It was one of the most challenging years in the Society’s history, and one of the most demanding of my life. It was also one of the most rewarding. When I was sworn in as ASA president at the end of 2019, I was looking forward to a standard year of carrying out the priorities set forth in our strategic plan. By early 2020, COVID had changed everything, including our priorities. Over the following months, we witnessed paradigm shifts that typically take years to play out. We saw telemedicine shed its niche status to become an essential platform that is not going away. We saw our hospitals devasted by loss and burnout and grief. And – most important to me – we saw selflessness, resiliency, and courage every day from the members of this phenomenal organization. In 2020, we saved untold numbers of lives. We made a difference to countless families. By doing our jobs at the highest level under the highest level of duress, we reshaped our specialty in the eyes of the public.
We’ll be sorting out the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for years. But I hope you find that the following look back at one year of our history shows you the same thing that it shows me – that anesthesiology is an essential profession, that anesthesiologists play critical roles in the lives of billions, and that your ASA is the best medical specialty society in the world!
Nothing we achieved in 2020 could have been accomplished without a team effort. I want to thank our Executive Committee of Beverly Philip, Randy Clark, and Linda Mason, our ASA staff led by Paul Pomerantz, the Administrative Council, and the ASA committees. And I thank all of you for your encouragement along the way. Faith, family, and friends nourished and sustained me this year, and I count all of you as my friends.
As anesthesiologists became the front-line physicians caring for the sickest COVID patients, ASA moved to the forefront in providing real-time resources not just for our members, but for the global health care community.
Our COVID-19 Council created rapid-response solutions, teaming with the broadest variety of stakeholders, from the American Hospital Association, to the AMA, to the American College of Healthcare Executives, to the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation, with whom we collaborated on a number of joint statements, notably on perioperative testing for COVID and elective surgery.
We developed a widely accessed library of position statements and educational resources, including
22
guideline statements
35
critical care learning modules
10
educational webinars
13
original podcasts
100+
frequently asked questions
ASA was a leader in assisting the medical community in locating anesthesia machines, putting them into service, and managing them safely. Our efforts were acknowledged with a public thank you from then-Vice President Mike Pence during a White House briefing.
Our multifaceted COVID response led to record-setting engagement:
White House COVID-19 Task Force
The White House publicly acknowledged ASA for leading efforts to convert anesthesia machines to ventilators. ASA leadership remained in regular contact with the White House, including almost daily conversations with White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Deborah Birx.
Economic Relief
Economic relief was a pressing need, and ASA supported physician practices during the pandemic through introduction of legislation recognizing the work of anesthesiologists as frontline workers – the Health Care Provider Assurance Act of 2020.
Safe VA Care
COVID demanded a lot of our time and resources. But it was not our only advocacy priority. ASA launched two national grassroots platforms to protect Veterans and Medicare patients.
Mitigating Emergency Drug Shortages
ASA worked closely with Senate leaders to advance the Mitigating Emergency Drug Shortages Act, which was part of the CARES Act.
Pain Alleviation Toolkit
We jointly launched the Pain Alleviation Toolkit with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
ASA Political Action Committee
It was another record-breaking year for the ASA Political Action Committee! The ASAPAC Day of Contributing saw almost 4,000 contributors give a record of over $1 million within 27 hours.
ASA Grassroots Network
ASA’s Grassroots Network grew by 46% in 2020 – nearly 20,000 members and counting!
Even during the pandemic, with our staff adhering to stay-at-home guidelines, we continued to improve our daily customer service:
4.63/5
Live Chat satisfaction score
91/100
Live Help Now Challenge average score
By March, our member engagement priorities shifted, and our overriding concern was the safety of each of our 54,600+ members. Although growth in 2020 was a challenge, the ways we engaged with you and the diversity of our resources grew like never before.
54,611-strong!
Our member categories:
Active: 31,687
Resident: 8,439
Medical Student: 2,936
Affiliate, Educational: 2,624
Anesthesiologist Assistants, AA Student: 1,346
Anesthesia Administrators and Executives: 350
Retired: 7,196
In September, we launched ASA Community, a private online forum for conversation, collaboration, and networking. All ASA members were automatically subscribed to the community's Open Forum, making it the widest platform for sharing knowledge that ASA has ever created. Within weeks, 10,000 members were actively engaged, with 50,000 monthly page views.
Join the conversation at community.asahq.org
Regrettably, COVID kept us from sharing knowledge in person, but it opened up new – and sometimes even improved – ways of communicating. On March 19, we held our first COVID virtual town hall – attended by more than 5,000 ASA members! Seven more followed. Overall, from March through August, our webinars engaged more than 39,000 registrants.
All of ASA leveraged virtual platforms in 2020
Leaders in the Perioperative Brain Health Initiative convened a town hall in 2020 that drew nearly 800 registrants who discussed telemedicine, blood-based biomarkers to assess perioperative vulnerability, and the impact of COVID-19 on patients with delirium.
