AMA town hall to discuss meaningful use concerns On Tuesday, September 29, the American Medical Association (AMA) will hold a virtual town hall meeting to give physicians a chance to discuss concerns with poorly designed electronic health record (EHR) systems and the impact they have on patient care and government mandates. The U.S. government has spent some $25 billion on the program to promote a digital health infrastructure based on the power of EHRs to enhance patient care, improve productivity, and reduce costs. While 80 percent of physicians have adopted EHR technology, many physicians believe that the current ... September 28, 2015 General EHR, Electronic Health Record, Meaningful Use, American Medical Association 0 0 Comment Read More »
AMA expands initiative to transform medical education The American Medical Association (AMA) announced that it will seek to triple the number of medical schools participating in its Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium, launched in 2013 to reshape medical education in the United States. AMA will provide $1.5 million over the next three years to fund up to 20 additional projects that support a significant redesign of undergraduate medical education. Interested medical schools must submit their proposals by September 16, 2015. The goal of the initiative is to work toward a significant redesign of undergraduate medical education ... August 3, 2015 General Medical School, Medical Students, American Medical Association 0 0 Comment Read More »
Highlights from AMA's 2015 House of Delegates The American Medical Association’s (AMA) House of Delegates tackled a diverse set of resolutions this year that are of interest to California physicians, including medical-only exemptions from school vaccination requirements, electronic health record (EHR) meaningful use, ICD-10 implementation, Medicaid rates and opioid abuse. Given the high level of interest in California’s Senate Bill 277 (Pan), which would eliminate the personal belief exemption for school vaccination requirements in California, AMA adopted a policy calling for immunization for all, and only allowing exemptions where medical reasons contraindicate vaccination. Several other vaccine-related resolutions were ... June 26, 2015 General House of Delegates, American Medical Association 0 0 Comment Read More »
Former CMA president throws hat in ring for AMA vice speaker James T. Hay, M.D., 2012 California Medical Association (CMA) president, last week officially began his campaign for the position of vice speaker of the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates (HOD). The San Diego family physician began his long association with the AMA in 1986 as a delegate to the association’s Hospital Medical Staff Section. For more than a decade, he has been a delegate to the AMA HOD, while also serving as vice speaker, speaker, president-elect and, ultimately, president at CMA. In 2012, Dr. Hay was selected to serve ... April 23, 2015 General American Medical Association, Physician Leadership, AMA 0 0 Comment Read More »
Highlights from AMA's 2014 interim meeting The nation’s physicians gathered at the 2014 American Medical Association (AMA) interim meeting in Dallas, Texas, this past week. The delegates debated a large number of resolutions, establishing new policies related to the worldwide Ebola epidemic, expanded network access for the Affordable Care Act and electronic health records. A number of these resolutions were put forward by the California delegation. Below are highlights of some of the resolutions adopted as policy. Ebola: Resolution 925 put forth by the California delegation was incorporated into AMA policy that calls on AMA to ... November 17, 2014 General AMA, House of Delegates, American Medical Association 0 0 Comment Read More »
AMA introduces tool that allows physicians to pinpoint underserved patient care areas The American Medical Association (AMA) announced today that it was introducing a mapping tool that lets physicians see the distribution of physicians and nonphysician clinicians by specialty, state, county or metropolitan area. Called the Health Workforce Mapper, AMA believes the tool will be useful to physicians so they can identify the best locations to establish or expand a medical practice based on regional needs for access to care and the existing health care workforce. The tool can identify and prioritize underserved areas; create and display ratios of physicians and nonphysician clinicians to ... November 5, 2014 General American Medical Association, Rural Health, Underserved Communities, AMA 0 0 Comment Read More »
Four California physicians elected to AMA offices Four representatives from the California Medical Association (CMA) were elected to offices in the American Medical Association (AMA) at its annual House of Delegates meeting this week in Chicago. Jack Resneck Jr., M.D., a San Francisco-based dermatologist, was elected to the AMA Board of Trustees. Dr. Resneck had previously chaired AMA’s Council on Legislation and also serves on the Board of Directors for the America Academy of Dermatology. Patricia Austin, M.D., an Oakland-based ophthalmologist with more than 30 years of small group practice experience, was elected to the AMA’s Council on ... June 18, 2014 General American Medical Association, Physician Leadership, AMA 0 0 Comment Read More »
CA Assemblyman Richard Pan, MD receives national government service award Assemblyman Richard Pan, M.D., a Sacramento pediatrician and representative for the California State Assembly's 9th District, this week received the Dr. Nathan Davis Award for Outstanding Government Service from the American Medical Association (AMA). The award was presented during the AMA's National Advocacy Conference this week in Washington, D.C. “Dr. Pan’s outstanding leadership in public health has helped California families build safer, healthier communities,” said AMA Chair David O. Barbe, M.D., MHA. “Dr. Pan is recognized for his commitment to improving the lives of Californians for generations to come ... March 7, 2014 General American Medical Association, Awards, Public Health, CMA Governance 0 0 Comment Read More »
Highlights from AMA's 2013 interim meeting More than 1,000 physicians gathered just outside our nation's capital for the American Medical Association (AMA) interim meeting. The delegates debated a large number of resolutions, establishing new policies related to the Affordable Care Act, culturally and linguistically competent care and the Medicare sustainable growth rate. A number of these resolutions were put forward by the California delegation. Below are highlights of some of the resolutions adopted as policy. Medicare Payment Reform: Following robust discussion in various meeting venues, the AMA House of Delegates passed an amended resolution regarding repeal ... December 3, 2013 General American Medical Association, Cultural Competency, Health Insurance Exchange, ICD-10, Recovery Audit Contractor, SGR, Sustainable Growth Rate, AMA 0 0 Comment Read More »
Highlights from AMA's 2013 House of Delegates The California delegation to the American Medical Association’s (AMA) House of Delegates presented a number of important resolutions at the AMA annual meeting in Chicago. The following are summaries of some of the California resolutions that the AMA House of Delegates adopted as policy. 1. Health Risks of Sitting (Res. 413): The delegates adopted a resolution that asks AMA to recognize that there are potential risks of prolonged sitting and encourage efforts by employers, employees and others to make available alternatives such as standing work stations and isometric balls, and ... June 27, 2013 General AMA, American Medical Association, House of Delegates 0 0 Comment Read More »
