Monday, June 15, 2009

Meeting Highlights - Monday, June 15, 2009


How to see the president

President Barack Obama is scheduled to address the House at 11:15 a.m. today in the Grand Ballroom.

Those interested in attending the president’s address in person must register first. Two registration points will be set up and open at 6 a.m.—one on the lobby level of the East Tower, and another on the gold level of the West Tower. Please proceed to one of these areas to check in. Please bring your badge and have a photo ID out and ready.

Once your registration has been verified, please proceed to the concourse level of the East Tower for the screening process. Magnetometers will open at about 8:30 a.m. After passing through the magnetometers, please proceed to the Grand Ballroom for the address. The ballroom doors will open at about 9 a.m.

All guests must be in their seats no later than 10:30 a.m.

Delegates and alternate delegates will have reserved seating. Spouses and other non-delegates are not allowed in the reserved area.

Other important points:

The Regency Ballroom, located on the gold level of the West Tower, will serve as an overflow room and will have a live video feed.

The House will reconvene at 3 p.m. for its regular business session. Reference committee reports will be distributed as early and efficiently as possible. Delegates are encouraged to download the reports.

'Be bold' on health system reform

As physicians, patients and other health care stakeholders await health system reform legislation from Congress, Rep. Tom Price, MD, R-Ga., called on delegates to use their collective voice to ensure that any proposal preserves the vital relationship between physicians and their patients.

“Stand for something,” Dr. Price told a standing-room-only crowd attending an educational session Saturday about health system reform. “Make a clear, bold statement about what ought to be included in what’s coming down the pike.”

Dr. Price was one of three speakers, including AMA President-elect J. James Rohack, MD, and  AMA Senior Vice President of Advocacy Richard Deem, who explained the status of the health system reform debate and cited the AMA’s priorities for helping establish a sustainable system that would best serve the interests of patients and physicians.

Calling the status quo unacceptable, Dr. Price urged physicians to communicate with their colleagues, their legislators and local media to make their voice heard.

“Now is the time to act,” Dr. Price said. “If the AMA has a bold statement, we can positively affect the debate that’s coming over the next six, eight, 12 months.”

During the House’s Sunday session, AMA President Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD,  elaborated on the AMA’s involvement in the reform debate and called upon all stakeholders—including physicians, health insurers and the government—to collaborate to improve the system.

“Let’s work together to do the right thing for our patients,” Dr. Nielsen said.

The AMA is actively advocating for health system reform that covers the uninsured, makes private insurance more affordable, increases the value the nation receives from its health care spending, and enhances prevention and wellness for patients. The AMA opposes any public plan that forces physicians to participate, expands the fiscally challenged Medicare program or pays Medicare rates. But the AMA is willing to consider other variations of a public plan that are being discussed in Congress, including a federally chartered co-op health plan or a level playing field option for all plans.

Stay abreast of health care policy strategies by joining the AMA’s Physicians Grassroots Network and receive timely updates about this vital issue. And learn more about the AMA’s priorities on health system reform.


Rep. Tom Price, MD, R-Ga., called on physicians to make their voices heard in the nation’s health system reform debate. (AMA photo/Ted Grudzinski)

 

Helping senior physicians stay in practice

One in three active physicians are over the age of 55. But by 2020, these physicians likely will be retired. This alarming trend, combined with the rapidly growing number of people over 65, will inevitably lead to one thing: a physician work force shortage.

A Saturday educational session, “Keeping senior physicians in practice: Issues of competency, recertification and the value of experience,” centered around this topic and what the medical profession can do to help senior physicians stay in practice. The AMA Advisory Committee on Group Practice Physicians, the AMA Organized Medical Staff Section and the AMA Senior Physicians Group co-sponsored the session.

“We have to look at the data to determine if there are specific strategies we can employ to keep [senior physicians] in practice longer and keep our patients safer,” said John Fromson, MD, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the session’s keynote speaker.

And that’s exactly what Dr. Fromson did Saturday. He guided attendees through a wealth of information, including the most common age-related changes affecting senior physicians and how to integrate that knowledge with practical tips to optimize their performance. Possible strategies include adjusting their practice environment, revising their areas of responsibility and having them consider recertification or retirement.

Participants even had the opportunity to assess three real-life cases involving senior physicians in practice, led by a reaction panel of health care experts. According to Dr. Fromson, there are six core competencies—patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism and system-based practice—by which he and the American Board of Medical Specialties, the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education, the Joint Commission and the Federation of State Medical Boards believe all physicians should be assessed.

But above all, Dr. Fromson said, senior physicians should keep one thing in mind when it comes to patient care. “In order to take care of our patients,” he said, “we need to first take care of ourselves.”


John Fromson, MD, shared ways in which medicine can help senior physicians stay in practice. (AMA photo/Ted Grudzinski)

 

Students go overboard at Navy Pier to help cover the uninsured

AMA medical student members made a splash with Chicagoans and the city’s visitors at Navy Pier on Friday afternoon as part of the AMA Medical Student Section’s (MSS) sixth and final national service project event using the theme “Covering the uninsured and protecting access to care.”

More than 50 medical students gathered throughout Chicago’s historic lakefront playground to talk to people about the importance of access to health care and health system reform, and the availability of safety net health care coverage and services in the Chicago area through Medicaid, Illinois’ All Kids program, and various free clinics and subsidized providers throughout the city. With more than a quarter of a million children in Illinois without health insurance, volunteers made these opportunities and others, such as discounted prescription drug programs and help with hospital bills, known by distributing handouts to parents and passersby.

The national service project theme of “Covering the uninsured and protecting access to care” has mobilized AMA-MSS chapters across the country to hold more than 160 different projects focusing on the topic, ranging from health policy panel discussions and letter-writing campaigns to charity runs, dance marathons and candlelight vigils.

While these issues will remain at the top of the AMA’s agenda, the AMA-MSS adopted a new national service project Friday that will focus on healthier lifestyles, modeled after the AMA Healthier Life Steps™ program. The AMA-MSS has signed on to be a key player in this initiative by helping to prevent and manage four key lifestyle behaviors—poor diet, physical inactivity, tobacco use and excessive or risky use of alcohol. These behaviors contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and other conditions.

The new theme will be in effect through 2011. Through this effort, the AMA and its medical student members are taking the appropriate steps to assist physicians in helping patients live longer, healthier lives.

Monday’s highlights

Tuesday’s highlights