The advances we are constantly making in diagnosing and treating disease and injury are easy to take for granted – until we realize how far organized medicine has come since the mid-1800s, when bloodletting and the blisters helped to restore the balance of the “bodily humors”.
Today, next-generation mRNA vaccines and revolutionary advances in gene therapy are just two examples demonstrating our enormous progress in restoring health and maintaining well-being for all, which also means dismantling structural and social factors of health inequalities.
The American Medical Association (AMA), which marks the 175e anniversary of its founding in May 2022, helps propel the science and research that advances organized medicine through advocacy and innovation built around the world’s first-ever code of medical ethics. The AMA’s work to standardize and modernize medical education and physician training are key to fulfilling its mission to promote the art and science of medicine and the improvement of public health.
As an association of individual members, but also as a national body for medicine through its House of Delegates – made up of more than 190 state and specialty medical societies and other key stakeholders – l he AMA is the largest and most influential medical organization in the country. The policies adopted by the House of Delegates underpin its advocacy and guide ethical medical practice for millions of physicians in the United States and around the world.
Delegates selected by state medical associations, medical specialty societies, national medical organizations, and other recognized constituent associations that make up the AMA House of Delegates meet twice a year to shape policy for the AMA and prioritize initiatives in medical education, ethical and legal affairs, public health, diversity and inclusion, and a host of other topics.
The Michigan State Medical Society is proud to partner with the AMA over its own 156-year history, and it’s a collaboration that has yielded countless significant victories for Michigan providers and the patients they serve. serve in recent years.
Most important is the successful passage of the prior authorization reform that was signed into law by Governor Whitmer in early spring.
Led by MSMS, the Health Can’t Wait Coalition successfully developed and advocated for the passage of legislation that ends dangerous delays in patients’ access to care and treatment prescribed by their doctors by reforming practices pre-authorization that insurance companies have traditionally used to slow down – and sometimes deny – the delivery of life-saving care. Thanks to MSMS, the AMA, and other members of the Health Can’t Wait Coalition, Michigan patients and providers will benefit tremendously as transparency, clinical validity, and patient fairness will now be all taken care of. taken into account in the prior authorization process. These reforms will help reduce wait times, streamline how doctors’ offices and payers interact, and ultimately improve access to care for Michigan patients.
The successful efforts of the AMA and MSMS to protect and maintain patient safety extend well beyond prior authorization reform. Organizations have teamed up many times over the years to thwart the dangerous expansion of the scope of practice. More recently, MSMS was successful in obtaining substantial changes to legislation that would have allowed Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) to perform anesthesia without supervision, input, or collaboration with a physician. As introduced, it would have greatly compromised patient health and safety. Fortunately, thanks to the support of WADA resources and strong grassroots advocacy, MSMS was able to secure significant changes in the final version of the bill to protect patients. These changes include the requirement that a physician not only remain a member of the patient care team, but also be immediately available when an intervention takes place.
From the earliest days of its founding, the AMA and its state and specialty medical association partners have put patients first – from our earliest efforts to protect the public from medical quackery and fraudulent “drugs” that were at best ineffective and at worst life-threatening. . Over the years, we have spoken on behalf of physicians with a unified voice advocating for the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, confirming the harmful effects of smoking while helping to ban smoking on airliners, and advocating seat belts as standard equipment in vehicles, among other initiatives.
The AMA continues to fulfill its mission by striving to remove barriers to patient care, leading the charge to prevent chronic disease and address public health crises, and driving the future of medicine through innovation and improved physician training and education.
While the AMA can be justifiably proud of its contributions to organized medicine, the organization has also recognized that some of its past actions and policies have helped create many of the health disparities and inequalities that persist today. today. The AMA has recognized these mistakes and is working collaboratively to eliminate inequities in health care to achieve optimal health for all.
As WADA celebrates its 175e anniversary, its leadership is grateful for the time and volunteer contributions of millions of physician members who have advanced its mission over generations while working tirelessly to improve the health of their patients, their communities, and our nation.
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