Last week I joined hundreds of my colleagues in Washington, D.C, where we wrote Congress a prescription: Eliminate the sustainable growth rate (SGR).
It’s been at the top of my mind, and the minds of physicians across the nation, so we used our time at the AMA’s National Advocacy Conference—taking place about a month before the current patch expires—to appeal directly to lawmakers on the issue.
Feedback was encouraging. Congress wants to end the SGR, too. Now they’ve got to actually do it.
We also helped lawmakers understand just how crushing the regulatory tsunami is for today’s physicians. These men and women are not doctors—they have no idea what it’s like to wrestle with meaningful use and the Physician Quality Reporting System. Having the chance to help them comprehend a typical day in the clinic, bogged down by burdensome regulatory requirements, is extremely important.
I’m confident our messages were heard. Each physician at the conference brought their own personal stories to support these issues, and it is those personal stories that will help our messages continue to spread.
The conference wasn’t all legislator meetings, though. We listened to my friend Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD, CEO and chairman of Nantworks, in an exciting presidential keynote session. Dr. Soon-Shiong is fresh off of 60 Minutes and Forbes magazine. He has a tremendous amount of energy and ideas about treating cancer and improving health care, and we were so fortunate to hear his groundbreaking concepts.
We heard from Washington insiders, legislators and staff members, who were honest and up-front with attendees about things like the Affordable Care Act.
Finally, I enjoyed presenting with my colleagues Stephen J. Stack, MD, president-elect of the AMA, and Barbara L. McAneny, MD, chair of the AMA Board of Trustees. We led a frank discussion about how we see health care from our own unique perspectives and experiences as we represent physicians and patients across the county.
My time in the capital was productive and inspiring. We asked attendees to use all avenues to appeal to lawmakers, including social media—I even tweeted a selfie of myself from the conference stage.
Follow me on Twitter at @RobertWahMD and share your top advocacy issues with me. Visit Fix Medicare Now to connect with your lawmakers, including an easy way to share your message directly with your representatives on social media.
