The New York State Society of Plastic Surgeons (NYSSPS) is pleased to announce the launch of its Resident Advocacy Fellowship Program!

This initiative will provide residents with firsthand experience in advocacy, giving them the tools they need to influence policies impacting patient care and the profession.

By participating, residents will:

• Gain exposure to healthcare policy issues

• Engage directly with policymakers and legislative leaders

• Develop advocacy and leadership skills

• Build connections with experienced plastic surgeons and mentors

More information about the program can be found online:  https://nyssps.org/Resident-Advocacy   

Deadline to apply for the first round is May 31, 2025.   

Fellowship awards and travel expenses provided to the top three applicants: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/nysspsfellowship 

Richard E. Anderson, MD, FACP, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
The Doctors Company and TDC Group

Across the U.S., healthcare systems are beset by limited resources and widening care gaps. Patients are frustrated by long wait times, fragmented care, inaccessible services, and extraordinary costs. These challenges are forcing leaders to pursue new solutions, including artificial intelligence (AI) tools, expanded roles for advanced practice clinicians (APCs), and innovative business models.

Executive Summary

Frontline clinicians contend with worsening physician shortages, nuclear verdicts driving up professional liability costs, and an alarming expansion of medical care deserts, especially for maternity care. For patients, these issues translate into unmet needs, eroding trust, and a growing sense that the system is not working for them.

Evolving technologies powered by AI offer opportunities for U.S. healthcare organizations, but they also raise pressing questions about patient safety, privacy, and practitioner liability. Meanwhile, retail giants like CVS, reeling from unsustainable experiments in healthcare delivery, are pivoting to newer strategies, while pharmaceutical companies are expanding into telehealth and direct care services. These shifts complicate efforts to provide seamless, patient-centered care and maintain accurate, comprehensive medical records.

Each year, TDC Group predicts emerging healthcare trends over the next decade, focusing on the challenges, risks, and opportunities that shape the industry.

Read the predictions - Healthcare 2035 Report

Key Deadline: Draft resolutions must be submitted to NYSSPS for consideration by Friday, January 31, 2025.

Looking ahead to the 2025 Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) House of Delegates Meeting in April we encourage you to participate in crafting impactful resolutions.

As members of the New York State Society of Plastic Surgeons (NYSSPS), you have a unique opportunity to influence policies and positions that directly impact our profession.

If you’d like to collaborate with our Executive Council to draft and submit a resolution, please email us at nyssps@gmail.com.

Why This Matters

• The HOD is MSSNY’s primary policymaking body, where resolutions proposed by members and specialty societies are debated and voted on.
  
  
• Policies adopted by the HOD guide MSSNY’s advocacy efforts with state legislators, regulatory agencies, and other stakeholders. By submitting resolutions, NYSSPS ensures that issues important to plastic surgeons are part of the broader physician advocacy agenda in New York.
  
  
• The HOD provides a platform for NYSSPS to advocate for policies tailored to the unique challenges faced by plastic surgeons and their patients. 

Debra Kane Hill, MBA, RN, Senior Patient Safety Risk Manager, The Doctors Company, Part of TDC Group

Dispensing free sample medications to patients, a common practice in medical and dental offices, can provide many benefits for both patients and practitioners. Dispensing sample medications can, however, create risks and patient safety issues—especially for offices that take a casual approach toward the sample medication supply.

Learn more about the benefits and risks

Learn about the development stages of medical artificial intelligence (AI), including ethical concerns such as privacy, bias, consent, and accountability, and the potential liability risks for healthcare professionals and organizations.

Read more

written by: Kevin Johnson, MD, MS, University Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Computer Science, Pediatrics, and Science Communication at the University of Pennsylvania; Vice President of Applied Clinical Informatics in the University of Pennsylvania Health System

Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t new: The first neural network computer appeared in the early 1950s. Hype about AI revved up in the 1970s, but early iterations of AI stalled out through a combination of too much hype, too much complexity, and too little attention to the human element.

We can learn from prior AI failures, not to mention failures of EHR implementation, to successfully integrate certain types of AI into daily healthcare operations. We will not solve the clinician burnout crisis or achieve equity in healthcare using AI alone, but strategic applications of AI can assist us in both areas.

The cornerstones of successful AI implementation will be people: Those who envision, lead, and train, and those who reskill, adapt, and integrate AI tools into frontline care, whether for administrative or for patient-facing purposes.

Four Main Types of AI

Right now, generally speaking, AI works in one of four ways:  read full article

By:  Robert E. White Jr., President, The Doctors Company and TDC Group

Explore the growing issue of nuclear verdicts in healthcare and how they threaten physician liability, increase costs, and limit patient access to care.

