President's Message - Value of Membership

As I said at the House of Delegates in June, our Association is in a time of transition. The number of employed podiatric physicians continues to grow. The maturing of our general membership continues, and our student pool continues to display no growth.

As a segue into this month’s message, concerning our transition, a member wrote an inquiry into a national blog this week inquiring into the “value” of APMA membership. The APMA President answered the question in the following way:

“From: Sylvia Virbulis, DPM

Dear Dr., We are sorry to hear that you have questions about the value of your national and state organizations. Please know that APMA has in fact undertaken significant research among both members and non-members to understand the value they derive (or do not derive) from their organizations. APMA conducts research among its members on a regular basis and most recently worked with a nationally known research firm in 2021 to complete research on our member value proposition. That research, which included qualitative and quantitative measures among nearly 1,000 physicians, demonstrated that advocacy was a top priority among podiatrists. APMA supports and defends members’ ability to practice every day. You can learn more about recent advocacy victories (including several in the reimbursement arena) at www.apma.org/victories. This page is an excellent resource for anyone asking the question, “What does membership do for me?”

Our research also demonstrated that members and non-members alike have varied priorities depending on their level of experience, practice setting, engagement with their associations, and more. Non-members often are unaware of the work organizations are doing on their behalf. We are working to communicate in a more targeted way with members and prospective members about their individual needs and how APMA and their state component organizations can meet them. Please expect to hear directly from your national and state leaders to address your concerns!

. . . .

Other messages in this thread:

Thank you to Dr. K for his explanation of the many ways APMA is fighting for equitable reimbursement for its members in response to Dr. D concerns. As a final clarification, I would also like to point out that in 2018, APMA led a national coalition to help avoid what would have been a roughly 30-percent reduction in code values solely for podiatrists. APMA met with employees at the Department of Health and Human Services to discuss the proposal to eliminate our ability to bill for E/M services (which would have been replaced with lower-paying G codes for podiatrists). We were victorious in that effort, and the result is that podiatrists nationwide have earned hundreds of millions of dollars over the past five years that otherwise would have been lost. These earnings alone offset the cost of member dues.”

As a state component president, I am adding to the answers in this blog discussion. PPMA is a linked component of APMA. We have a decades long history of working on behalf of our membership. All of this work has a single component, and that component is dedication and involvement of our Board members. Thirty years ago, Dr. Neal Kramer instituted purchasing group that he named PODIATRIC MEDICAL ASSURANCE of PENNSYLVANIA (PMAP). That is a purchasing group under the provisions of the 1986 Risk Retention Act. This has provided aggregate savings in the millions for our members. We have always held the “lowest responsible rates” as our PMAP guiding principle, and through several partnerships PICA has worked with us to allow Peer review of cases in order reduce all loss and cost trends.

In the same dedicated manner, Dr. John Mattiacci worked to establish the First National Guild, a local of the Office and Professional Employees International Union. This was so unique that its original charter was discussed on the front page of the New York Times. This guild has given us entre into State Federated AFL – CIO boards as well the Blue Cross Blue Shield Labor Committee, whose members sit on Blue Cross Blue Shield Boards in each of our states. Through the Guild we have offered, for the past five years, fully insured healthcare plans for our members and their families. These plans are “rich” in benefits and the rates have saved our members substantial sums as against the available group policies which had been available prior to this incredible advance.

Again, Dr. Thomas Ortenzio volunteered to become the chair of the Goldfarb Foundation which was established after the death of William Goldfarb. Dr. Goldfarb was one of the first surgeons to recognize the importance of certification and established educational programs in medicine and surgery which have developed into major national CME offerings that supply the biannual requirements to almost all of our members. These come to our members at a discount.

On the Hill, our Association has negotiated our position in Act 13, the MCARE statute, through which we each get the increased limit coverage of professional liability required to have our licenses in the state. Legislative accomplishments on a state level, most often relate to defensive victories. Protecting and extending our privileges often relate to issues raised by others which require us to appear and defend our state scope of practice. This requires interaction with the Medical Society, the Osteopathic Society and Associations representing home health, nursing and hospitals.

We have had success in many of these arenas because of our member and fiscal strength. This strength arises out of our volunteer Boards. Dr. Mark Pinker has guided our financial structure of over two decades, taking over those responsibilities from Dr. Paul LaFata, the preceding treasurer. That fiscal strength has allowed us to lead the national efforts to grow the profession, develop residencies and adopt sound management and personnel policies.

In summation, our Association provides the structure through which each licensed podiatric physician in Pennsylvania can pursue his or her practice either as a sole practitioner, group member or employee. Our peer services answer coding questions. Our staff fields all other concerns, be they minor or major.

We have a new Executive Director beginning his term this month. Michael Barth comes to us with a wealth of association and administrative experience, and we look forward to continuing our leadership, within the profession with his guidance.