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AUA Advocacy Communications
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Patient Advocacy
Advocating for urologic patients has always been at the heart of the AUA’s advocacy and policy mission. In 2024, the AUA Board of Directors strengthened that commitment by approving the implementation of a formal patient advocacy program. The patient advocacy program uplifts and unites patient and physician voices to advocate for policies that benefit the broader urologic patient population. By speaking with one collective voice, we aim to make sure that decisions made by policymakers reflect the experiences and priorities of the urologic patient community.
Our Patient Advocacy Priorities:
- Promote legislative measures that protect continuity of care, safeguard the physician patient relationship to support shared-decision making, and improve the delivery of urologic services.
- Support state and federal policies that promote timely access to care and prompt treatment, leading to better health outcomes for urologic patients (e.g., streamlined prior authorization, mitigation of step-therapy).
- Advocate to ensure patient access to quality and comprehensive care (e.g., optimal screening, diagnostic modalities, and treatment options) and health care equity (e.g., utility of telehealth services, access to clinical trials) for all urologic conditions.
- Promote and protect funding for urologic research that would benefit urologic patients, and support legislation that is inclusive of the patient perspective in clinical research development (e.g., protocol design, endpoint/treatment outcomes, funding review process, etc.).
The AUA's patient advocacy legislative priorities serve as a guide for the AUA's advocacy efforts at both the state and federal levels, but do not limit or restrict the policy issues the AUA may consider. For more information or to learn how to become involved in patient advocacy, contact the Patient Advocacy Manager at mzand@AUAnet.org.
Our goal is to influence policymakers, and we do that by direct and indirect lobbying, leading or circulating stakeholder letters in support of our policy efforts, launching grassroots advocacy campaigns, submitting oral or written patient testimonies to congressional committees, and more.
The Coalition for Urologic Patients is the coalition arm of the AUA to organize patient organizations and specialty physician societies within the urologic community to build consensus, lobby, and collaborate on public policy and advocacy initiatives.
The CUP will unite patient advocates and physicians to advocate for policies that lower the barriers that limit urologic patients from accessing and choosing treatments, improve the coordination of care of urologic diseases, and increase research funding for urologic diseases.
Whether you’re a patient advocate, physician, or a representative from a patient organization, there’s ways to get involved! As an individual you can keep an eye out for action alerts on our Action Center. As an organization, you can request to join our Coalition for Urologic Patients (CUP).