Cale Kassel, MD, has been named director of the Nebraska Society of Anesthesiologists Board of Directors, and Lauren Costello, MD, will serve as alternate director, both representing UNMC on a national stage as part of the American Society of Anesthesiologists.
The NSA is Nebraska’s component society of the ASA, the nation’s largest professional organization for physician anesthesiologists. The NSA promotes the profession of anesthesiology, advocates for physician-led care and seeks to further the education of its members. Through its representation on the ASA Board of Directors, the NSA ensures Nebraska’s voice is part of national conversations shaping the specialty.
The ASA board of directors is composed of one director and one alternate director from each of the organization’s 56 component societies, along with ASA officers and past presidents. The board oversees the organization’s finances, approves clinical practice guidelines and professional statements, and guides the ASA’s response to emerging issues in the field from legislative developments to evolving standards of care.
“The NSA board is responsible for reviewing guidelines and professional statements, looking at the budget, determining dues, and more broadly, generating a plan as an organization for how we want to address the challenges our members are facing,” Dr. Kassel said.
As primary goals stepping into the role, Dr. Kassel said he expects to prioritize reimbursement pressures from commercial insurers and the ongoing push for Medicare rate reform, workforce development and support for early-career anesthesiologists and ensuring Nebraska’s voice is heard in national policy conversations.
“As a state with a large rural population, we can be a voice in that discussion within the national organization,” Dr. Kassel said. “Healthcare is sometimes very different in rural settings and there are different challenges and different issues than what we see at a large health system.”
For Dr. Kassel, involvement in organized medicine is both a professional responsibility and a practical one. “If we’re not there to lend our voice to people making those decisions, someone else will,” he said. “We know best how to take care of patients, and that perspective needs to be represented.”
Dr. Costello will serve as alternate director, stepping in on Dr. Kassel’s behalf as needed and supporting Nebraska’s representation on the board. “I am honored to have the opportunity to serve on the board and hope to be a positive representation on behalf of my anesthesia colleagues,” she said.