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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:
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
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