This article outlines actionable steps and advocacy efforts to combat this trend. 

Continue reading...

Please see the following link to view our updated NYSSPS Bylaws, which were approved at our 2024 NYSSPS Annual Meeting.

NYSSPS Amended and Restated Bylaws 2024

CHC's complete report on the end of the recently concluded NYS Legislative Session is enclosed. This provides an executive summary of our efforts on behalf of NYSSPS.

NYSSPS 2024 Legislative Successes

On Monday, October 16, 2023, members of the New York State Society of Plastic Surgeons (NYSSPS) gathered for the annual meeting and dinner at the Tribeca Wolfgang’s Steakhouse in New York City. The members, honored guests, sponsors and exhibitors filled the room to capacity – a sign of the success of the evening.

The evening commenced with a cocktail hour providing an opportunity for members to see old colleagues, network and meet representatives from our generous sponsors including Sientra, Organogenesis, Apyx/Renuvian, Allergan, and Irrimax/Irrisept. This first hour of the program was headlined by the presentation of the NYSSPS’ Legislative of the Year Awards to two distinguished leadership in the New York State Legislature: Senator Toby Ann Stavisky (D-Queens), Chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee, and Assemblymember Amy Paulin (D-Westchester), Chair of the Assembly Health Committee. NYSSPS selected Sen. Stavisky to be honored for her strong track record supporting physicians, patients and for her sponsorship of a law in 2022 requiring insurers and health plans to include coverage of chest wall reconstruction surgery in addition to breast reconstruction surgery. Asm. Paulin was honored for her longstanding efforts to expand access to care for women’s health, reducing healthcare disparities, and supporting those who are providing high quality care. In 2023, the assemblymember sponsored priority legislation for the NYSSPS requiring insurers to provide coverage for tattooing of the nipple-areolar complex pursuant to or as part of breast reconstruction surgery and legislation to authorize physicians to collectively negotiate.

Following the presentation of the Legislator of the Year Awards, the dinner was brought out and the annual meeting commenced with welcoming remarks from Executive Director, Lisa Alteri, the outgoing NYSSPS President S. Daniel Huang, MD and incoming President Haritha Veeramachaneni, MD. A very special Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Paul Weiss, MD in recognition of his years of service and commitment to advancing the profession of plastic surgery, advocacy and support of patients. This was followed by the transition of power as the new officers of NYSSPS and the NYSSP PAC were also recognized as follows:

Society Officers

President - Haritha Veeramachaneni, MD
President-Elect - Diana Yoon-Schwartz, MD
Vice President - Samara Churgin, MD
Secretery - Mahira Tanovic, MD
Treasurer - Jeffrey Ridha, MD
Member at Large - Keith Blechman, MD
Past President - S. Daniel Huang, MD
Executive Director – Lisa Alteri

NYSSPS PAC Officers

Chair - Diana Yoon-Schwartz, MD
Vice Chair - Samara Churgin, MD
Treasuerer - Jeffrey Ridha, MD
Member at Large - Thomas Sterry, MD

NYSSPS’ goals for the coming year were presented to the members as the dinner service began, including maintaining a strong focus on legislative issues including out-of-network, prior authorization, truth in advertising, membership recruitment and retention, and replenishing the PAC as we head into 2024 – an important election year. NYSSPS has a robust agenda for each priority item and looks forward to engaging the broader membership in these efforts.

The four platinum sponsors supporting tonight’s event Sientra, Organogenesis, Apyx/Renuvian, and Allergan then got the opportunity to introduce themselves and highlight their work and ways they work with plastic surgeons and patients. We thank our generous sponsors and look forward to continuing to work them with them.

A lively conversation regarding the federal No Surprises Act and out-of-network care was had during dinner, led by Leslie Howard, Managing Partner and Amy Wilkins, COO of Cohen Howard. This important discussion will continue amidst regulatory developments the federal level and intersection with the New York State law and discussions with policymakers. The meeting closed with appointments, donations, and dessert. The Society appointed Ritchie Reich, MD to the Nomination committee, and Nilay Shah, MD and Ryan Neinstein, MD to the By-laws Committee. 

The evening also featured a raffle prize drawing for those who renewed their membership dues and/or contributed to the PAC. This resulted in strong support with 11 renewing their membership and 17 contributing to the PAC. A sugary dessert and coffee sent members home happy and looking forward to next year already!

Whether you measure success by the number of attendees, number of sponsors, revenue generated for society or the PAC, the night was a tremendous success. We thank all those who assisted. To help keep the momentum going, we urge you to help recruit a non-member to join! 2024 will be a pivotal year for NYSSPS. Edward Everett Hale, a famous author, historian, and minister once said, “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”