It is a privilege to be nominated by the Board of Trustees to be president of the Academy for 2025. To be offered the opportunity to continue to advocate for our patients and ophthalmology as president of the organization is an incredible gift.
There is no question that numerous challenges face ophthalmology in 2024 and beyond. What is even more certain is that these problems will not be easily solved but will require sustained advocacy. As ophthalmologists, we need to ensure our patients have access to effective and innovative eye care they receive in a timely fashion, while avoiding ineffective care. We appreciate the value of what we do for our patients, but demonstration and communication of that success to policymakers is ongoing. We cannot allow the value of our care to be minimized in a health care system focused solely on reduced costs.
For our members, the No. 1 challenge has been for many years and continues to be how physician payment from Medicare is funded and allocated. The current system of budget neutrality negatively impacting physician payment every year must be continually challenged and replaced.
I attended Jefferson Medical College followed by residency at the Wills Eye Hospital. Fellowships followed at Wilmer in neuro-ophthalmology and pediatric ophthalmology. I was invited to join the Wilmer faculty, where I am currently the division director of pediatric ophthalmology and vice chair for the Wilmer clinical practice.
I initially volunteered with the Academy through the advocacy division, working on CPT coding and representing the Academy to the American Medical Association (AMA). That led to federal economic policy on what would become the Academy Health Policy Committee. Subsequently, I served as Academy Secretary for Federal Affairs and subsequently the Academy Medical Director for Governmental Affairs for the last 10 years. Like you I have valued the Academy for education during residency with the Basic and Clinical Science Course™ (BCSC®) and throughout my career. I have served on the Pediatric Preferred Practice Panel, and the editorial boards of Ophthalmology®, Ophthalmology® Retina, and EyeNet®. The educational mission needs the board’s continuing support.
I have served as president of the Maryland Society of Eye Physicians and the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus. My time in leadership of these organizations taught me much about their value and their difficulties. I have been a longtime member of MedChi, the Maryland medical society.
Advocacy for patients and members remains a fundamental part of the Academy’s mission. In my roles with the Academy, I have had the opportunity to meet with patient groups, medical society colleagues, legislators, state and federal agencies, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials, policy experts, insurers, lobbyists, industry, among many others. The value of clinician input to these groups is invaluable — they do not always understand or appreciate what we do and what we accomplish with our patients. Physician payment reform is desperately needed in Medicare. In addition, we need to become experts in Medicaid payment policy, which varies widely by state and affects many of our patients and members. I thank you for the honor of being considered for president.