Counting blessings and fixing the "Medicare mistake"

AMA Leader Commentary. By Yank D. Coble Jr., MD. Dec. 16, 2002.

AMA LEADER COMMENTARY

A few words about current events in medical practice

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A message to all physicians from AMA President Yank D. Coble Jr., MD.

At the end of the year, it is customary to look back and reflect on what twists and turns our lives have taken during the past 12 months. For me, this has been an extraordinary year, with my inaugural as president of the AMA in June and all that has transpired since.

Everything I've experienced has only strengthened my belief that physicians, perhaps more than most other professionals, made their career choice because of their desire to be of service. I've seen how hard they work at their jobs, serving patients in every imaginable setting, dealing with the growing expectations that our many successes in innovative medicine have created. And I've also seen how hard they work beyond their jobs, battling for the values of our profession in boardrooms, classrooms and community centers and at statehouses and the Capitol. I salute all of you, and share your hopes and dreams for the very best American medicine and American health.

While I see very few patients myself these days, I know I am serving all patients in the work I do on their behalf and on behalf of American medicine. I am blessed in that I am part of an excellent team -- the AMA Board of Trustees and Executive Vice President Michael Maves, MD. Together, and supported by an excellent, hardworking staff, we have taken on the forces that have placed barriers in the path of quality medicine.

Our priorities have been clear: professional liability reform, the Medicare update -- or "Medicare mistake," as we've been calling it -- and the onerous burden of overregulation. I've been pleased and even awed in the response the AMA name and reputation receive in the corridors of power in Washington, among the business community and in academic circles. We are a respected force for good in our nation, because of our actions to put patients first, and because we practice what we preach: ethics, compassion and the pursuit of science. [...]