Published 6/22/2026
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James W. Barber, MD, FAAOS; Ellen Bushong
In states across the country, the AAOS Board of Councilors (BOC) State Orthopaedic Societies (SOS) Assistance Fund is helping orthopaedic societies rebuild governance, restore member engagement, and modernize communications where state-level policy decisions are made.
The result is not just healthier organizations — it is a more connected profession, ready to speak and act together.
As AAOS’ primary grassroots advisory body to the AAOS Board of Directors, the BOC serves as the bidirectional link between AAOS and state and regional orthopaedic societies. Society priorities and on-the-ground issues help guide AAOS initiatives in support of the AAOS Strategic Plan, and AAOS initiatives are communicated back to societies in a clear, actionable way. In addition to its advisory role, the BOC administers programs and resources, such as the BOC SOS Assistance Fund.
“The obstacles we face in treating patients and advancing our profession transcend state lines and subspecialty boundaries,” said BOC Chair James W. Barber, MD, FAAOS. “We overcome these challenges most effectively when we remain united in our state societies and in partnership with the leadership of the AAOS.”
The following examples highlight how partnerships and on the ground programs supported by the BOC SOS Assistance Fund are driving success across states.
Tennessee: From negative balance to a new beginning
At the start of 2025, the Tennessee Orthopaedic Society (TOS) faced significant challenges. The organization had a negative account balance, decreased activity, and declining member engagement. Together, these factors raised concerns about the society’s long-term sustainability.
Through the BOC SOS Assistance Fund, AAOS provided TOS with the resources to rebuild. TOS did not simply stabilize; it transformed. Membership surged from approximately 165 members in 2024 to more than 450 in 2025, and the society closed 2025 with a positive operating balance. Governance was formalized, with an active board of directors now meeting on a regular schedule.
That momentum became visible statewide when TOS hosted its first annual meeting in six years. Orthopaedic surgeons from across Tennessee gathered to discuss clinical topics, advocacy challenges, and the realities of modern practice management.
TOS re-entered the policy arena with purpose and engaged with its state legislative over scope of practice proposals involving podiatrists and athletic trainers, championed insurance downcoding and reimbursement transparency legislation, and monitored initiatives including the Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program.
New Mexico: A society reborn
With BOC SOS Assistance Fund support, the New Mexico Orthopaedic Society (NMOS) began rebuilding the infrastructure that turns membership into momentum.
Supported by funding awards in 2023 and 2024, the society positioned itself to build durable, practical systems. It hired an executive director, creating the professional organizational backbone it would need for the future. It built a working database of surgeons practicing across the state and established an invoicing infrastructure that reached individual surgeons, hospital groups, and academic physicians. It also restarted regular meetings, both independently and in collaboration with the University of New Mexico.
That renewed capacity mattered most when the state’s policy work demanded it. When New Mexico achieved a significant legislative victory in tort reform earlier this year, orthopaedics was represented at negotiations between the trial lawyers, the governor’s office, and organized medicine. This effort delivered a clear, unified message on behalf of surgeons and patients and recruited surgeons willing to personally lobby at the State Capitol. As in Tennessee, AAOS support strengthened local engagement and helped the society prepare, coordinate, and make its voice heard.
Virginia and Arizona: Revitalization looks like innovation, too
Sometimes, revitalization means recognizing that the tools of the past are no longer equal to the ambitions of the present and procuring support to help build what comes next.
That is precisely the story unfolding in Virginia and Arizona, where awards from the 2025 grant funding cycle are fueling a new generation of member engagement through technology.
The Virginia Orthopaedic Society (VOS) has long used a member app to deliver resources around its annual meeting, including programs, syllabi, and protected materials. With the grant award, VOS plans to overhaul the platform, transforming a once-a-year meeting tool into a year-round engagement hub. The revamped app will give VOS members a single destination for dues renewal, newsletters, and more, making it easier for surgeons to stay aligned, informed, and ready to act together.
In Arizona, the vision is even broader. The Arizona Orthopaedic Society (AOS) is using its grant funding to launch the Arizona Orthopaedic Connector app, a secure mobile platform designed to unify surgeons across the state and improve patient access. The app will streamline referrals, deliver real-time legislative updates, and centralize educational resources. Perhaps most significantly, it is being built on an open, modular framework, enabling what Arizona builds today to be shared, adapted, and scaled by other state orthopaedic societies in the future.
Stronger together is a strategic advantage
The stories of Tennessee, New Mexico, Virginia, and Arizona make one point clear: orthopaedics is strongest when the musculoskeletal community supports and reinforces each other.
In recognition of that truth, the AAOS Board of Directors approved a three-year pilot expansion of the BOC SOS Assistance Fund in December 2024, increasing available funding to $60,000 per year to support projects that strengthen education, technology, outreach, membership, and governance. Participating state orthopaedic societies must meet established eligibility requirements to apply.
“The BOC SOS Assistance Fund has been expanded through a three-year pilot program in alignment with our AAOS Strategic Plan, particularly the Members and Patient pillars and our shared values of leading to serve, shaping our future, and excellence together,” said Wilford K. Gibson, MD, FAAOS, AAOS president and a past chair of the Board of Councilors. “By working together and offering support, we can enable our members to care for patients and address the issues that matter.”
“State societies are vital to push the grassroots initiatives to improve, and limit the roadblocks, for the care of the patients in their states,” said BOC State Orthopaedic Societies Committee Chair Kevin W. Farmer, MD, FAAOS. “I commend the leadership of AAOS for further supporting these efforts, both through increased funding and sharing SOS efforts, thus maximizing the successes and providing a roadmap for other states to follow.”
Jim W. Barber, MD, FAAOS, is the 2026-2027 chair of the Board of Councilors. Upon completing orthopaedic residency at Georgia Baptist (Atlanta Medical Center), he began private practice in general orthopaedics in Douglas, Georgia.
Ellen Bushong, MA, AAOS governance and affiliate relations specialist, is the staff liaison for the AAOS Board of Councilors and Board of Specialty Societies.