11/29/2024    Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD

Gratitude

All things considered, I think the readers of
letters to PM News have a lot to be grateful for
this Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, for those that
consider gratitude an emotion, it can also be
thought of as the shortest lived of all the
emotions. How quickly we turn on the profession
that has allowed us to raise a family, sheltered
them in a nice dwelling, purchased cars and sent
our kids to college when we feel wronged. Just as
quickly we condemn those insurance companies, hate
the malpractice tariffs and the attorneys who are
responsible for what we believe to be outrageous
fees for protection against spurious accusations.

We also have the luxury of an almost real-time
sounding board. If something in the realm of
podiatry angers or upsets us, we have an
immediately available venue through which we can,
hopefully with tempered emotions, relieve the
frustration and lessen its effects so that we
aren’t as angry when we get home or take the
resentment out on a week’s worth of patients. I’m
talking about sending a letter to Barry Block,
DPM, JD and PM News. Let me be upfront about this.

I am not trying to curry favor with Barry. I’ve
never met him and have spoken with him on the
phone once when he corrected my writing style to
coincide with the American Podiatric Medical
Writers Association. The reason for this missive
is to call attention to the vehicle he provides to
air our feelings about the profession we all
belong to. This is true even when those feelings
do not mesh with the company line that emanates
from Rockville, MD. And, incidentally, I’ve never
been to Rockville either.

APMA and its approved family members such as
ABFAS, ABPM, FACFAS, and stepchildren
organizations send out these well-constructed
advertisements we all get in the mail. None of
them address current issues plaguing the
profession. The website called My Next Move lists
thirteen such certification organizations. The
majority of the organizations sends out glossy
material with happy, smiling 30 something models
or podiatrists. The material espouses and promotes
what they have to offer after everything is
sanitized and buffed like the chart of an unhappy
patient before it is released to a malpractice
attorney. T

here is the politically correct ratio of DEI wok
pictures. These images make one wonder why Mother
Teresa wasn’t an American podiatrist.
This is not the case with Barry’s PM News. I don’t
think he edits for controversial content, but
rather welcomes it. I’m not sure if any other
physician specialty group offers this type of
real- time publication. Some of us well
experienced podiatrists prefer to feed our young
the truth rather than eat our young. Sometimes the
reality is tough to swallow, but the truth should
ultimately spare the young in our profession the
pains we went through.

If you look at the youthful board members’
pictures in these brochures, you realize we were
suing hospitals, insurance companies, and each
other before they were born. PM News is the
vehicle that allows us to bring these issues to
the front today, not a month from today. The
direct mail leaflets and fliers never alert the
readers to such issues. We must wait until the
youngblood members of the societies deem it
necessary to alert the profession to what is
really going on by letter. Come to think of it,
Mother Teresa was a believer in freedom of
information, no matter how bad it was. I met
Mother Teresa (not really) and Barry is no Mother
Teresa, but he does offer us the vehicle to
publish the truth every day. And for that we
should be grateful.

Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD, Columbus, OH

Other messages in this thread:

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12/06/2024    Paul Kesselman, DPM

Gratitude (Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD)

It seems that Dr. Tomczak may be a bit unaware of
the differences between APMA and PM News. Having
said that, just last night at a meeting I had the
opportunity to review the clear differences
between APMA and PM News with my dear friend,
colleague, and mentor Dr. Barry Block. It is
clear to me from our discussion that PM News
serves a very vital role in allowing our
profession to voice their opinions and concerns
about various issues within the profession.
However, while complementing each other, PM News
and APMA serve separate and distinct roles in
podiatry.

Does PM News file formal complaints against third-
party payers? Does PM News meet and foster or
finance meetings with third party payers? Does CMS
meet with Medicare officials? Does PM News meet
with legislators either at the state or federal
level? Does PM News underwrite the costs of our
colleagues travel and meeting with AMA or other
healthcare industry leaders to ensure our
interests are not only heard but responded to
(e.g. recent cellular tissue product issues,
negating the need for DPMs to have costly
licensures for DME AKA Facility Accreditation or
Surety Bonding) as well as many other issues. Is
PM News taking a leading role and financing a
potential class action last suit against third
party payers for failing to adhere to the proper
interpretation of the -59 modifier? Those are just
a few of the issues which APMA has fostered over
the last few years and there are undoubtedly more.

Could more have been accomplished. Sure there is
always more. Does effort always translate into
positive results. Unfortunately, no. We are the
marionette with strings attached to it being
manipulated by many others. Including the
insurance industry and government. The mistake
made by many readers and those colleagues I speak
with every day is that we are the marionette
string operators and that the govt and third-party
payers operate as our marionette. That is not the
case and unfortunately this creates frustration
and many times our efforts fail and does not
result in positive outcome. But podiatry is not
alone, we fight alongside many other medical
professional groups with podiatry being
responsible for around 1% of all the Medicare
expenditures, yet for a small group we are quite
vocal. Because of APMA we can work together with
other medical groups to battle against the
upcoming impending pay cuts, which certainly do
not single podiatry alone and in no way could APMA
fight these alone!

Unlike Dr. Tomczak, I have met Dr. Barry Block
many times and spent considerable time talking
with him both in person and on the phone. I
consider him (and his wife) most of all dear
friends, aside from him being a colleague and both
he and his wife one of many of my mentors. Dr.
Block has provided me with an opportunity not to
just provide letters to the editor, but also
educational articles for all subscribers
regardless of their affiliation with APMA. PM News
provides a place of catharsis for subscribers to
air grievances and seek solutions which APMA
simply by legal statute cannot provide.

There are no doubt many more unique differences
between the two entities and perhaps others may
wish to share their opinions which would no doubt
be welcome. It is thus clear that PM News as well
as both Dr. Block and APMA and their leadership
(both paid and volunteer) have very different
responsibilities and roles.

Having served on various committees at APMA, I
also am grateful to my colleagues who give up
countless hours working hard to accomplish some
lofty, unfortunately at times non-achievable
goals. But at other times are successful (like the
recent victory on cellular tissue products),
battles with CMS and MACs on portal availability,
and others.

While I often disagree with some of the views seen
on both PM News and seen on APMA Newsletters or
heard at APMA organized meetings, I understand
that both have a very vital role for our
profession. And for those who work behind the
scenes at both organizations, I want to express my
extreme gratitude.

As for the ages of those in the photos in the APMA
(or even the OHFAMA), I welcome Dr. Tomczak to
help me and others recruit younger members who may
have different yet creative ideas to become more
active. I have led the DME workgroup for many
years and we have one single member under the age
of 50. We need more. But this apathy on the part
of young members is not unique to podiatry. Every
medical and non-medical Organizations I have
volunteered with has a real shortage of younger
members. Most have kids to raise and are too busy
with family life and running/growing practices to
have time to volunteer. And yes as Dr. Tomczak
points out, that is a problem and if he has some
creative solutions as to how to get the younger
members involved I am certain he will have the
ears of anyone either at his state component or at
APMA.

To sum up, I am forever grateful for both PM News
and APMA for the important, yet separate roles
they both provide to our profession. I may
disagree with some of the viewpoints expressed and
what they profess to be their limitations, but
they are both vital to our profession both in the
past, present, and future. They have both served
us well.

Paul Kesselman, DPM, Oceanside, NY