Academy advocacy priorities

2023 AADA Advocacy agenda

The American Academy of Dermatology Association (AADA) advocates on behalf of members and patients with a focus on advancing state and federal legislation and regulations that:

• Advance patient-centric models of care.

• Promote access to dermatologic care provided by FAADs, particularly in underserved, rural, and non-English speaking areas.

• Position dermatologists as the owner of dermatological data and technology.

The AADA advocates on numerous issues, prioritizing work on those that are most pressing and impactful for our membership.

2023 Top Advocacy Priority: Medicare payment reform


The primary focus of AADA’s 2023 advocacy is on advancing Medicare payment reform that:

	Establishes a positive annual inflation adjustment.
	Replaces or eliminates budget neutrality requirements to the physician fee schedule.
	Reforms the Quality Payment Program to increase physician input and improve patient care without overly burdensome documentation and compliance activity.

2023 Advocacy Priorities

The AADA will also pursue opportunities to advance our efforts in key areas, including:

Developing patient-centric models of care that:

	Assure accurate and sustainable reimbursement, including for new methods of patient interaction.
	Strengthen relationships with other specialties and within the house of medicine to provide coordinated patient care.
	Clarify the roles in patient care for board-certified dermatologists and the non-physician clinicians in their care team.

Wherever possible, the AADA will advance our positions on the following issues:

• Physician-led care: Working with all stakeholders to help appropriately define the practice of medicine, to ensure a physician-led, team-based approach to care.

• Network transparency: Promoting transparency in provider networks, including ensuring adequate and accurate information about provider directories for private and public payers.

• Dermatopathology: Fighting for the rights of dermatology practices to process and/or read their own slides and to refer specimens to their dermatopathologist of choice.

• Compounding: Guarding against restrictions on dermatologists’ ability to prepare, administer, and prescribe compounded medications, including buffered lidocaine.

• Skin cancer prevention: Advocating for laws that promote skin cancer prevention.

Promote access to dermatologic care provided by FAADs, particularly in underserved, rural, and non-English speaking areas, with emphasis on:

	Overcoming the digital divide: Technology use to enhance physician/patient interaction will increase, but barriers exist in many communities and some generations.
	Access to new medications: Dermatologists are often perceived as a barrier.

We will work toward favorable policies in this area on the following issues:

Truth in advertising: Advocating to ensure truth in advertising that helps vulnerable populations better understand who is providing their care.

Drug access: Minimizing or eliminating barriers to medications, including step therapy and prior authorization policies, iPLEDGE, and drug formulary requirements that force patients to switch therapies, as well as supporting policies to address rising drug prices, drug shortages, research funding, and price transparency.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion: Advocating for policies that further health equity and dermatology workforce diversity and decrease care disparities for skin of color patients.

Dermatology workforce: Working to ensure the number of dermatologists is sufficient to meet the demand of an aging and diverse population and advocating to ease the physician shortage, e.g., increase residency slots, and encourage dermatologists to practice in underserved communities.

Teledermatology: Supporting policies that facilitate the appropriate use of telehealth services according to the AADA standards to meet patient needs, particularly in underserved communities across the country.

Access for military and vets: Ensuring that our nation’s military and veterans have access to the full range of dermatologic services provided by board-certified dermatologists.

Related Academy resource

• AADA Health System Reform Principles