Thank you for the honor of serving you this upcoming year as your president. My presidency timeline includes the following important events:
1. The end of June will be the Supreme Court decision concerning the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act (PPACA). No matter what the decision, we must be ready for change.
2. Tuesday November 6th marks the presidential election and the election of many new state and national legislators.  These elections will shape our battlefields in the defense of medicine and the practice of anesthesiology.
3. Saturday November 10th is the annual MAC Conference with many nationally known speakers, even some of them are fellow ISA members.
4. The “Lame Duck Sessions” in Springfield and DCoccuring between the November elections and before the new officials start in January are times of necessary vigilance.  We are at the mercy of legislators with nothing to lose in passing bills that may be harmful to the practice of medicine and anesthesiology.
5. During the winter is when ISA members travel to Springfield to speak to the legislators about important health care issues affecting our specialty. Please be ready to respond to any requests for calls-to-action such as letter writing, phone calls or even visits to a legislator.
6. April 13, 2013 will be the next House of Delegates meeting.
Our ad hoc committees with a legislative agenda will continue to work toward our goal of high quality care and patient safety. Please join us in our many endeavors. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me by email president@isahq.org.
ASAPAC and IMAPAC donations are critical to our legislative activities. Last year for the third year in a row, ASA was the number one physician PAC (contribution rate: 19.7%).  Although Illinois anesthesiologists gave $59,000 in 2011, our contribution rate was only 18.2%. We must work harder to keep up with other professional organizations (i.e. trial lawyers, etc.). There is no question that the government has their hands in our pockets all in the name of improved quality of care. Anesthesiologists are the leaders in patient safety and quality of care. We have kept our Medicare costs flat.  Yet there are persistent yearly attempts to reduce Medicare reimbursements.
The Anesthesia Quality Institute is now over three years old. Your ISA Board and other ISA members will continue to approach all legislators to impress upon them the services that we provide to all of our patients so that they may better understand our value in the field of medicine. Furthermore, we must demonstrate to them that it is our many years of education and experience that contribute to the safety of the citizens of Illinois.  Not just anyone can do our job and do it well.
Thank you all for your past, present, and future commitment to medicine and the specialty of anesthesiology which includes our lifelong mission to improve the quality of care of our patients- the citizens of Illinois.
Ted Yaghmour, MD

Thank you for the honor of serving you this upcoming year as your president. My presidency timeline includes the following important events:
1. The end of June will be the Supreme Court decision concerning the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act (PPACA). No matter what the decision, we must be ready for change.
2. Tuesday November 6th marks the presidential election and the election of many new state and national legislators.  These elections will shape our battlefields in the defense of medicine and the practice of anesthesiology.
3. Saturday November 10th is the annual MAC Conference with many nationally known speakers, even some of them are fellow ISA members.
4. The “Lame Duck Sessions” in Springfield and DCoccuring between the November elections and before the new officials start in January are times of necessary vigilance.  We are at the mercy of legislators with nothing to lose in passing bills that may be harmful to the practice of medicine and anesthesiology.
5. During the winter is when ISA members travel to Springfield to speak to the legislators about important health care issues affecting our specialty. Please be ready to respond to any requests for calls-to-action such as letter writing, phone calls or even visits to a legislator.
6. April 13, 2013 will be the next House of Delegates meeting.
Our ad hoc committees with a legislative agenda will continue to work toward our goal of high quality care and patient safety. Please join us in our many endeavors. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me by email president@isahq.org.
ASAPAC and IMAPAC donations are critical to our legislative activities. Last year for the third year in a row, ASA was the number one physician PAC (contribution rate: 19.7%).  Although Illinois anesthesiologists gave $59,000 in 2011, our contribution rate was only 18.2%. We must work harder to keep up with other professional organizations (i.e. trial lawyers, etc.). There is no question that the government has their hands in our pockets all in the name of improved quality of care. Anesthesiologists are the leaders in patient safety and quality of care. We have kept our Medicare costs flat.  Yet there are persistent yearly attempts to reduce Medicare reimbursements.
The Anesthesia Quality Institute is now over three years old. Your ISA Board and other ISA members will continue to approach all legislators to impress upon them the services that we provide to all of our patients so that they may better understand our value in the field of medicine. Furthermore, we must demonstrate to them that it is our many years of education and experience that contribute to the safety of the citizens of Illinois.  Not just anyone can do our job and do it well.
Thank you all for your past, present, and future commitment to medicine and the specialty of anesthesiology which includes our lifelong mission to improve the quality of care of our patients- the citizens of Illinois.
Ted Yaghmour, MD