James I. Huddleston, III, M.D. New AAHKS President

James I. “Hutch” Huddleston III, M.D., adult reconstruction division director and professor of orthopedic surgery at the Stanford University School of Medicine, has taken office as the 34th President of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS).

After completing his undergraduate studies at Yale University and medical school at the University of Vermont, Dr. Huddleston completed the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency Program and fellowship in adult reconstruction at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Huddleston has served as chair of the California Joint Replacement Registry and is currently chair of the Steering Committee for the American Joint Replacement Registry. Dr. Huddleston also consults for the Yale Center for Outcomes Research/Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on issues related to hip and knee arthroplasty.

“I am excited to say that I have the best job in the world,” Dr. Huddleston told OTW.

“I am tremendously honored to serve as the 34th AAHKS president. At AAHKS I have the pleasure of working with incredibly talented and passionate colleagues. I am very, very nervous about the future of healthcare in our country.”

“My father, a retired orthopaedic surgeon, discouraged me from becoming a doctor due to his perceived decay of the industry.  Despite him being spot-on, I obviously didn’t listen. Now my children want to be doctors.”

“Our younger colleagues are struggling to keep their lights on at the office. Despite the many obstacles we face, I am compelled to improve our healthcare system here in the United States. Declining physician reimbursement that doesn’t even come close to keeping pace with inflation, loss of physician autonomy, and market consolidation are just a few of the threats that are undermining physicians’ ability to provide high-value care for our patients.”

When OTW asked what his experience with joint replacement registries taught him, Dr. Huddleston commented, “I have had the good fortune of being involved in local, regional, and national registry efforts for nearly 20 years. My interest in registries stems from two of my mentors, William H. Harris, M.D. and Henrik Malchau, M.D., Ph.D. They always stressed the need to follow one’s patients. Aligning the stakeholders in healthcare—patients, surgeons, payors, hospitals, and our industry partners—will always be a challenge.”

Dr. Huddleston has served as an Abstract Reviewer for AAHKS, and as a member and chair of the Advocacy Committee and the Health Policy Council. As such, he worked on payment issues and advocated for the profession in Washington, DC with CMS and Congress. Dr. Huddleston was also awarded the AAHKS Presidential Award in 2020.

“Having worked at an academic institution for my entire career, I have a keen understanding of the opportunities to improve the value of care we deliver. Longitudinal follow-up of our patients is mandatory to deliver the highest value care, especially in hip and knee arthroplasty.”

“I am pleased to report that we have reached an inflection point at the American Joint Replacement Registry. While the American Joint Replacement Registry has approximately 40% of all the hip and knee replacements performed in the United States annually, we need to continue our efforts to get towards 100% coverage and improve data completeness.”

“Like other successful national registries, we will need federal assistance to scale this effort. I am focused on synergizing our efforts with AAHKS and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons [AAOS] to make this dream become a reality.”

“As president of AAHKS, my primary job is to assure that AAHKS’ resources are deployed properly to promote excellence in hip and knee care. In addition to our usual efforts aimed at achieving our long-term strategic goals focused on education, research, and advocacy, I will focus on educating our membership about unionization, exploring the establishment of centers of excellence for periprosthetic joint infection, and securing adequate long-term funding to scale the American Joint Replacement Registry.”

“We will also continue our tireless efforts, in conjunction with AAOS, to achieve long-term Medicare payment reform. We will continue to work to increase our membership and attendance at our annual meeting which will be held November 7-10, 2024, at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Dallas, Texas. We are targeting the Middle East, our allied health professionals, and other healthcare stakeholders in these efforts.”