Ernest Bove, MD NEAUA President

Ernest Bove, MD NEAUA President

Greetings to all physicians and advanced practice providers (APPs) within our New England Section. I hope you and your families are staying safe and enjoying the fall weather. I commend you all for your mental fortitude during these difficult times. Despite the challenges that COVID-19 has imposed, I am proud to report that our Section continues to progress forward in a very positive direction. The pandemic necessitated our leadership to meet virtually this year. We continued thoughtful discussion and planning for the Section. Portions of our leadership meeting included our three existing corporate members: Exact Sciences, Pfizer and Janssen. The leadership values our partnership with our corporate members as we are able to work together to discuss legislative concerns and areas for collaboration to benefit our members. The NEAUA leadership also continues to keep a watchful eye on Section finances, and Dr. Greg Adey and his Finance Committee have done a great job assessing and making adjustments to the Section’s financial position during the pandemic. The Board continues to evaluate ways to enhance the value of NEAUA membership and engagement among our community, not just during a year when we are limited by travel and meeting restrictions, but for future years as well, when we can all come together again. More

The New England Section, in partnership with the AUA, will fund the trip of four residents, fellows and/or young urologists* to attend the 2021 Advocacy Summit in Washington, DC. The Section recognizes that engagement of young urologists in urologic advocacy is important to the specialty - please prepare your best work for submission!

To apply for this funded trip, please complete an online application including submission of an essay. Essays should be a maximum of 750 words and address one of the following topics:

• Please define a significant problem facing urology residents, fellows, and/or young urologists and possible solutions.
• Urology is a relatively small subspecialty. What should urology do over the next five years to retain or expand its influence in organized medicine?
• How should urologists continue to improve patient quality of care? Please define a specific quality of care issue and propose a solution.
• Please comment on the use of telehealth in urology during the COVID-19 era, and how you see the telehealth developing in urology in the future.
• Urologists’ time spent at the AUA Advocacy Summit is dedicated to advocating a number of improvements to our specialty. Some topics include documentation burden, prior authorizations, step therapy, work force shortage, and decreased payments. Outline which topic(s) resonates most with you and how you would spend your time advocating for improvement at the Advocacy Summit.

APPLY FOR 2021 FUNDING NOW!

All Health Policy Competition applications and essays are due January 1, 2021.

*Young urologists are considered those 10 years or less out of residency, or 13 years or less out of fellowship continuous after residency graduation.

Authors are also encouraged to submit their Health Policy essays to Urology Practice for publication consideration. Note that any essays submitted to the journal will need to be submitted in the format followed by Urology Practice, including article length and appropriate citation of references. Winners of the Section Essay Competition should disclose this information accordingly if submitting to the journal.

The NEAUA 2020 Virtual Experience offers select sessions planned for 2020 including panels, symposia, and abstract presentations for a total of 15.75 AMA PRA Category 1 credits. Registrants have access to the virtual system until August 2021, so you can consume the material and receive your credits at your own pace. Register and start earning credits on the NEAUA website.

The virtual experience would not be possible without the generous support of NEAUA industry partners, which include Astellas/Pfizer, Exact Sciences, and Janssen at the platinum level, and Abbvie, Allergan, AUA, Blue Earth Diagnostics, Coloplast, Myriad Genetics, Retrophin, and UroGen at the bronze level. We encourage all members and attendees to visit our industry partners in the digital marketplace to learn more.

The New England Section is excited to be planning its next live, face to face meeting for urologists within New England! Please mark your calendar and save the date for the NEAUA 2021 Annual Meeting in Burlington, Vermont, and encourage your colleagues, trainees, and advanced providers to attend as well. meeting.neaua.org

By Kevin R. Loughlin MD, MBA, Harvard Medical School

One of the many advantages of living in New England are our traditions. Whether enjoying our extensive coastline during the summer or our beautiful mountains in the winter, the natural beauty of New England is breathtaking. More

A virtual lecture series was developed by Urology Program Directors in Massachusetts to facilitate ongoing education during the height COVID-19 crisis in early 2020. New England Section members have graciously volunteered their time and expertise to provide talks on a variety of urology based topics. The virtual lecture series is now open to the full New England Section community and will also be recorded for replay. See upcoming lectures scheduled through January 2021. An online library of past lectures is available to NEAUA members.

Congratulations to NEAUA members who have recently joined the section or who have converted to associate or active member status!

New Active Members of NEAUA Michael Alavian, East Greenwich, RI Michael Grant, Boston, MA Kai Hammerich, Burlington, MA Steven Kardos, New Haven, CT Gerard Pregenzer, Hartford, CT Timothy Tran, Providence, RI Joseph Yared, Lebanon, NH Michael Zavaski, Brookline, MA

New Associate Members of NEAUA Ramy Abou Ghayda, Boston, MA Gabriella Avellino, Boston, MA Gabriel Belanger, South Portland, ME Sanchita Bose, Boston, MA Jonathan Brajtbord, North Easton, MA Madeline Cancian, Providence, RI Alper Cesmebasi, Boston, MA Atip Chatsudthipong, Providence, RI Katherine Cotter, Worcester, MA Zita Ficko, Lebanon, NH Julia Finkelstein, Boston, MA Matthew Goland-Van Ryn, Slingerlands, NY John Griffith, Manchester, CT Michelle Kim, Boston, MA Benjamin King, Burlington, VT Urszula Kowalik, South Burlington, VT Alexander Lubin, Providence, RI Joseph McQuaid, Cambridge, MA Duncan Morhardt, Boston, MA Chintan Patel, Cambridge, MA Stephen Ryan, Portland, ME Keyan Salari, Boston, MA Briony Varda, Boston, MA Dmitry Volkin, Trumbull, CT Hsin-Hsiao Wang, Boston, MA Anton Wintner, Boston, MA Kevin Yang, Burlington, MA Dimitar Zlatev, Boston, MA

