by Elizabeth Hofheinz, M.P.H., M.Ed., October 15, 2019
To some, the NASS ship appeared to be going in two different directions in recent years. But Jeff Wang, M.D., the Immediate Past President of the organization, got the group back on course.
Dr. Wang: “In the past, we tried to integrate the operative and nonoperative portions of NASS. Unfortunately, the fact is that we couldn’t do a perfect job of satisfying either side. Before the 2019 annual meeting a lot of surgeons said that the focus of the meeting was overly nonoperative; the nonoperative attendees said just the opposite. The fact is that the vast majority of members are surgical. Given that, this year’s meeting strove to have sufficient nonoperative programming with a huge amount of operative content.”
“This year’s meeting welcomed new formats, including augmented reality in the format of a TED talk, as well as surgical demonstrations where the audience could ask questions. New nonoperative topics were also on the agenda, such as sports-related concussions. I think that we satisfied both groups.”
Reflecting on his presidential year, Dr. Wang notes, “It was one of the greatest professional growth experiences of my life. Leading the board and committees truly augmented my leadership capabilities and allowed me to round out my leadership philosophy.”
So what sort of leadership skills did he walk away with?
“Now more than ever I realize the value of being able to understand different perspectives…to deeply appreciate the value that people with differing viewpoints bring to an organization. I was so pleased to hear someone at NASS tell me, ‘Jeff, you listen to understand, not because you want to be polite.’”
“I learned that one reason to understand someone who thinks differently is that in order to accomplish your priorities, you need to comprehend their position in order to refute it. That is the best way of trying to make your point. You will find flaws in your thinking and theirs. So when you counter them you are not attacking them, but you are questioning the logic behind what they are proposing.”
Jeff Wang knows that if someone’s not fighting the good fight, then the bad will take over. “I used my presidential year to advocate on the behalf of NASS. Whether it was appropriate coverage and reimbursement, the fight against declining reimbursement, or overly onerous EMR systems, I did my best to keep the needs and goals of the membership in front on lawmakers and other changemakers. I tried to hold the rule makers accountable by asking, ‘Is what you are requiring making for a better patient experience?’”
Sounding a sour note on documentation, Dr. Wang states, “At this point I don’t think there is any way to change the documentation situation. You almost need to be an IT person to do a simple note.”
And it can get labyrinthine. “At this year’s annual meeting on compliance we heard about new rules about the language you have to use when doing xyz to quality for such-and-such level of care.”
As for the recently-inaugurated NASS president, William Sullivan, M.D., Dr. Wang looks forward to Dr. Sullivan’s ideas on how to address the needs of the group’s nonoperative members. “I work with nonoperative physicians, so I do understand some of their needs. But given that Dr. Sullivan is a nonoperative physician, he is better positioned to make progress in this arena.”
