158th AMA Annual Meeting
Physician-delegates from around the country gathered in Chicago June 13-17.
Costly health system "a ticking time bomb"
In a nearly hourlong speech, President Obama told the AMA he hopes to slow spending on health care costs. "I'm here today because I don't want our children and their children to still be speaking of a crisis in American medicine 50 years from now. I don't want them to still be suffering from spiraling costs that we did not stem, or sicknesses that we did not cure. … I want them to benefit from a health care system that works for all of us."
President asks for AMA's help
Obama, the first president since Ronald Reagan to address the AMA, drew applause numerous times during his speech. Doctors rushed to meet him after a speech in which the president told them he needed their assistance to achieve health system reform. "I know people are cynical whether we can do this or not. I know there will be disagreements about how to proceed in the days ahead. … I also know this: We can't let this moment pass us by."
Reforms sought along many fronts
During his inaugural address, AMA President J. James Rohack, MD, spoke about health system reform challenges physicians face. He also discussed the need for medical liability reform and physician payment reform. "In this extraordinary moment in our history, we as physicians must not only anticipate change, or respond to change, or adapt to change -- we, ourselves, must be the change we hope to see in our health care system."
AMA Advocacy in action
More than 500 delegates convened at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago for the 158th AMA Annual Meeting to discuss the Association's advocacy and legislative agenda. At the opening session, AMA CEO and Executive Vice President Michael D. Maves, MD, MBA, told delegates how the AMA is working to help physicians better use technology in their practices. "We're changing from an organization that relied on yesterday's ideas to one that is doing what's necessary to anticipate and provide for today's and tomorrow's physicians."
Outlining the agenda
In her speech to the House of Delegates, outgoing AMA President Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, spoke of the organization's commitment to protecting medical liability reforms, repealing Medicare's sustainable growth rate formula and battling for health system changes that benefit patients. "President Obama acknowledges that medical decisions must be made between the patient and the physician. That's where medical decisions belong, and we will fight till our last breath for that privilege."
Next in line
AMA Board of Trustees member Cecil B. Wilson, MD, an internist from Winter Park, Fla., is the new AMA president-elect. Dr. Wilson thanked Florida delegates and others for their support and talked about the responsibilities of medicine and caring for patients.