Leadership Lens  

2025 Year in Review — Message from the CEO

by Celeste Kirschner, CAE, MHSA, LUGPA Chief Executive Officer

As we reflect on another remarkable year at LUGPA, I am filled with gratitude and optimism. Our community has demonstrated once again its resilience, innovation, and commitment to patient-centered care.

This year, our advocacy efforts gained real traction: LUGPA remained a powerful voice in Washington on critical issues such as Medicare reimbursement reform, site-neutral payments, and policies to protect patient access to therapies. Despite a turbulent regulatory environment, our members traveled to Capitol Hill for multiple fly-ins and helped shape meaningful conversations around telehealth, drug pricing, and care delivery.

On the education front, we launched LUGPALearn, our on-demand CME platform, giving members a flexible, accessible way to earn credit and stay current. This online platform is of course, in addition to our tremendous in person clinical education including the Global Prostate Cancer Congress, Bladder and Kidney Cancer Academy, Prostate Cancer Academy our outstanding Annual Meeting CME.

We continued to invest in leadership development through our Executive Leadership Program, graduating a strong 2025 cohort of physician and administrator leaders who tackled projects ranging from physician engagement to AI-driven documentation.

Importantly, LUGPA’s policy efforts are delivering real results. Our advocacy helped shape the 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, securing improvements that support independent, office-based practices and advance our long-standing priority of site-neutral reimbursement. We also prioritized reforms around in-office dispensing of Part D medications, increased transparency in the 340B program, and protections against drug pricing policies that would threaten patient access.

We are grateful to our industry partners, sponsors and exhibitors who help sustain LUGPA to lead the way for our groups.

As we turn the page into a new year, I remain committed to LUGPA’s mission: to preserve and advance the independent practice of urology, ensuring that our practices can thrive while delivering high-quality, affordable care. Together, we will continue building bridges  across policy, education, and innovation to empower our members and serve our patients.

Thank you for your partnership, passion, and participation. I look forward to what we will achieve together in the year ahead.

With gratitude,
Celeste Kirschner, CAE, MHSA
Chief Executive Officer, LUGPA