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Alpha-Omega-Alpha (AOA), founded in 1902, is the only medical honor society in the United States. The mission of AOA is to recognize high educational achievement, honor gifted teaching, encourage the development of leaders in academia and the community, support the ideals of humanism and promote service to others.
In 2014 Dr. Rappard joined a rare group of physicians when he was elected into the George Washington University Chapter of AOA as a distinguished alum of the University Medical School. Rappard’s election was based on his achievements in medicine, research and service to community.
The North American Spine Society is one of the largest medical societies in the world involved in the treatment of spinal conditions. The society is multi-disciplinary consisting of all types of physician and non-physician spine practitioners. Nearly every practicing spine surgeon in the United States is a member of the North American Spine Society. Dr. Rappard has been a member since 2010.
The North American Spine Society holds an annual scientific meeting which is one of the largest venues in the world for scientific and medical spine programming.
Dr. Rappard has participated in the peer review and selection of research presentations for the annual meeting nearly every year since 2015. This process involves the critical review of research presentations and deciding on whether to recommend the research presentation for inclusion into the annual meeting.
The Radiology Committee develops and demonstrates expertise in key research areas as well as creates educational content for the North American Spine Society. The focus of the committee is diagnostic spine imaging but the committee is also a resource for image guided interventions and intra-operative imaging.
Dr. Rappard’s service to the committee began in 2015 and includes contributing to radiology programming for the annual scientific meeting and participating in an initiative to standardize spinal radiological measurements.
The Patient Safety Committee of the North American Spine Society concerns itself with all aspects of patient safety as it relates to spine care.
Dr. Rappard has contributed to the Patient Safety Committee by co-authoring a position statement on opioid use and safety issues. In addition, Dr. Rappard has been a safety reviewer for the North American Spine Society since 2018. Safety reviewers are on-call to evaluate FDA and other safety notices and to determine their impact and method of dissemination to North American Spine Society members.
The Patient Education Committee of the North American Spine Society is concerned with the creation of educational content for patients and potential patients. Much of this content is published on spine.org/knowyourback.
Dr. Rappard published an article on “Know Your Back” on the difference between a disc herniation and a bulge. Dr. Rappard has also served as an editor for an article on spinal imaging and has given patient presentations on spinal injections on behalf of the North American Spine Society. Dr. Rappard served on the Patient Education Committee from 2015-2021.
The Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee of the North American Spine Society is tasked with reviewing and grading scientific evidence for inclusion into medical practice guidelines. Medical practice guidelines are recommendations to physicians on how to achieve the best clinical outcomes, based on the best available scientific evidence.
Dr. Rappard’s service on the Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee began in 2021 when he joined a small group of physicians evaluating the available evidence pertaining to the treatment and diagnosis of sacroiliac joint problems. The evaluation will serve as the basis for the North American Spine Society treatment guidelines for sacroiliac joint disorders.
The Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) Working Group of the North American Spine Society was convened to develop evidence and expert based criteria for when a specific treatment is indicated for a particular condition.
Dr. Rappard served on the AUC Group that was convened to create criteria for specific medical, interventional and surgical treatments for spinal compression fractures due to osteoporosis or tumor.
The North American Spine Society Payor Policy Review Committee (PPRC) reviews and comments on coverage policies through subject matter experts and has reviewed 200 payer policies related to coverage for certain spinal conditions.
In 2020 Dr. Rappard was recruited by the PPRC to review and comment on the latest eviCore imaging guidelines being developed for health plans and self-funded employers.
On 2023 Dr. Rappard was again recruited by the PPRC to comment on the latest eviCore imaging guidelines being developed for health plans and self-funded employers.
The Spine Intervention Society was founded to serve as a venue for evidence based and quality spine care. The society is very active in physician education and in setting standards for the performance of interventional spinal procedures. Membership consists primarily of physicians who specialize in minimally invasive percutaneous spinal procedures. Dr. Rappard has been a member since 2006.
The Spine Intervention Society holds an annual scientific meeting yearly, which is among the most respected venues for quality evidence based spinal medicine programming. Dr. Rappard was an invited instructor and speaker at the 2018 and 2019 annual scientific meeting of the Spine Intervention Society. Dr. Rappard’s lectures Included:
The Evidence Analysis Committee of the Spine Intervention Society is one of the hardest working committees of all the spine medical societies. The Evidence Analysis Committee is composed of physicians with specialized training and experience in evidence-based medicine, the application of scientific evidence to base clinical decisions on. The Evidence Analysis Committee works in conjunction with government, payers and other medical societies to preserve patient access to quality care. The committee publishes diagnostic and treatment guidelines and also periodically reviews the scientific evidence pertaining to a pressing spinal treatment or issue. Dr. Rappard has been a member of the committee since 2013.
Rappard was one of the founding members of a “rapid response team” consisting of members of the Standards and Health Policy Divisions. The purpose of this team is to be “on call” if an expedited review/response is required relative to external guidelines, technology assessments and threats to coverage.
Dr. Rappard’s work on the Evidence Analysis Committee has resulted in publications on cervical rhizotomy and discography. Works in progress include a technical manual on performing spinal procedures and a review on the treatment of common spinal fractures.
As a member of the Evidence Analysis Committee Dr. Rappard has participated in Spine Intervention Society commentary on a systemic review of back pain treatments by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Oregon Health Authority’s statement on spinal interventions, the Washington State Health Care Authority’s review of spinal injections and the United Kingdom’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Technology Assessment Program’s guidelines for treating back pain. Dr. Rappard also participated in a coverage determination commentary for Medicare Advantage plans on the use of medical devices to treat spinal stenosis.
