Lori Shoaf Joins AAOS as Vice President of the Office of Government Relations

AAOS recently welcomed Lori Shoaf, JD, MA, as the new vice president for the Association’s Office of Government Relations, which promotes and advocates for the viewpoints of the orthopaedic community. Based in Washington, D.C., Shoaf will oversee the legislative, regulatory, and political teams that together identify, analyze, and direct health policy activities to position AAOS as the trusted leaders in advancing musculoskeletal health.

Most recently, Shoaf spent a decade as the executive director of partnerships, advocacy, and coalitions at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. She also has previous experience with federal government relations at member healthcare associations, including the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, and the American College of Physicians. In those roles, Shoaf oversaw legislative and regulatory issues; advanced legislative priorities; led initiatives that increased contributions to political action committees; and advanced the value of membership, resulting in stronger recruitment and retention.

“I am confident Lori will be a strong leader for the Association, as she brings deep experience and proven success leading public-sector engagement, congressional relations and outreach, industry affairs, coalition building, and member services, among others,” said Nathan Glusenkamp, MA, chief quality and registries officer at AAOS. “Her background in both physician advocacy and working with private payers brings a fresh perspective on how our team can successfully advocate on behalf of physicians and patients to improve musculoskeletal care.”

With AAOS’ recent implementation of its new 5-year Strategic Plan, Shoaf will be responsible for working closely with her team and surgeon leaders to ensure advocacy efforts align with the Strategic Plan. In particular, she will collaborate with the Advocacy Council, which establishes AAOS’ annual unified advocacy agenda and builds and maintains coalitions with external organizations in orthopaedic surgery and across organized medicine.

“I am honored to be joining an organization with such a strong reputation in Washington and am excited to build upon AAOS’ strong foundation of multipronged advocacy,” Shoaf said. “Together, we will contribute to the evolution of member needs at a time when the profession is rapidly changing, and I look forward to working collaboratively to ensure public policy supports the central role of orthopaedic surgeons leading care teams and medical decision making to benefit patients.”