The Perioperative Surgical Home produced an on-demand webinar that analyzed 11 recent studies of the PSH model to examine how PSH programs have improved patient care and reduced costs. Notably, the PSH Learning Collaborative 2020 launched more than 100 PSH pilots in multiple service lines.
COVID changed the way we learned, but in no way affected the quality of our offerings.
In 2020, 35,600 learners participated in 300 active CME opportunities, including in-person meetings, virtual meetings, online courses, enduring material, journal-based CME, and test-item writing.
7 town hall webinars offered COVID-19-related CME content. 
ASA offered the COVID Activated Emergency Scaling of Anesthesiology Responsibilities (CAESAR) ICU Program, in collaboration with the APSF, SOCCA, and SCCM, providing over 8 CME credits.
18 patient safety online courses were offered free to resident and medical student members, as well as AA program directors/coordinators and AA students.
ASA’s celebrated ACE and Summaries of Emerging Evidence (SEE) products were among those offered free-of-charge to residents, medical students, and student certified AAs. To support relevant education during the pandemic, the SEE and ACE Critical Care Mini Module was offered free in 2020.
2020 saw the formation of the Joint Providership Program, which assists State Component Societies, Subspecialty Societies, and Anesthesia Group Practices to provide accredited CME programming. The program offered a total of 240 CME credits.
ASA was awarded Accreditation with Commendation
for six years as a provider of CME. Only 10% of eligible applicants receive this designation.
ACCME president and CEO Graham McMahon said ASA received the honor “For the work you do every day to deliver high-quality education. Our professions and our patients are better for it. Your commitment to great learning shines.”
More than ever before, the journal showed its global reach. Of the 3.6 million online visits in 2020, 51% of those were international. Half of accepted manuscripts were from international scientists.
At 7.067, the journal Anesthesiology maintained the highest impact factor of any anesthesia journal in the world in 2020.
Anesthesiology was the first journal in the specialty to publish an issue devoted to COVID-19, with the latest science from anesthesiologists in Wuhan, China. A testament to the relationships the journal built with major Chinese anesthesiologist societies.
It was a transformative year for the ASA Monitor. New editor in chief Steven Shafer oversaw a dynamic format change, a partnership with publisher Wolters Kluwer, an infusion of talented science writers, and a stated goal of becoming “The leading source for perioperative health care news.”
The ASA website posted unheard of numbers in 2020 as ASA members increasingly turned to the site for an evolving variety of resources. Compared to 2019, there were:
36.49%
more users
(3,491,144)
31.87%
more sessions
(4,627,179)
19.53%
more pageviews
(7,810,717)
Hundreds of companies provided $3.93 million in financial support for ASA’s programs and initiatives in 2020 through exhibit and virtual meeting sponsorships, publications advertising, industry support, and education grants.
• $1.56 million Unrestricted Support / Sponsorship Revenue
• $1.3 million Meetings Exhibits / Virtual Sponsorships
• $171,000 Publications Advertising
• $900,000 Restricted / CME Education Funding
A big thank you to ASA’s Industry Supporters our most engaged and committed partners:
Perhaps not since Hurricane Katrina in 2001 has ASA overcome such daunting odds to bring its members a successful meeting. With precious little time to prepare, the pandemic forced ASA’s annual meeting community to learn a new platform, master new technology, and create a new standard of learning. The result was one of the most exciting ANESTHESIOLOGY® annual meetings ever. Lectures by NIH Director Francis Collins, Surgeon General Jerome Adams, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Deborah Birx, and German Chancellery Head Helge Braun represented the apex of medical science discourse.
Professional registration: 13,451
(an increase of nearly 3,000 professional attendees over 2019)
The level of engagement at our virtual Legislative Conference 2020 in May was extraordinary. The meeting generated 1,450 registrants and featured distinguished speakers, including members of Congress.
In the nightly news. On CNN and FOX. In The New York Times and The Washington Post. In local newspapers. Our colleagues were profiled for their life-saving efforts on the front lines of the COVID pandemic. Your work made an impression on billions the world over that will last a lifetime.
ASA secured a total of 3,454 placements in 2020, reaching a potential audience of more than 5.5 billion – nearly double the number and more than twice the audience reach in 2019.
We used social media like never before to communicate our important COVID-related messaging.
Made for This Moment
First-of-its-kind campaign to demonstrate the value of our specialty
The impact was almost immediate:
8 million
impressions
5,910
MFTM website visits
411,000
video views
Quality
In 2020, the Anesthesia Quality Institute (AQI) continued to improve data collection platforms for NACOR, AIRS, and Closed Claims. As always, the aim was to strengthen value to members while building a richer dataset for the specialty.
