2022 Happy Hour with a Scholar Recap

The American Hand Therapy Foundation (AHTF) held its biggest fundraiser of the year, the 2022 “Happy Hour with a Scholar”. The event held in conjunction with the ASHT Hybrid Annual Meeting was on Friday, October 14, 2022 at the Washington Hilton in Washington DC. Jim King, OTR, PhD, CHT, Chairperson of the AHTF welcomed everyone and thanked North Coast Medical as the event’s 1st Underwriter as well all of the Co-Sponsors for their generous support of the AHTF’s signature fundraising event.

This year’s Honoree was Mark Baratz, MD, Clinical Professor and Vice Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of Pittsburgh and Director of the Hand and Upper Extremity Fellowship. His AHTF Scholar lecture was “When I Need You Most: Surgeon-therapist challenges when patients need more and a system gives less.” Dr. Baratz began by telling the attendees that he wanted his lecture to begin a conversation and he believes it starts with the perception that every patient fits an algorithm for treatment and reimbursement. While he believes this may be true for elective cases, increasingly he sees that his clinic is filled with “Outliers”. He framed the discussion by defining the “seven deadly sins” of Outliers, including social issues that may lead to disparities in care. He discussed his philosophy of how to do more to improve patient outcomes with fewer resources and how to mitigate variability in cases.

Dr. Baratz kicked off the discussion portion of his lecture by singing a song he wrote for the attendees while playing his guitar. He was interested in hearing about the challenges that hand therapists face every day and their vision of what was needed. , This led to a good, interactive discussion.

The lecture was well attended and became a record-breaking fundraising event! The AHTF Board of Directors looks forward to hosting the 2023 “Happy Hour with a Scholar” and welcomes Co-Sponsors (examples of Co-Sponsors may be an individual, a combination of individuals, a special interest group, business, university, or association) for 2023!