From the Editor-in-Chief
As a writer for AAN’s publication, Neurology Today®, my favorite part of the job has been doing interviews. Over the past several years I’ve had the privilege of speaking to neurologists in all types of work environments—group and solo practice, multi-specialty groups, academics, and industry. Although most still enjoy practicing neurology, I’ve been struck by a pervasive sense of frustration over our health care system and the effect it has on our profession, our daily lives, and our patients. We are confronted by an ever-increasing number of regulatory forces, a hostile medico-legal environment, and a coercive insurance industry, all seemingly beyond our control.
The answer for me has been to get involved. Serving on the AAN Medical Economics and Management Committee has given me a bird’s-eye view of these challenges and I’ve been encouraged by the rapid responses and proactive efforts of my colleagues. I know first-hand that the Academy is working hard to address your concerns and to take action on your behalf.
Enhancing AAN.com is one way it has responded to your requests. Section editors of this website are practicing physicians just like you. We want to bring features and tools to help you keep up-to-date with news and information in our field, meet your CME requirements, assist you in coding, billing, and reimbursement, and find out how legislation is affecting us all. We intend to launch new items on a regular basis including columns, editorials, and educational services. I am excited by the energy and enthusiasm of the associate editors.
Orly Avitzur, MD
editorinchief@aan.com
The following features are planned or in development:
From John Henson, MD, Associate Editor, Science, scienceeditor@aan.com
- Neuroscience of Disease: Reviews of the most important papers in disease related clinical and basic neuroscience
- Comments and Reviews: Editorials and reviews on scientific aspects of neurological diseases with a focus on relevance to recent research
- AAN e-News: Up-to-date information from the science section of the website
- AAN Abstracts Online: AAN meeting abstracts online in a searchable format
- Researcher’s Toolkit: Access to NINDS, NIMH, NIA, and AAN Foundation funding resources for researchers
From Lily Jung, MD, Associate Editor, Advocacy, advocacyeditor@aan.com
- Inspirational Advocacy Stories: International and national advocates’ work, Donald M. Palatucci Advocacy Leadership Forum projects, WNF
- Health Policy Issues: Discussion of issues such as stem cell transplant, drug reimportation, AAN Political Action Committee (PAC), universal health care, traumatic brain injury, and others
- Reports from State Neurological Societies: Information about what’s happening in your region
- Guest Editor Columns: Discussions on key health policy concerns
- Tools to Help You Get Involved: Resources to help you start advocating for your patients and your profession
From Neil Busis, MD, Associate Editor, Practice and Technology, practiceandtechnologyeditor@aan.com
- Practice Guidelines: A series of clinical cases that illustrate the use of published guidelines along with a discussion of related ICD-9 coding/billing issues
- Practice Tools Forum and Wikis: Discussions and collaborations on a variety of items including patient forms and letters; examples of E/M level visits; new and established patient questionnaires; insurance response letters, spreadsheets and more
- Evidence-Based Medicine Toolkit: Tools and resources to help analyze and apply the best evidence for medical decision-making
- Coding FAQs: Frequently asked questions on practice management subjects including ICD-9 and E/M coding, billing, and reimbursement
- Practice Education Products: Course syllabi and slides, practice tools and links to AAN resources, distance learning products including practice course web presentations and podcasts
From Daniel Hier, MD, MBA, Associate Editor, Education, educationeditor@aan.com
- CME Directory: A comprehensive guide to CME offerings relevant to the education and recertification of neurologists
- My CME: A centralized CME resource that tracks and aggregates your CME activities and provides you with a consolidated CME transcript
- Webcasts and Podcasts: New tools are in development to bring educational programs directly to you
- Digital Resource Library: A centralized resource of images, videos, patient vignettes, and educational materials accessible through a powerful search engine