ACS Advocacy Brief: February 23, 2023

National Trauma Research Action Plan Is Available for Viewing and Study

The ACS has long advocated for the creation of a US National Trauma System to improve quality of care, decrease inequities, and save lives. It has remained one of the College’s most consistent legislative priorities over time, and the ACS has played a major part in bringing together stakeholders to explore the issue.

As an example, in 2017 the ACS hosted a  meeting, Achieving Zero Preventable Deaths: Building a National Trauma Care System and Research Action Plan to disseminate and explore the recommendations proposed by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s (NASEM) landmark report, A National Trauma System: Integrating Military and Civilian Trauma Systems to Achieve Zero Preventable Deaths after Injury. The meeting was hosted in partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the US Department of Defense (DoD), and the National Institutes of Health.

Recently, work on a national trauma research action plan has taken a major step forward. 

The Coalition for National Trauma Research (CNTR)—a research coordinating center of which the ACS COT is a core member—has developed a National Trauma Research Action Plan (NTRAP) with grant support from the DoD.

The project has three specific aims:

• AIM 1 – Perform a gap analysis of military and civilian trauma research to identify priorities across the continuum of care
• AIM 2 – Define optimal metrics to assess long-term functional outcomes in injured patients following hospital discharge
• AIM 3 – Identify trauma research regulatory barriers, develop best practices for investigators, and collaborate with federal entities to define optimal endpoints for clinical trauma research

Primary manuscripts reporting the results of the NTRAP Delphi surveys are published in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, as well as a digital collection. Data from the collection are available for secondary analysis, and researchers can submit a data request with an online data access form.

For further Information about the NTRAP project and deliverables from all the Aims, visit the CNTR website, or read the ACS Brief for a more detailed summary.

 In addition, you can see recent ACS trauma research advocacy achievements in a February Bulletin article.

Put New Advocacy Skills to Use during Advocacy Summit and In-Person Congressional Meetings

Advocating for policies that advance surgery at the local, state, and federal levels is a critical skill as healthcare and surgery face unprecedented challenges in 2023 and beyond. Learn the skills to make advocacy inroads, and then make an impact by meeting leaders from Congress. Register today for the ACS Leadership & Advocacy Summit, April 15–18 at the Grand Hyatt Washington, DC. 

The Summit offers comprehensive and specialized sessions providing ACS members, leaders, and advocates with topics focused on effective surgeon leadership, as well as interactive advocacy training with coordinated visits to Congressional offices.

Train for Advocacy and Meet Lawmakers

The Advocacy Summit will take place Sunday evening, April 16 to Tuesday, April 18, and provides US members with an update on ACS policy priorities. 

In addition to a keynote address on Sunday evening, Monday panel sessions will cover issues including physician payment; diversity, equity, and inclusion; healthcare quality; advocacy asks for the 118th Congress from healthcare groups outside the surgeon community, and more.

Advocacy training and scheduled congressional visits will be provided as part of the event. ACS staff will send ACS members to the Hill equipped to ask Congress for progress on a range of issues, including but not limited to:

• Stabilizing and Reforming Medicare physician payment
• Prior Authorization relief
• Funding for:
• Cancer research
• Firearm injury prevention research
• Rare surgery on a global scale
• ACS trauma policy priorities
• Commission on Cancer policy priorities

The Advocacy Summit will be an in-person event with some recorded sessions. There will be no virtual option to view the Advocacy Summit. Congressional meetings will also be in-person this year for the first time since 2019. 

Have a Voice in Addressing Challenges in Surgery: Join ACS Delegation to the AMA

The ACS is seeking a Resident Member to join its delegation to the American Medical Association (AMA). As a Delegate, the resident will advocate for ACS positions and priorities at the AMA interim and annual meetings. In addition, he or she will serve as liaison to the ACS Resident and Associates Society, which meets at the annual ACS Clinical Congress, for a 3-year term. Travel expenses to these three meetings will be paid for by the ACS.

The ideal candidate will have significant experience attending the AMA Medical Student Section, a strong interest in advocacy and health policy, and at least 3 years remaining at their training program. Additionally, letters of support from the candidate’s program director and chair are required, verifying that the resident will be excused from call coverage to allow for participation in the required meetings.

If you are interested or know a resident who might be, submit a CV, letter of intent, and letters of support from Program Director and Chair to Kristin McDonald, ACS Chief of Legislative and Political Affairs, at kmcdonald@facs.org by Friday, March 3.