CEO Update, August 2025

“They say it is the first step that costs the effort.  I do not find it so.  I am sure I could write unlimited “first chapters.”  I have indeed written many”.  — J.R.R. Tolkien

As a Tolkien fan, the quote above made me giggle. He is right. It is easy to start a lot of things. What is hard is taking the risk to start something new.  And then harder yet is finishing and assessing. It is too easy in today’s busy world to continue on the “same old, same old” path. It is comfortable.  But what if the results start misaligning with expectations?

It would be great in a world where we controlled all the variables. Patient expectations. Staff Expectations. Payer Expectations. Regulations and Statutes. Practice Costs. Instead, some Mondays it just feels like everyone wants something or things keep changing.

CMS is about to release the 2026 proposed fee schedule. A schedule that is built on statutes that pre-defined increases way before costs soared. Patients want more for less. And payers require more and more documentation before they pay you.

So how to assess what is working to better define what can change or what is worth the risk of changing?  Not always easy, but doing nothing can also pose a risk.

Your AAOA knows the cost of practicing just keeps creeping up — some of it controllable, most of it not.   So like many of you, we have and continue to evaluate what we offer. How to shift without risking what is working?

Our stalwart program is the Basic Course in Allergy and Immunology.  Without compromising the core or intent, we have expanded engagement options. The course is now a 90-day hybrid, giving you the choice of how you participate — Live and in person, Live virtually, on your own time, or a blend.  Shifting to 90-days of content access helps on other levels as well.  When the course was limited to 3-days live, it was hard to meet everyone’s staff training needs.  With 87 bonus days, the training resource just got more user friendly. Need to train new staff?  The 2025 Basic still has 20 days of access left. Learn More

Our Explorers Course is the newest installment into our CME library.  This new course gives you a deeper dive into the featured content and embraces the role of allergy and inflammatory disease in general ENT with more focus on medical and surgical management, in office procedures, and cutting edge.  Each year, the program will have a different focus to give you new options for meeting your annual CME requirements.  Explorers too is a 90-day hybrid with the same engagement choices.  And for 2026, we are hosting the program at the Fairmont Sonoma to give you more reasons to get out of the office for some professional development. Jennifer Villwock, MD and the faculty are finalizing the agenda, but you can register now to assure a spot.

Beyond our CME, you AAOA has developed tools to help you in your practice. The newest is our Affinity Program. Through this program, AAOA members can get group purchasing pricing from over 38 vendors — many you are likely buying from already.  But better than group purchasing pricing, for allergens and allergy supplies, AAOA members get best in class pricing.  Early adopters are seeing significant savings — both in real costs and time, since the negotiation has been done.  Savings that help make an impact on your day-to-day practice costs. Need info: Whitney Maine in our office is more than happy to help.  (wmaine@aaoallergy.org).

AAOA will continue to endeavor to find ways to help its members — some traditional tools and some out of the box ideas. If you have an idea or suggestion, please share it. Crowdsourcing works because it allows people to ask for what they need.  Tell us what you need.