your EHR to satisfy future MIPS requirements. In 2020, the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology 21st Century Cures Act made several changes to the existing 2015 Edition Health IT Certification Criteria and mandated attestation by Health IT vendors by December 31, 2022. Health IT Certification Criteria include: The adoption of application programming interfaces (APIs) Implementing US Core Data for Interoperability and Fast
Healthcare Interoperability Resources standards and the 2015 Cures Edition Update Health IT Certification criteria are also required for participation in Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) valuebased programs, for example, Promoting Interoperability. In addition, it helps in supporting clinical practice improvement and care coordination and provides tools that improve clinical workflows and quality. Other benefits of using a Certified Electronic Health Technology (CEHRT) as outlined by CMS include: Supports electronic transition of care, closing referral loops, and giving hospitals straighforward and secure access to their patients’ records from outside organizations Makes the process for patients to get their personal health information less time-consuming and tedious for all parties while maintaining confidentiality Enables the use of APIs to help hospitals access and exchange the health information in CEHRT more easily Supports patient electronic access to health information through technologies that allow patients greater flexibility and choice in how they access and share their health information The AAN encourages you to contact your EHR vendor to ensure your practice’s Certified Electronic Health Record meets the ONC 21st Cures Act Health IT certification requirements. You also can check whether a health IT product has been certified to the 2015 Edition Cures Update criteria, visit the Certified Health IT Product List at https://chpl.healthit.gov/#/search.
Axon Registry Annual Report Highlights 2022 Data
The 2022 Axon Registry Annual Report is now available at AAN.com/axon. Prepared by the AAN Registry Subcommittee, the report highlights the potential of the registry data. It provides a succinct overview of the data, including quality measure performance, and visual summaries of practices, participants, and demographics. To learn more about the Axon Registry and enrollment information, visit AAN.com/axon. Contact registry@aan.com with questions.
22 Axon Registry Annual Report 8.5” x 11”, +.125” bleeds, 4C
2022 Annual Report
Popular Neurology Chair Summit Renamed to Honor Past AAN President Sacco
The Neurology Department Chair and Business Administrator Summit, held in Chicago on December 11 and 12, 2022, is now the Ralph L. Sacco Neurology Chair Summit in honor of the beloved past AAN president. After the official announcement to the event’s 150 attendees, AAN President Orly Avitzur, MD, MBA, FAAN, took to the podium to describe Sacco’s invaluable contributions to academic neurology. Not only did Sacco conceptualize and plan the first Summit in 2018, but he led the subsequent formation of the AAN’s Academic Neurology Committee and its four subcommittees: Department Chair Subcommittee, Diversity Officer Subcommittee, Division Chief Subcommittee, and Advancing Women in Academics Subcommittee. The two-day summit was planned by the Department Chair Subcommittee under the leadership of its chair, S. Andrew Josephson, MD, FAAN. This year’s theme, Navigating Choppy Waters and Steering Towards Success, brought department chairs and business administrators together to network and discuss critical topics and challenges facing academic neurology departments, such as: benchmarking; incentive programs; leadership; caring for diverse patients; approaches to clinical, research, and education challenges; recruitment and retention; lessons learned; use of consultants; and more. The summit also hosted a roundtable for women department chairs, who discussed pay equity, supporting women researchers, and work-life balance. The roundtable has more than doubled in size since its first meeting, marking a promising increase in the number of women in academic neurology leadership positions. The Ralph L. Sacco Neurology Chair Summit is part of the AAN’s broader Academic Initiative, which includes efforts to share best practices on topics such as revenue generation and funding the education mission; bringing together women chairs of neurology departments and academic business administrators; developing resources for division chiefs and diversity officers; developing webinars for departments to share information on COVID response, financial repercussions, and reactivating departments after the initial surge; and expanding Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives, including a webinar on Neurology Departments Addressing Systemic Racism. Visit AAN.com for continued updates on the AAN’s Academic Initiative.
Sacco
Summit attendees gathered to socialize and network during the opening reception.
Avitzur described Sacco’s contributions to the AAN’s Academic Neurology efforts during her opening remarks.
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Eight fellowship training programs recently attained accreditation through the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties. Programs attaining UCNS accreditation status offer the core curriculum established by the subspecialty and meet required quality standards established by the UCNS. Accreditation is a voluntary process of evaluation and peer review based on UCNS accreditation standards. Fellows who complete a UCNS-accredited program meet the training eligibility requirements to apply for certification in the subspecialty. There are now 234 UCNS-accredited training programs in UCNS-recognized subspecialties. For a full listing of UCNS-accredited programs and their program directors, visit UCNS.org/Online/News. Training programs interested in applying for accreditation will find application and program requirement information for each subspecialty at UCNS.org/accreditation. Applications received by the July 31, 2023, deadline will be reviewed for accreditation in the fall of 2023.
The United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties is now accepting applications for certification in Clinical Neuromuscular Pathology through May 1, 2023. The five-hour, 200 multiple-choice question certification exam will take place the week of October 30 through November 3, 2023, and will be administered online with virtual live proctoring. The 2023 examination schedule is: Application Period: February 1–May 1 Extended application deadline ($500 fee applies): May 15 Examination registration opens: July 1 Examination Week: October 30–November 3 Visit UCNS.org/CNMPcertification for more information on eligibility and to apply.
The United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties’ 2023 continuous certification (C-cert) reading lists are now available for Autonomic Disorders, Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychiatry, Clinical Neuromuscular Pathology, Headache Medicine, Interventional Neurology, Neurocritical Care, Neuroimaging, and Neuro-oncology. Reading lists include links to the journal articles submitted by subspecialty peers and selected by each subspecialty’s certification examination committee based on specific criteria. C-cert activities provide subspecialty learning and knowledge assessment to ensure that diplomates are staying up to date on the latest science, treatments, and therapeutics relating to their subspecialty and include completing the reading lists and taking and passing the 25-question online post-reading quiz to assess knowledge gained from the journal article content. UCNS certification is continuous and does not expire when diplomates meet the annual C-cert requirements. Learn more and access the C-cert reading lists at UCNS.org/ReadingLists.