LUGPA Expands 2019 Professional Development Opportunities

LUGPA News LUGPA Expands 2019 Professional Development Opportunities Richard G. Harris, MD President, LUGPA; UroPartners, Chicago, IL [Rev Urol. 2019;21(1):21–22] © 2019 MedReviews®, LLC S ince its founding in 2008, LUGPA has grown tremendously and we continue to demonstrate the value of our membership in our federal legislative and regulatory policy discussions. As we look to the future to fulfill LUGPA’s mission to preserve and advance the independent practice of urology, I am proud to continue our association’s support for independent urologists at all stages of their careers, from residency to partnership. Our goal has always been to thoughtfully recognize and address the challenges our members face as independent urology groups. Although some may know us as an organization representing large urology groups, we fully embrace independent groups of all sizes. In addition, we have recently turned our attention to the inclusion of our younger colleagues to develop a pipeline of future leaders for independent groups. To most effectively meet the needs of member physicians within 15 years of completion of their training, we established LUGPA Forward in 2017. Now made up of more than 400 individuals, this group acts as the voice for younger members of the LUGPA community and provides a unique platform to address the ongoing challenges in the current practice of urology. LUGPA Forward develops educational content, covering topics including managing burnout, hiring millennials, and handling pay disparity issues, and hosts networking opportunities to our membership. This year, the LUGPA Forward committee will be launching a social media–based discussion group to prepare members to further LUGPA’s mission amidst our field’s changing demographics. Additionally, we have developed LUGPA’s inaugural Rising Chief Resident Summit to be held on June 8 in San Diego. This brand-new program for urologists entering their final year of residency will offer crucial information to help physicians entering the job search for the first time navigate which type of practice setting may best suit them, as well as sessions on how to vet employment contracts, the essential questions to ask during interviews, and the best ways to plan for early-career financial success. The Rising Chief Resident Summit is also an exclusive opportunity for LUGPA members to discuss career opportunities directly with some of the country’s top urology residents. LUGPA’s core values emphasize the importance of collaboration to advance independent urology. Both administrative and clinical leaders facilitate the partnership and cooperation needed for a practice to follow a unified vision and achieve practice goals. To that end, our member meetings and resources this year have an expanded focus on clinical and business integration under the dyad leadership structure. Vol. 21 No. 1 • 2019 • Reviews in Urology • 21 4170018_06_RIU0837_V1_rev02.indd 21 5/21/19 6:16 PM LUGPA News continued The 2019 LUGPA Regional Meetings help our members pursue high-quality value-based care by providing educational sessions about how quality is measured and reported. Like last year’s wellattended and well-received series of regional meetings, LUGPA will offer three educational, interactive forums to allow maximum flexibility for practices to attend. The first Regional Meeting this year was held in New Orleans on March 22 and 23 and featured special breakout sessions designed for LUGPA Forward members and practice administrators. Attendees were highly appreciative of the exceptional networking and educational opportunity with 75% reporting that the meeting will result in an improvement to their practices. The second Regional Meeting was held in St. Petersburg, FL, on April 26 and 27. It featured breakout sessions for operations managers and supervisors, including a discussion on call centers and operationalizing new procedures. The third meeting will be held in San Diego on June 7 and 8 and will have additional breakout sessions for practice administrators. Physicians, nurse practitioner leaders, and administrative staff are all welcome to attend and engage in discussion of the varied and potential practice management solutions. I encourage all LUGPA member teams to attend one of these regional forums. Please visit lugpa.org/events/regional for the agenda and registration details. Consistent with LUGPA’s goal to deliver state-of-the-art clinical and practice management education for independent urology groups, LUGPA has continued to collaborate with PlatformQ Health, a leading provider of online medical education events, to develop our Virtual Crossfire Series. Physicians and practice administrators can experience in-depth discussions on topics ranging from treatment options for nonmetastatic CRPC to how to advocate for younger physicians entering a group as well as controversial topics for both business and clinical integration. Visit UroCareLive.com for more information on how to join live or watch the presentations on demand. Following the success of our Urology Practice Management: LUGPA’s Guidebook, a second edition is planned with 12 new chapters of resources for independent urology groups. Created to provide today’s urology group practice with a playbook with chapter-by-chapter essentials of group practice management, the updated version will cover topics such as implementing advanced prostate cancer clinics, methods to maximize advanced practice providers (APPs), and developing durable medical equipment (DME) service lines. This practical guide taps into the knowledge and expertise of nearly 50 authors and editors, all of whom are thought leaders in independent urology group practices. The guidebook is available to LUGPA members as a complimentary benefit of membership and is available for purchase to the public. I would like to acknowledge the efforts of the LUGPA Board of Directors and all LUGPA Committee members who have contributed their expertise and time to successfully complete these programs and projects. Thank you to all LUGPA members for your continued support. As always, I encourage your input and feedback. 22 • Vol. 21 No. 1 • 2019 • Reviews in Urology 4170018_06_RIU0837_V1_rev02.indd 22 5/6/19 12:16 PM