Robert M. Wah, MD

In my travels I often hear the concerns and successes physicians and patients across the country face every day. Perhaps one of the most concerning challenges in today’s health care environment is health insurance competition. In 17 states, and in 41 percent of metropolitan areas, a single health insurer had more than one-half of the commercial market. In 45 states, only two health insurers had a combined commercial market share of one-half or more.

Now that fall is here, we’re all busy with a variety of medical association meetings. I’ve just returned from the World Medical Association meeting in South Africa, and I’ve spent much of the last two months attending meetings of a dozen different international, national, state and local medical associations.

As a physician and frequent international traveler, the recent Ebola developments have been on my mind. Despite the increasing attention from the media, we as physicians know that this is not a time to panic but a time to prepare.

I wrote about what physicians are doing to tackle health care disparities. One of the ways we can reduce health care disparities is to ensure we’re promoting diversity in the health care workforce. Diversity and cultural competency are aspects of physician training that some of the schools awarded grants from the AMA’s Accelerating Change in Medical Education initiative are working on.

Recently I attended the National Indian Health Board’s annual meeting, where about 1,000 people from 500 tribes across the country met to discuss Native American health care issues, advocacy and policy. I was able to learn about the unique challenges Native American physicians and their patients face.

As physicians, we went into this profession because we prioritize the health of others above all else. But what about our own health? I know that personally, my own wellness can get lost in the shuffle of my everyday life.

As we’re observing National Health IT Week, I can’t think of a better time to call for EHR systems that better serve physicians and our patients. That’s why the AMA just released a new framework for improving EHR usability.

There are a lot of considerations when it comes to entering into employment versus private practice, and it can be challenging for new physicians—or physicians seeking a change—to navigate.