With a grant from Edwards Lifesciences, AQI helped develop new tracking and feedback of intraoperative hypotension.
The Anesthesia Incident Reporting System (AIRS) developed a module in 2020 to help AQI identify vaping risks and collected safety events related to COVID-19.
In other quality-related activities, we received approval from CMS for physician anesthesiologists to receive MIPS Improvement Activities credit for expanding a hospital’s COVID-19 surge capacity, implementing protocols for donning and doffing PPE, and establishing patient testing and surveillance protocols.
We expanded the number of Qualified Clinical Data Registry measures available for AQI NACOR participants to report.
Recognizing the unprecedented economic pressure caused by the pandemic, The Anesthesia Foundation created a loan program for early-career anesthesiologists. A total of 116 loans were paid out, totaling $862,500.
The Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation collaborated with ASA and other groups on multiple important statements and recommendations during the pandemic, including a joint statement on perioperative testing for COVID, mask-wearing in public, elective surgery, PAPR use, and more.
In the face of the pandemic, the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research Board showed unflinching commitment to research, voting to draw from reserves to fund an additional Mentored Research Training Grant in 2020. Total awarded FAER grants: $2.85 million to 13 anesthesiologists.
To increase the scope of its outreach, funding for three signature programs of the Committee on Global Humanitarian Outreach were moved to the ASA Charitable Foundation: The Overseas Teaching Programs in Rwanda and Guyana, and the Resident International Anesthesia Scholarship Program.
Always forward-thinking about our past, the Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology began a campaign in 2020 to procure and archive COVID-related objects and materials. The WLM also wrote a new strategic plan and completed the Silver Level in the Standards and Excellence Program for History Organizations (STEPS) program.
Total = $44.9M
■ Membership Dues - $24.8
■ Continuing Education Products - $7.4
■ Grants and Contributions - $3.3
■ Other Income - $3.2
■ Publications and Journals - $2.9
■ Annual Meeting - $2.1
■ Other Meetings - $1.0
Total = $91.4M
■ Investments - $80.4
■ Cash - $9.6M
■ Receivables - $1.4
Restricted and Unrestricted Reserves 2014-2020
($ in millions)
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 was an unimaginable disruption that affected every aspect of our health care system. But even as it exposed vulnerabilities, it was also a catalyst for change, innovation, and new levels of collaboration. I could not be more proud of the way ASA has navigated 2020 and of how we are moving into 2021 with renewed strength and optimism.
Every year, ASA builds upon the success of the one before. For 2021, the top priorities of our three-year strategic plan are:
And there is much, much more on our agenda. I’m enthusiastically eager to lead this cutting-edge society and its 54,600+ members. And I am continually amazed at the talents of every member of this organization. At all times, my actions are most strongly driven by one principle: advocacy. We must always actively advocate for what we want to achieve: the highest quality care for our patients. I want you to share my passion for our great organization and our bright future. By advocating in unison on the issues that affect us all, there is simply nothing we cannot do. I look forward to working with you in 2021 – hopefully live and in person!
It is an honor to continue to work so closely with the many great leaders who elevate this society to its perennial world-class status. I want to thank Dr. Peterson for her leadership and guidance during one of the most tumultuous years in memory. For 2021, I’m excited to assist Dr. Philip as we build upon last year’s accomplishments to address our important opportunities and critical challenges.
As Dr. Philip stated in her message above, 2021 is a pivotal year that will help determine the society’s direction through our re-focused strategic plan.
I am particularly pleased with the health system leadership initiatives we developed and strengthened in 2020. Subsequently, one of my top priorities in 2021 will be to help broaden resources for leadership and professional development at all levels of membership.
ASA successfully withstood the difficulties of 2020 through the teamwork between our dedicated members and professional staff, our technology, and our strong financial management and reserves. ASA is fiscally sound, though challenges remain in 2021. Our financial team will continue efforts to optimize revenues and tighten spending.
Above all, physician-led care, patient safety, and scientific discovery are the core values that drive our efforts. As we head into spring, and as we look back at 2020 in the rear-view mirror, every member of ASA should be as enthusiastic about the direction of the society as I am. As always, I look forward to best serving you, so you can best serve your patients.
Back row, from left: Kenneth Elmassian, DO, FASA; Ronald L. Harter, MD, FASA; Patrick Giam, MD, FASA; Jeffrey T. Mueller, MD, FASA; Michael Champeau, MD, FASA; Andrew D. Rosenberg, MD, FASA; Donald E. Arnold, MD, FASA; Kraig S. de Lanzac, MD, FASA; and Immediate Past President Linda J. Mason, MD, FASA. Front row, from left: President-Elect Beverly K. Philip, MD, FACA, FASA; President Mary Dale Peterson, MD, MSHCA, FACHE, FASA; and Randall M. Clark, MD, FASA.
