The ACR currently has two delegates to the AMA HOD, Gary Bryant, MD, and Colin Edgerton, MD, along with an alternate delegate, Eileen Moynihan, MD, and young physician representative, Cristina Arriens, MD.
Successes
In recent years, the ACR has, through the AMA HOD (and in concert with RheumPAC and the ACR’s Government Affairs Committee, with the advocacy of countless ACR members), helped achieve several high-priority goals, such as:
- Exempting small rheumatology practices from some parts of MACRA;
- Protecting individualized compounding in physicians’ offices from the FDA’s definition of a compounding facility;
- Blocking the Medicare Part B Demonstration Project;
- Strengthening policy that states that MOC not be a requirement for medical staff membership and privileging, credentialing or recredentialing, insurance panel participation and state medical licensure;
- Having the AMA “directly and openly” ask the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) if it would allow an independent outside organization, representing ABIM stakeholders, to independently conduct an open audit of the finances of both the ABIM and its foundation;
- Addressing issues surrounding exorbitant drug pricing and drug shortages due to marketplace issues, restricted distribution systems and delay in FDA approval of generic drugs;
- Advancing work to prohibit clinical data blocking by electronic health record vendors;
- Strengthening AMA policy regarding electronic record interoperability, costs and relief of penalties related to meaningful use requirements; and
- Directing the AMA to actively engage with the new presidential administration and Congress in discussions the future of healthcare reform—in collaboration with state and specialty medical societies—emphasizing the AMA’s extensive body of policy.
Dr. Bryant, chair of the ACR’s delegation to the AMA HOD, says, “In a year when political uncertainty is the rule, it is imperative that the ACR leverage its advocacy agenda by maintaining its seat at the AMA House of Delegates. The AMA is the largest physician organization and leverages the voices of the rheumatology community on behalf of the specialty and our patients. We wouldn’t be able to do that ourselves, given our size. It gives us a seat at the table for making policy.”
Personal Benefits
I have renewed my AMA membership for 2017 and encourage my fellow rheumatologists to renew their memberships as well. Apart from shaping public policy and initiatives that benefit the practice of rheumatology as a whole, membership in the AMA has significant benefits for individual practitioners. To start with, a portion of your AMA dues may be considered tax deductible as a business expense, although you should check with a CPA to be certain.