New Resident Members of NEAUA Alejandro Abello, Boston, MA Britney Atwater, Worcester, MA Yefri Baez, Boston, MA Brittany Berk, Boston, MA Joseph Black , Boston, MA Dylan Buller, West Hartford, CT Ankur Choksi , Edison, NJ Vincent D'Andrea, Boston, MA Augustyna Gogoj, West Hartford, CT Karim Hanna, Boston, MA Timothy Hewitt, West Hartford, CT Tashzna Jones, Brooklyn, NY Sreeya Komaravolu, Providence, RI Gregory Kunkel, Allentown, PA Jennifer Lindelof, Bloomfield, CT Soum Lokeshwar, Miami , FL Kaylee Luck, Lebanon, NH Sarah Moore, Providence, RI Faizanahmed Munshi, Providence , RI James Nolan, West Hartford, CT Andrew Orlando, Boston, MA Aaron Pereceman, Burlington, MA Adrian Richey, Essex Junction , VT Marie-Therese Valovska, Natick, MA Joanna Wang, Boston, MA Adam Wiggins, Burlington, MA Jonathan Xu, Burlington, MA Kendrick Yim, Boston, MA

The New England Section Education Fund was created to support NEAUA educational activities in future years. Given recent changes seen in healthcare, politics and industry and knowing there will be more change in the future, the NEAUA leadership established the Fund as a way to ensure longevity of Section education regardless of the landscape. Contributions from the membership will go directly towards the intent of the Education Fund and support educational activity for all members. For the smallest of all the Sections, New England has always been and continues to be one of the strongest. Please consider the New England Section’s Education Fund in your year-end giving.

Donate to the Section Education Fund

The Section Education Fund is part of the New England Section 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and its IRS EIN number is 04-2440813. All donations to the Section Education Fund are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

• Research Scholar Award Competition: The Urology Care Foundation 2021 Research Scholar Award competition is now open, and the application deadline has been extended to November 5, 2020 to provide adequate time for application preparation in light of delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic. A letter of intent was required by October 8, 2020.
  
  
• AUA Research Weekend: View on-demand webcasts of the AUA’s annual research symposia. The AUA launched its virtual Research Weekend on AUAUniversity to enable the urology research community to access the AUA’s annual research symposia, including the Basic Sciences Symposium, Urologic Oncology Research Symposium, Challenges for Urologic Research series, and the Early-Career Investigators Showcase.
  
  
• The Urology Care Foundation has launched a Humanitarian Award designed to honor an individual who has made outstanding contributions to humanitarian efforts in improving urology patient care in underserved populations either within or outside of the U.S. The Foundation is accepting nominations for this award through October 31, 2020. Details and nomination information can be found on the Urology Care Foundation website at www.urologyhealth.org/make-a-difference/humanitarian-award-and-grant-program
  
  
• The AUA, together with the Regulatory Relief Coalition, has announced support for H.R. 3107, the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2019. As previously reported, this bill would protect patients from unreasonable Medicare Advantage plan requirements that needlessly delay or deny access to medically necessary care. The AUA has launched a grassroots campaign urging lawmakers to cosponsor this bill.

Congratulations to the New England Section for winning the inaugural AUAPAC Section Contest! From August 2019-August 2020, the Section members contributed $5,075 to AUAPAC. The Section won various categories of measurement including highest individual donation amount and most funds raised per capita, and tied for highest number of resident/fellow donations during the contest period. The Section will receive a $5,000 grant from AUA Inc. as a result which it will put back into supporting health policy and advocacy activities. This contest was friendly competition between eligible AUA Sections designed to encourage individual donations to AUAPAC, which represents the voice and broad interests of all its domestic members in Washington, DC.

Based on a partnership between the New England Section of the AUA and the American Association of Clinical Urologists (AACU) the following provides updates on legislative processes and issues affecting urologists. Contact the AACU government affairs office at 847-517-1050 or info@aacuweb.org for more information, or with comments or suggestions.

• AACU and Urology Times: Pandemic medical liability protections considered by Congress
• AACU and Urology Times: States strip away medical liability protections
• CT: Supreme Court Nixes Medical Malpractice Suit Hinged on Statute of Limitations
• ME: State House leader's healthcare plan targets pharma, insurers
• MA: Senate Aims To Reduce Drug Spending With Step Therapy Reform
• NH: Hospitals seek more aid, legislators ask for more data
• RI: Healthcare providers alarmed that insurers may not have to cover all telemedicine visits
• VT: Independent doctors are dropping out of OneCare health-reform effort

• Maine Urological Association 2021 Winter Event: January 29-31, 2021 | Sunday River Resort, Newry, Maine
• AUA 2021 Advocacy Summit: March 15-17, 2021 | Washington, DC
• AUA 2021 Annual Meeting: September 10-13, 2021 | Las Vegas, Nevada
• NEAUA 2021 Annual Meeting: October 14-16, 2021 | Doubletree Hilton Hotel, Burlington, Vermont