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AARON CAPUANO, MD, FACS, NJSPS PRESIDENT
The New Jersey Society of Plastic Surgeons is an organization of practicing, board-certified plastic surgeons committed to the highest ethical standards. Our mission is to advance the profession of plastic surgery through continuing educational activities, advise the public, and act as patient advocates, protecting the welfare of the people of New Jersey with respect to cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery.
Our society is an invaluable resource for patients seeking information concerning plastic surgery and for those requiring the expertise of our member surgeons located throughout the state. This website will allow you to identify our Board Certified Plastic Surgeons in the various locales using our member directory. It also serves as an educational forum for patients and physicians alike as we strive to provide the highest quality care.
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WHY JOIN NJSPS?
ADVOCACY, ADVOCACY, ADVOCACY
The New Jersey Society of Plastic Surgeons (NJSPS) is the advocacy voice for Board Certified plastic surgeons in New Jersey. Your membership in NJSPS and contributions to the NJSPS PAC allow your voice to be heard in Trenton and have a direct impact on legislation and policies affecting our specialty, practices, and patients.
Here are some key issues and accomplishments to highlight our successes and hopefully encourage you to join NJSPS and contribute to the state PAC.
In 2024 NJSPS president, Dr. Aaron Capuano, has focused our advocacy on addressing medical spas owned and operated by nurse practitioners and physician assistants without adequate supervision from appropriate specialty trained physicians. NJSPS established an internal working group to research the increased healthcare costs and patient harm to share with policymakers. This information is necessary to convince Governor Murphy to rescind the problematic COVID Executive Order 112, which NJSPS believes is a significant reason why NJ is seeing more medical spas and aesthetic practices functioning without oversight. NJSPS this past Spring successfully negotiated amendments to the medical debt relief legislation that Governor Murphy signed into law in July. The amendments specifically exempted cosmetic surgery and procedures from the definition of health care services as it relates to limitations on medical debt collection and what can and cannot be reported to credit bureaus.
In 2023 NJSPS advocacy with Dr. Adam Hamawy as president was successful stopping the APN independent practice legislation from advancing and it died at the end of the two-year session. As a result of our advocacy efforts and attention NJSPS has brought to the increasing number of APN and other non-physician operated med spas, we have seen the NJ Attorney General targeting the unlicensed practice of medicine in the aesthetic space.
In 2022 NJSPS president, Dr. Colin Failey, focused on educating policymakers on the importance of oversight and supervision of non-physicians in plastic surgery practices, med spas, and other aesthetic practices. At the same time legislation authorizing independent practice for advanced practice nurses (APN) became re-energized as a top priority for the NJ State Nurses Association and nurse anesthetists. During this time New Jersey saw an increase in the number of aesthetic practices opened by APNs without a collaborating physician under the COVID Executive Order that remains in place despite active lobbying from NJSPS and every physician specialty in the state. NJSPS continues to work with our Access to Care Coalition, made up of 18 physician specialties, to address scope of APN practice expansion into the practice of medicine.
In 2021 NJSPS met a new challenge with legislation introduced requiring a New Jersey specific informed consent for breast implant illness, like legislation in Arizona, California, and Washington. NJSPS and Dr. Joanna Partridge, NJSPS president, worked with the sponsors, health committee chairs, patient advocates, and the ASPS state advocacy team to educate New Jersey stakeholders on the FDA updates to manufacturer informed consent to ensure this legislation would not move forward. This legislation did not progress as a result of NJSPS’ concerns.
In 2020 NJSPS was instrumental throughout the COVID shutdowns to get elective surgeries back on schedule at hospitals and surgery centers across the state. NJSPS worked tirelessly with Dr. Steve Fallek, NJSPS president, advocating with the Commissioner of Health and the Governor’s office to lift the restrictions on elective surgeries by May. Without NJSPS’ advocacy and education of policymakers, elective plastic surgeries may have been singled out to remain shut down. Dr. Falek was an excellent representative during this challenging year and helped facilitate coalition with other ASPS state chapters establishing the Northeast COVID-19 Task Force to share information and coordinate our advocacy efforts. Truth in Advertising, one of NJSPS’ top legislative priorities over the years, was also signed into law in New Jersey in Fall of 2020. COVID helped bring to light the confusion experienced by patients with an increasing number of non-physicians using the title “doctor” without specifying their actual professional license and the use of “board certified” without any standard in place with the BME. NJ is one of very few states that has passed this legislation, and we continue our work to highlight misrepresentations and violations of this law with the Office of the Attorney General and BME.
Without NJSPS advocacy policymakers would not have the opportunity to gain the insight and expertise of board-certified plastic surgeons practicing in New Jersey. NJSPS is listened to and respected, but we need you to continue with your membership and make an annual contribution to the PAC to support this great work.
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