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Views From AOPA Leadership
Changing of the Guards: Commitment Remains
GREETINGS. With this issue of the O&P Almanac spanning both of our terms as AOPA president, we wanted to write it jointly.
Every year on December 1, leadership on AOPA’s Board of Directors changes. Because of our bylaws and how the board functions, the change in leadership is seamless. The Board of Directors meets monthly and the Executive Committee meets bimonthly. These meetings offer robust discussions about how to best support our members because that is our focus: you and the patients you serve.
The board also works hard to make sure that its members are representative of all O&P voices. The Nominating Committee—this year, under the leadership of Past President Traci Dralle, CFm—worked hard to achieve this goal. We therefore want to quickly share the new additions to the 2022-2023 AOPA Board of Directors. We welcome Arlene Gillis, MEd, CP, LPO, as director-at-large. Gillis will bring a new perspective to the board with her experience working at an international institute and O&P school. In addition, Lesleigh Sisson, CFo, CFm, joins the board, representing our 1-5 Patient-Care Facilities members. Sisson has unique experience as both the owner of a small O&P business and having worked with many others in a professional capacity. Their diverse viewpoints will help AOPA continue to support all of its members.
Over the next 12 months, we will concentrate on making new connections and maintaining existing ones. We will continue to foster AOPA’s relationships with government agencies and contractors: CMS; the durable medical equipment Medicare administrative contractors; the Pricing, Data Analysis, and Coding contractor; and state Medicaid agencies. We also will work to develop stronger relationships with commercial health plans to increase our advocacy on your behalf in the private sector. And we will continue to fight for appropriate federal legislation supporting the O&P profession. The passage of the Medicare O&P Patient-Centered Care Act remains uncertain at the time of publication, but AOPA will continue to identify ways to advance our profession’s interests in the halls of Congress.
We will continue our work to support you at the state level. In 2022, we partnered with state-based organizations and achieved successful outcomes, including the following: • New York: Obtained a Medicaid fee schedule increase • North Carolina: Expanded access to cranial remolding orthoses • Minnesota: Expanded Medicaid coverage of lower-limb prostheses • Illinois: Addressed the Medicaid fee schedule increase • Pennsylvania: Provided support regarding licensure challenges.
Finally, in 2023 we will continue to support and expand So Kids Can Move, a statebased initiative with the goal of expanding access to recreational prostheses and orthoses for children.
So, as 2022 comes to a close, we want to thank you for your continued support of AOPA and for entrusting us both with the responsibility of serving as president. As we face the challenges of a new year, please know that AOPA is here for you. On behalf of AOPA’s entire Board of Directors, we want to let you know we appreciate all you do for the patients you serve, and we look forward to working with you. With your help, in 2023 we will continue to move closer to our objective of realizing a world where O&P care transforms lives.
Wishing you the happiest of holidays.
Dave McGill ended his term as AOPA president Nov. 30, 2022.Teri Kuffel, JD, began her term as AOPA president Dec. 1, 2022.
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