ologist as well as scientific and medical director for the CAP
Pathology and Laboratory Quality Center.
“Complacency was allowing the world of anesthesia and
perioperative services to be restricted to the operating room,”
Olsen says. “Anesthesiologists were experiencing a less active
role in the surgical intensive care units, acute, periopera-
tive and chronic pain management. Our specialty was losing
market share to other specialties and was at risk of becoming
invisible.”
The specialty was able to reverse this trend in part by
focusing on anesthesiologists having greater administrative
responsibility and sharing surgical rounds. This change took
10 years to implement and sustain.
“To assure success, a generation must accept it as its
own,” Olsen says. “The change was multi-faceted and long-
term, requiring layers of leadership that were both traditional
and informal. We also learned that to assure a successful
transformation, we needed to reach the schoolhouse before
residency choices are made.”
Some changes will be slow to happen, which is why CAP
also is committed to 10 years for this transformation, says
Thomas Malone, vice president, CAP Transformation Program
Office.
“There are stages of acceptance. First is awareness of
the issue, then understanding, then how to take action,”
Malone says. “Many of our members are in the ‘what is this
and how does it impact me’ stage. And many members are
early adopters, already serving in physician leadership capaci-ties and routinely consulting with physician colleagues and
patients.”
Personal Perspectives
Bowers says the thought of physicians’ efforts to be more
fully engaged in her care and treatment is encouraging and,
especially as a cancer survivor, she “completely supports
that.”
“This is my personal ‘call to action’ for pathologists — to
ensure they are a main part of the clinical care team,” Bow-
ers says. “Health care is like education. Students see six to
seven different teachers a day. If teachers get together to
discuss a student, they can identify common concerns and
form a plan of action for the student’s benefit. Same with
health care: If all doctors are communicating and evaluating
a patient’s health, the chances of that patient being healthier
increase.”
Roussel has a personal stake in reform. His wife’s neuro-
endocrine cancer has recently returned.
“We’ve begun another diagnostic odyssey to determine
how best to treat it,” Roussel says. “At this point, her future
well-being rests not in the hands of the surgeon or oncolo-gist, but in those of the pathologist and the radiologist whose
judgment will decide the course of events.
“I know pathologists live these dramas every day — they
may even be routine. But for families with sick spouses, children, parents and siblings, they are anything but routine. We
need all CAP members working on patients’ behalf — ensur-ing pathologists remain a critical part of the patient care
team, bringing their unique diagnostic experience for saving
the world.”
Heather Ryndak Swink, CAE, is executive editor of FORUM. She may be reached
at (312) 924-7031 or swink@associationforum.org.
THE MARCH 2011 SIGNATURE STORY features the DuPage County Bar
Association and its Lawyers Lending a Hand initiative, which just celebrated
its 10-year anniversary of successful public service. Lawyers Lending a
Hand organizes monthly projects in the DuPage County area in which DCBA
members along with their families and friends provide much-needed service
to a diverse group of organizations. Projects range from winter coat drives to
sorting canned goods for a food pantry. DCBA is a 501 (c) 6 organization with
eight staff members and approximately 2,400 attorney members. For more
information, visit www.dcba.org.
