Serving the Society

It’s an honor to represent ASTRO as Chair of the Board of Directors. We have a large and broad array of members — including large numbers of domestic and international members — and it is with pleasure to note that during Board of Directors meetings we consider all of our members as we respond to events and take forward-looking actions consistent with our mission and our strategic goals. The Board of Directors, which has fiduciary responsibility for the health of the organization, meets monthly with nine video calls and three in-person meetings including one at the Annual Meeting and other in-person meetings in the winter and summer seasons. The board primarily consists of members who represent our various councils such as Government Relations, Science, and so on but the board members are not provincial and represent the entire society when working on budgets, board business and other essential board activities. Having served for a number of years on the ASTRO Board of Directors, first as a council member and then as president-elect, I’ve been impressed with the commitment, dedication and talent of the volunteers who serve our society through board membership.

A wise erstwhile ASTRO person once told me that every person who serves as board chair will have some type of crisis to deal with during their year as chair. One of my sincere goals is to break with that tradition and see if we can indeed have a crisis-free year. That said we will always have challenges that need attention. For example, this year we are attempting to address a long building crisis situation of sorts related to decreases in reimbursement for radiation oncology services, somewhat accentuated by the move toward hypofractionation with shorter courses of treatment becoming the norm, a move certainly welcomed by our patients. When my moderate hypofractionation prostate patients are unhappy to learn that their treatment course is four or five weeks long, I shake my head and explain how “back in the day” we routinely treated prostate cancer with courses lasting eight or nine weeks. One day nearly all prostate cases might be addressable with five fraction approaches and four to five weeks will seem to patients like an eternity. A move to an episode-based reimbursement approach has been reintroduced and enactment will certainly be a stabilizing element for radiation oncology services. Please pay attention to updates regarding the ROCR Act and provide support if possible.

Continuing my overt effort to avoid or prevent a crisis issue in the next year, we can attempt to preempt developing situations by maintaining open lines of communication. Speaking mostly for myself but likely for all board members and ASTRO staff, please note that we would like to hear from members regarding issues that fall under ASTRO’s umbrella. The organization is a membership organization and exists for the radiation oncology community. Quoting Dr. Edward Halperin from this issue of ASTROnews: “The most critical element that contributes to success is an institution’s ability to remain true to its core values while adapting to changing times.” ASTRO remains true to its core values and is ready to adapt to changes ahead.