Dr. Rappard has also participated in reviewing safety practice documents, such as a document addressing spinal cord and peripheral nerve stimulation and minimum standards for the performance of the entire spectrum of spinal interventional procedures.
The Pain Medicine Journal is the official scientific journal for the Spine Intervention Society and the American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. On a monthly basis, scientific studies are published in the journal as a means of disseminating important scientific content to physicians and scientists. Before content can be published, it must be reviewed by a panel of scientific and medical peers, who judge the content to be scientifically worthy of publication. Rappard is a reviewer for the Pain Medicine Journal.
The American Society of Neuroradiology (ASNR) is a medical organization pertaining to diagnostic imaging of spinal and brain disorders. The ASNR is active in Neuroradiology physician education, research and setting guidelines for neuroradiological procedures. Rappard has been a member since 2004.
Only members with advanced university level training in Neuroradiology are allowed to become Senior Members of The American Society of Neuroradiology. Rappard became a Senior Member in 2004, after 7 years of medical training beyond medical school.
Dr. Rappard is a 2021 member of the ASNR Education Committee. The Education Committee is responsible for periodic and annual symposium educational content for physicians engaged in the practice of Neuroradiology.
Dr. Rappard is a 2021 member of the ASNR Standards and Guidelines Committee. The committee is responsible for determining evidence-based standards and recommendations for the use of neuroradiological procedures in order to obtain the best possible patient outcomes.
Dr. Rappard is a 2021 member of the ASNR Committee For Evidence Based Medicine. Committee members are trained in evidence-based medicine techniques. These techniques are used to evaluate and grade available scientific evidence for use in neuroradiology treatment guidelines and recommendations.
The American Society of Spine Radiology is a subspecialty society under the auspices of the American Society of Neuroradiology (ASNR) focusing on spine imaging and image-guided spine interventions. The society was originally founded in May 1993 and is dedicated to advancing the field of spinal disease diagnosis and therapy. Dr. Rappard has been a member since 2006.
The Education and Research Committee of the American Society of Spine Radiology is concerned with developing physician educational content on the subject of spine diagnosis and image guided treatment.
Dr. Rappard served as a 2010 member of the Education and Research Committee of the American Society of Spine Radiology.
The Spine Intervention Society holds an annual scientific meeting yearly, which is among the most respected venues for quality spinal imaging programming.
Dr. Rappard was an invited instructor and speaker at the 2018 annual scientific meeting of the American Society of Spine Radiology. Dr. Rappard lectured on endoscopic spine surgery for the treatment of symptomatic herniated disc.
The Society of Neurointerventional Surgery is an international society of physicians specializing in minimally invasive image guided surgery of brain and spine conditions. The society is multi-disciplinary and consists of Neuroradiologists, Neurosurgeons, Neurologists and Neurointerventional Surgeons. The society holds an annual scientific meeting, sets training and procedure standards and advocates for patients with neurointerventional diseases. Dr. Rappard has been a member since 2001.
Physicians can become Senior Members of the Society of Neurointerventional Surgery after completing advanced training in the spectrum of image guided brain and spine procedures of the specialty. Rappard became a Senior Member in 2004.
Rappard was a member of the 2010 annual meeting program committee, charged with the educational and scientific content of the meeting. Dr. Rappard was co-chair for the Spine Section programming and introduced topics in endoscopic spine surgery, spinal fusion and percutaneous spinal stenosis treatments.
The Journal of Neurointerventional Surgery is the premier medical journal of the Society of Neurointerventional Surgery. Content centers on the treatment of brain and spinal conditions via minimally invasive image guided surgical techniques. Content is rigorously reviewed for scientific quality prior to publication in the journal. In 2019 Dr. Rappard became an invited reviewer for the journal.
The American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians is one of the largest medical societies for physicians specializing in pain management. The society publishes a scientific journal, holds a well respect annual scientific meeting, publishes practice standards and guidelines and sponsors a board certification in related fields.
Rappard served as invited faculty for the 2022 Annual Scientific Symposium for the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Dr. Rappard lectured on Endoscopic Disc Procedures, the avoidance of complications and participated in a panel discussion on Endoscopic Spine Surgery.
The American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians’ Endoscopic Spine Surgery Review Course and Workshop is held several times yearly, with the goal of developing a standardized method of instruction, learning and testing in endoscopic spine surgery. Physicians attend lectures and receive hands on tutoring in endoscopic spine surgery techniques.
Rappard served as invited faculty for the Endoscopic Spine Surgery Review Course and Workshop in 2019 and 2021. Dr. Rappard was responsible for demonstrating and teaching the lumbar transforaminal, interlaminar and lumbar rhizotomy endoscopic surgery procedures and for ensuring that physicians developed a rudimentary familiarity with the procedures. Dr. Rappard lectured on the following topics:
The Pain Physician Journal is the medical journal of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians. Like other premier medical journals, content is rigorously reviewed for scientific quality prior to publication in the journal. In 2021 Dr, Rappard became an invited member of the Pain Physician Journal editorial board.
The American Association of Neurological Surgeons is one of America’s leading neurosurgical medical societies. Dr. Rappard became an associate member in 2006.
The Joint Section On Cerebrovascular Disease is comprised of members of both the American Association Of Neurological Surgeons and Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The society is concerned with surgery for vascular neurosurgical conditions. Dr. Rappard became an associate member in 2006.
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