Paul Santoro’s Blog

Nearly ten years ago the membership showed great wisdom in adopting a series of dues increases with allocations directed to the State Organizational Development Committee for Organizational Health Allocation and Strategic Reserve Fund grants.  Much good has come from this program in the development of small state infrastructure and in combating legal and regulatory challenge to CRNA practice.  However, in my view, it is time to review the mechanics behind this support for the states while leaving the overall objective of state association support intact.  My reasoning is as follows:

1. The greatest legal and regulatory challenges to CRNA practice do not necessarily follow our arbitrary designation of small v. large state.  Indeed, one could reasonably argue our greatest challenges will lie in the medium and some large states.
2. State association financial health does not necessarily correlate with the number of members.  Some medium and large states, for a variety of reasons including repeated defense of CRNA practice and/or insufficient business infrastructure, do not possess adequate financial reserves.
3. Our reliance on the Essential Organizational Elements of State Associations, while important, does not address the operational capabilities of state associations.  In addition, OHA funding is only relevant for those states with relatively meager operating budgets.  Effective SNA operations, while admittedly more difficult to measure, are the desired expression of the indirect Essential Elements measure.
4. Currently the Strategic Reserve Fund, despite its sizeable balance, has been primarily although not exclusively, used in a reactive manner.  I believe it is possible to risk assess and act preemptively to strengthen those states, of any size, which represent likely targets for legal and regulatory challenge.  We can not expect to maximize our chances of success without first establishing a solid foundation of organizational management and professional advocacy in our states.

It was great to see many of you in Washington D.C. this past week.  I think we truly had a great meeting!  I look forward to your questions and comments.

Throughout the numerous years of being a member of the AANA, I have been privileged to be on numerous committees and task forces through some difficult times.  I was the Regional Director during the “Supervision Battles” of 2000-2002.  I am now actively involved in the State Organizational Development Committee (SODC) and the Commission on Anesthesia Economics and Reimbursement (CAER) since becoming AANA’s Treasurer last year. 

While I have been in the AANA, I have encountered many issues within the organization. I would like to hear what other members and affiliates believe are problems or issues within the organization in which they would like to see resolved.  Therefore, please provide your comments or concerns below.

Thank you for posting your comments on my blog. I have established this website and blog because I feel it’s very important to stay connected with the membership as best I can. Balancing a family, with an active clinical practice, serving as a principal in an anesthesia billing and consulting company and running one of the largest owned and operated private practice CRNA groups in the country is a huge challenge. I am also the AANA Treasurer with seats on the Finance Committee, SODC and AANA Association Management Services Board, as well as the Anesthesia Payment Advisory Panel and the Commission on Anesthesia Economics and Reimbursement and well, I believe it is safe to say I have been very busy. Please allow me the courtesy of a little time if I don’t respond to your posts immediately and understand that I value your efforts to communicate on issues of importance to our profession.

As I share my personal views as a candidate for AANA Vice President, it is important to remember that I do not speak for the AANA Board of Directors, the association itself, or any of its component groups. In this forum, I speak for myself, that’s it. In addition, please respect the fact that there may be issues that I simply can not talk about or share the level of detail that I would like. As everyone appreciates that there are those who would like to see us fail, it is important that I be circumspect in what information I share.