The Organized Medical Staff Section (OMSS) held its 2024 Annual Meeting on Friday, June 7, 2024, in Chicago. The meeting was attended by more than 40 organized medical staff physicians and invited guests. Attendees were pleased to see the ongoing support for the section and robust engagement.
OMSS elections
Elections were held for the OMSS Governing Council positions for 2024-2026. Here are the results:
- Chair: Nancy Church, MD
- Vice chair: John Flores, MD
- Secretary: Nancy Mueller, MD
- Delegate: Nancy Fan, MD
- Alternate delegate: Nita Shumaker, MD
- Members at-large: Martin Trichtinger, MD, and Shane Hopkins, MD
OMSS business
Attendees heard updates from the AMA Foundation and an update from Thomas J. Madejski, MD, who was elected to the American Medical Association Board of Trustees in June 2020. Rounding out the updates for the section was a presentation by Elizabeth Mort, MD, VP & CMO of the Joint Commission. She described the formation of TJC in 1951 by five different associations including the AMA. Dr. Mort further provided an overview of the HELP agenda addressing health equity, environmental sustainability, learning and performance improvement.
OMSS education sessions
Elizabeth A. Snelson, Esq., lead a discussion entitled “Navigating Physician Employment: Empowering Medical Staff in a Hospital-Led Environment”. Snelson, author of the AMA Physicians Guide to Medical Staff Bylaws, used the bylaws in a panel discussion with Nancy Fan, MD, Donna Smith, MD, to discuss how staff officers’ duties extend to the medical staff as well as to patients. Together they unpacked duty to colleagues and how to encourage collaboration and support, particularly regarding well-being as well as the duty to patients superseding everything, even friendship among colleagues, making for difficult decisions.
The final education session of the day was provided by AMA’s Senior Assistant General Counsel, Leonard Nelson, titled “Corporatization of Medicine: Recap of AMA Litigation”. Nelson discussed how the AMA opposes the use of economic criteria not related to quality to determine an individual physician’s qualifications for the granting or renewal of medical staff membership or privileges. He reviewed five separate cases originating from 2003 to 2017 to show specific examples of AMA’s Litigation Center’s interest and participation in the lawsuits. Members lined up at the microphones after his formal presentation asking for advice and guidance on how to prevent and prepare themselves from the issues described. Mr. Nelson suggested to invite the Litigation Center back in a few years to revisit today’s topics to see how strategic approaches may evolve.
OMSS resolutions
The section transmitted five resolutions to the House of Delegates for consideration at its Annual 2024 Meeting:
- Resolution 2—Advocacy for More Stringent Regulations/Restrictions on the Distribution of Marijuana
- Alternate Resolution 3—Augmented Intelligence and Organized Medical Staff
- Resolution 4—Support Before, During, and After Hospital Closure or Reduction in Services
- Resolution 5—The Hazards of Prior Authorization
- Resolution 10—Mentorship to Combat Prior Authorization—renamed Developing Physician Resources to Optimize Practice Sustainability
The section also voted to refer one item back to the governing council for report back:
- Resolution 7—The Role of Contracted Physicians on the Medical Executive Committee
