Crafting a “culture of innovation and collaboration” across all aspects of health care—from medical education to patient care to advocacy—will propel physicians to continue shaping the future of medicine, AMA Executive Vice President and CEO James L. Madara, MD, said in his address Saturday at the 2015 AMA Annual Meeting.
“When we work together as a profession, we can accomplish incredible things. The SGR win is proof of the importance and of the effectiveness of aligning our efforts and aligning our voices,” Dr. Madara said. “Dealing with change, one has to have the mentality of a marathon runner—quick out of the gate, measured in approach.”
The AMA has already begun partnering with physicians, residents and students to create these new approaches for health care, including:
- A new multi-year partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Prevent Diabetes STAT: Screen, Test, Act—Today™, which will develop tools to help physicians across different specialties and practices treat patients with diabetes.
- A technology hub dedicated to improving professional satisfaction and practice sustainability through research, data and analytics.
- The AMA’s Accelerating Change in Medical Education initiative, which has awarded 11 medical schools $1 million grants to develop innovative changes in medical education. For instance, Oregon Health and Science University is establishing key competencies for medical students interested in clinical informatics.
“All of these efforts—from preventing diabetes to enhancing practice satisfaction to creating the med school of the future … —create what I call the AMA innovation ecosystem,” he said.
