Reflecting On a Successful 2022

Greetings from all of us here at UHMS!

It’s an exciting time as we prepare for our Annual Scientifi c Meeting and pre-courses at the Sheraton Marina on Harbor Isle in San Diego, June 15-19.

San Diego is a destination location and offers plenty of opportunities for meeting attendees and accompanying persons to explore, play, and eat great food. As a bonus, the conference resort is surrounded by the SD harbor with beautiful views. I encourage you to visit the resort’s photo gallery (https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/sansi-sheraton-san-diego-hotel-and-marina/photos/) to get even more stoked about attending the 2023 UHMS ASM.

There’s still time to register, both in-person and virtually (https://www.uhms.org/education/annualscientific-meeting/asm-registration.html). See you at the Welcome Reception!

Operationally, the UHMS continues to focus on carrying out its mission, and all areas of the organization are busy contributing to this effort. I am extremely grateful for the fantastic efforts of our employed members as well as the many, many volunteers who keep the organization moving forward.

Our volunteers are the grease that keeps the gears lubricated and turning and, without you, the organization would come to a screeching halt, so thank you.

If you’re not yet involved and are interested in serving on one of the nearly thirty UHMS Committees, let me know, and we’ll do our best to get you linked up with the appropriate Committee Chairs.

From a governance perspective, during the UHMS April board meeting, the board approved the 2022 audit results presented by MKA, our audit firm, for the past five years. Once again, we had the very best outcome without any recommendations.

Additionally, the board approved the UHMS annual awards recommendation from the Awards Committee. Congratulations to this year’s winners, and we look forward to recognizing them during the Awards Banquet during the ASM.

• Albert Behnke: Michael Strauss, MD
• Excellence in Commercial Diving: Philip Bryson, MD
• Excellence in Diving Medicine: Bob Sanders, MD
• Excellence in Hyperbaric Medicine: Shai Efrati, MD
• Young Scientist/Medical Doctor: Kristi Ray, MD
• Paul Baker: Andrew Melnyczenko, CHT
• Excellence in Critical Care: Geness Koumandakis, CHT

Also, the board approved the FUHM’s Committee recommendation to award Gerardo “Dino” Bosco, MD - FUHM. Congratulazioni!

The UHMS board, during an interim board meeting vote, approved the 2023 elections for the open positions on the Board and Associate Council. Congratulations to those recognized by their peers and elected to serve the UHMS membership.

Winners: 2023 Members-at-Large

• Frauke Tillmans, PhD
• Peter Lindholm, MD, PhD

Winner: 2023 Associate Technician Representative- Elect

• Daniel Hyun, CHT

Winner: 2023 Associate Council Secretary

• Marie Morales, RN, ACHRN

We continue to focus on patient and caregiver safety in the hyperbaric medicine environment by publishing position statements and guidelines and enhancing our Hyperbaric Facility Accreditation process; providing relevant, inexpensive, and plentiful educational experiences; improving value for our members and the specialty as a whole; engaging regulators, payors, and authorities having jurisdiction about the safe and effi cacious practice of hyperbaric medicine and fi nally, publishing the highest quality research in our UHM journal.

UHMS Finances
UHMS YTD through April 2023 with a modest surplus on the profit and loss statement.

Our balance sheet remains healthy with operating, savings, and investment accounts continuing to hover at near-all-time highs.

Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher, coined the saying, ‘Change is the only constant in life.’ Throughout my management career, I can attest that this holds remarkedly true, and the UHMS is not immune to this theoretical statement. It’s with a heavy heart that we are saying goodbye to one of our core team members as they transition into full retirement. Lola ‘Renee’ Duncan has diligently served as managing editor for the UHMS and the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine Journal since 2009. Renee is a wonderful human and deeply cares for the work product she produces, and UHMS has benefi ted from her dedication to quality over these past fourteen years. Thank you, Renee, for your eff orts, and I appreciate our friendship.

With Renee’s departure, we welcome Lorrie Coté. Lorrie is an experienced manager and has previously worked with our UHMJ Editor, David Hostler, Ph.D., at the University of Pittsburgh before he transitioned to the University of Buff alo. Welcome Lorrie!

Certification Matters
We continue to receive questions about technician and nursing certifi cation. The UHMS’s position is unchanged in that we believe that all team members involved in providing care to patients in hyperbaric medicine should be certifi ed, and our position statement - The Importance & Recognition of Hyperbaric Certifi cation for Technicians & Nurses can be found here - https://www.uhms.org/images/Position-Statements/position_statement_-_uhms_associates_hyperbaric_certification_recognition_v.10.05.2019_v6_1.pdf.

Scholarship
Congratulations to the Q2 Associate Scholarship Award winners Marjoe Prado and McCraigan True. They will have the opportunity to attend a UHMS-approved Introductory Course in Hyperbaric Medicine at no cost, which is required to sit for UHMS-recognized hyperbaric certification exams.

Member Benefits
As a reminder, UHMS members receive three free CE/CME credits upon joining or renewing. This benefit represents an immediate $40 savings for Associate members and $60 for Regular members annually.

Associates Town Hall
Members are invited to attend the UHMS Associate Council town hall meeting on the second Thursday of every quarter, where invited speakers present on relevant topics that apply to our specialty.

Corporate Partners
If you are a UHMS Corporate Partner, do not miss out on our monthly Corporate Partner Town Hall meeting series. These are held on the 1st Wednesday of every month at 12P and are intended to be an open forum for discussing the challenges and successes your businesses and practices are experiencing and to create momentum and collaboration where appropriate.

If your organization wants to educate the UHMS membership about the care provided or the goods and services offered, consider joining our Corporate Partnership Program. See https://www.uhms.org/corporate-memberships.html.

MEDFAQs
The UHMS off ers its version of “ask the experts.” Called MEDFAQs, it can be found at the following URL – https://www.uhms.org/resources/medfaqsfrequently-asked-questions-faq.html and is a valuable tool for our membership.

If you are familiar with MEDFAQs, check back, as new Q&As are posted regularly.

Research
The Multicenter Registry for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy at Dartmouth (MRHBO2) continues seeking funds to keep hospital membership free. The MRHBO2 is funded entirely via grants, not by the registry’s participating hospitals. Please consider supporting this critical need to help keep the barrier to joining low - https://www.uhms.org/donate-tothe-multicenter-registry-for-hyperbaric-oxygentherapy.html.

Remember that donations made to the UHMS Funds for Research and Policy Advancement are tax-deductible. For more information, check out the UHMS website – https://www.uhms.org/funding.html.

QUARC
To better understand the fi eld’s challenges, log in and visit the QUARC page – https://www.uhms.org/resources/quarc.html. Here you will fi nd impending legislation, LCD, and other relevant policies on the provision and limitations of HBO2 coverage and the UHMS’s responses and guidance.

The chairs of QUARC are requesting that any unusual denials or challenges with physicians gaining access to insurance panels for HBO2 services, let us know as soon as possible, please – jpeters@uhms.org.

UHM
If you are a UHMS member, we are happy to announce a new search feature for previous issues and articles from UHM/UBR - https://www.uhms.org/publications/uhm-journal/download-uhm-journalpdfs.html. Currently, the feature works with keywords.

If you have a suggestion or comment on how we can serve you better, please email me directly at jpeters@uhms.org or call me at 561-776-6110 extension 100. It is my pleasure to serve you, our membership, and I continue to look forward to hearing from you.

- John Peters