As we start a new year, I would like to look back on our recent, very successful 2012 Annual Meeting. The positive feedback that we have gotten from attendees, exhibitors and guest speakers has been overwhelming and has confirmed the importance of all the hard work that was done to make this meeting exceptional. Many thanks to Ricardo Rodriguez, our immediate past president, for his guidance and leadership in making this past meeting our most successful. Congratulations are also in order for our Board, who continue to work in the trenches for all of its members dealing not only with workers compensation and legislative issues but also keeping our organization on firm financial footing. Our management company, Ruggles, has also done an outstanding job in keeping all facets of LOA running smoothly.

This year has already been quite active in the state legislative arena with multiple bills being filed that directly affected our practices throughout the state. The majority appeared to deal with workers compensation issues, but there were other bills brought forward that could have had a detrimental effect to our practice of medicine. Cindy Bishop, our Director of External Affairs, has been on top of the situation and will give us an overview of this legislative session so far.

Stan Foster, Ricardo Rodriguez, Scott Duncan and I recently attended the National Orthopaedic Leadership Conference in Washington, DC. Multiple national issues were discussed and strategized and visits were made to discuss these issues with our congressmen and senators. These interactions were quite fruitful and the legislators were very engaging.

One of our goals as an organization is to continue to grow our membership. In this vein, the LOA will have three regional meetings this fall to reach out to current and potential members and address any concerns that they may have. These meetings will be held this year in Shreveport, Monroe and the Northshore. We have secured funding for these meetings with the help of Dr. Chris Rich.

Finally, the LOA 2013 Annua l Meeting will be held in New Orleans on March 1st and 2nd. We have signed a contract with the Sheraton for the meeting, so please save the date. Dr. Claude Williams will be our program chairman and we anticipate another successful clinical program. Rest assured, the LOA Board will continue to be your advocate and will be available to help meet the needs of your busy practice.

Sincerely Yours,

Chad W. Millet, M.D.