Wednesday, June 20, 2012
For Physicians
AMA creates new section for group practice physicians
Delegates on Monday established a new section for the AMA: the Integrated Physician Practice Section (IPPS).
Formerly known as the Advisory Committee on Group Practice Physicians, the section will represent doctors in physician-led, integrated health care organizations that coordinate patient care across specialties and among physicians who share common records and clinical care processes.
The AMA-IPPS will hold its first meeting this November in Honolulu as part of the Interim Meeting of the AMA House of Delegates.
The advisory committee has advised the AMA Board of Trustees for the past 20 years on issues related to group practice physicians. Establishing the AMA-IPPS ensures this segment of AMA members will be represented in the House of Delegates by a delegate and an alternate delegate.
The House adopted policy establishing the AMA-IPPS during this year's Annual Meeting. See this week's Special Feature to read about other actions taken by the House during the meeting.
Eliminating disparities could improve health outcomes
Physicians can help reduce the racial and ethnic health disparities that are prevalent nationwide by considering the social, behavioral and economical conditions that may be affecting their patients, according to a panel discussion Monday at the Annual Meeting of the AMA House of Delegates.
Panelist Diana Ramos, MD, delegate for the AMA Minority Affairs Section, encouraged doctors to think beyond patients’ individual visits and find out more about how social determinants—the conditions in which people are born, work, grow and age—affect them.
“If we can address these other social things, we’ll start to notice, slowly but surely, improvement in our patients’ health,” Dr. Ramos said.
Eliminating health disparities is a priority for the AMA, which helps lead the Commission to End Health Care Disparities. AMA President-elect Jeremy A. Lazarus, MD, co-chair of the commission, reiterated the AMA’s commitment to eliminating disparities and talked about meshing it with the AMA’s focus on improving health outcomes, which is part of its new strategic direction.
“I hope the work of the commission can fold into that [focus],” Dr. Lazarus said.
Earlier in the session, Assistant U.S. Surgeon General James Galloway, MD, regional health administrator with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), detailed federal efforts aimed at eliminating disparities, including an HHS action plan and Healthy People 2020.
