APMA News - October 2011 - (Page 44)

APMA All Stars Lee Rogers, DPM, Fights Diabetes All the Way to Capitol Hill The idea that one in four people who have diabetes will get a foot ulcer at some point in their lives is a scary concept, but Lee Rogers, DPM, like many podiatrists, faces that reality on a daily basis. “We are facing our own tsunami in the United States, a tsunami of diabetes,” Dr. Rogers said. “About one third of the US population has diabetes or prediabetes. Diabetes will double by 2030 in the world’s population. This is currently a pandemic, but it will get a lot worse in a short period of time.” Dr. Rogers sits on the Foot Care Council of the American Diabetes Association as the immediate-past chair. While he served as chair, he organized a task force on the Charcot foot consisting of physicians from six countries. Part of the committee’s job was to create a consensus on the definition, diagnosis, and treatment of this serious condition, something that had never been done before in the roughly 140-year history of the disease. Dr. Rogers and his colleagues presented the resulting treatment guidelines at The National in July. Diabetes affects nearly 26 million people in the US, seven million of whom are undiagnosed. Including today’s podiatrist on the diabetes management team has been proven to be a vital step in preventing ulcers and amputations. Dr. Rogers served as the founding director of the Amputation Prevention Center at Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa. In two years at the Prevention Center, major amputation rates were reduced by 72 percent, Dr. Rogers said. He is currently the co-medical director of the Amputation Prevention Center at Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles, where the limb salvage rate is 96 percent and the average diabetic wound heals in 52 days, a significant improvement over the national average. “[Diabetes presents] a perfect opportunity to show people what podiatrists are good at,” he said. “We are really good at preventing amputations, which is clearly shown in the Thompson Reuters and Duke studies.” These studies are available at www.apma.org/podiatristvalue. Dr. Rogers won the Rising Star Award at the APMA House of Delegates in March and has been featured in articles by CBS News, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post about health care and diabetes. He is a contributing editor for JAPMA and has been awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants and research support. At the 71st American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions in June 2011, Dr. Rogers was invited to participate in “The 2010 Consensus on Treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcers” lecture. He has spoken at hundreds of scientific seminars about diabetic wound care in the US and internationally. The latest figures show that more than 65,000 lower-limb amputations were performed in the US last year due to diabetes-related complications. In a 2008 JAPMA article titled “The Right to Bear Legs—An Amendment to Healthcare: How Preventing Amputations Can Save Billions for the US Health-care System,” Dr. Rogers wrote that in 2007, the US health-care system spent more than $30 billion on amputations and ulcers. Such staggering figures drove Dr. Rogers to add another role to his long list: candidate for Congress from California’s 25th district. He said his primary motivations for seeking office are the declining state of our health-care system and the economy. He believes his experience in the medical profession; time spent as a problem solver with patients, staff, and colleagues; and his role as an employer would help him bring common sense to Washington. “I’ve always been interested in politics but never thought I’d enter a race this early in life,” he said. “I feel like it’s a perfect storm for a doctor to win. Health care is 21 percent of the federal budget and diabetes is a huge part of that. That’s a large sum of money that’s attributed to my area of expertise. Doctors should be driving health reform and funding decisions, not lawyers.” For more information about Dr. Rogers’ campaign, visit www.leerogers2012.com. n Amputation Prevention Center doctors receive a certificate of appreciation from the California State Assembly for preventing amputations. Dr. Rogers is on the right. In Paris, France, Dr. Rogers, at the head of the table, chairs the Charcot foot consensus meeting. At the Ilizarov Institute in Russia, Dr. Rogers, center, prepares for surgery. 44 APMA News October 2011 http://www.leerogers2012.com http://www.apma.org/podiatristvalue

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of APMA News - October 2011

APMA News - October 2011
President’s Message
Contents
ICD-10 in Practice: Coding for Fifth Metatarsal Injury
ICD-10 Benchmarks and Timeline
Team APMA Runs Away with the Show
Medical Mission to Costa Rica: Identifying Fungal Infections of the Foot
Federal Advocacy Forum
Resolutions Submissions
IT Consultant
Can They Really Do That?
Reimbursement
Members Who Know Media
Technofile
Young Voices
Small Business 101
APMAPAC Chair Report
APMA All Stars
In Short
Worthy of Note
Affiliates Corner
List of Affiliated Organizations
Insurance Advisor
New Members
Death Notices
Annual Scientific Meeting Registration Form
Annual Scientific Meeting Sponsors
APMAPAC Update
Development Update
Classified Advertising
Dates to Remember
Advertising Index
10 Questions

APMA News - October 2011