or its seventh year, ASA attended the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Annual Meeting. Approximately 9,000 people, including 1,700 state legislators, attended the meeting in Boston last August. ASA was one of 13 groups who participated as exhibitors in the “Physicians Advocating for Patients” joint booth. NCSL’s Annual Meeting provides ASA with an opportunity to increase the visibility of anesthesiologists and educate state legislators about anesthesiologists and their achievements in advancing patient safety as well as other issues facing physicians.

Sarah Paff, M.A., left, and Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, M.D., listen as ASA Vice-President for Professional Affairs Alexander A. Hannenberg, M.D., explains to state legislators how the use of pulse oximeters improves patient safety.

The exhibit booth also included representatives of the American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Surgeons, American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Cardiology, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Society of Plastic Surgeons, American Osteopathic Association, American Academy of Ophthalmology, Massachusetts Medical Society and the American Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers.

Participating on behalf of the Massachusetts Society of Anesthesiologists were Alexander A. Hannenberg, M.D., Mark D. Hershey, M.D., and Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, M.D. Thank you to everyone who generously volunteered their time. ASA has already begun planning for the NCSL 2008 Annual Meeting, which will be held in New Orleans on July 20-27, 2008.

Lisa Percy, J.D., manages state affairs for ASA’s Office of Governmental and Legal Affairs in Washington, D.C.