The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 NewsACR Convergence
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Psoriatic Arthritis Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
    • Interprofessional Perspective
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
      • Psoriatic Arthritis
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / Why Keep a Seat at the AMA Table?

Why Keep a Seat at the AMA Table?

January 18, 2017 • By Kelly Tyrrell

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF

As 2017 unfolds—a year when MACRA begins, lawmakers take steps to dismantle the health reform efforts of the past eight years, and political uncertainty is the rule—it is imperative that the ACR leverage its advocacy agenda by maintaining its seat at the American Medical Association’s (AMA’s) House of Delegates (HOD), says Gary Bryant, MD, FACP and chair of the ACR’s delegation to the HOD.

You Might Also Like
  • Maintain Rheumatology’s Seat at the AMA Table
  • The ACR Maintains Seat at the AMA Table, Achieves Successful Resolutions at HOD Meeting
  • The Impact of Joining the AMA
Also By This Author
  • Bipartisan RheumPAC Serves Needs of Patients and Rheumatologists

AMA: The Largest Voice
“The AMA is the largest physician organization and convener of all physician voices. It leverages the voices of the rheumatology community, on behalf of the specialty and our patients,” says Dr. Bryant. “We wouldn’t be able to do that ourselves given our size. It gives us a seat at the table for making policy.”

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

The HOD is the policy-making arm of the AMA, driven not by politics and ideology, but by the policy priorities represented by its members. The HOD comprises representatives of all 50 states, several U.S. territories and more than 170 specialty societies. The ACR has two delegates to the AMA, including Dr. Bryant.

A Megaphone for the ACR
As the country’s largest and most visible physician society, the AMA provides the ACR, a relatively small subspecialty, a megaphone to amplify our voice at federal and state levels. The HOD meets twice a year, and each year, the ACR’s delegates bring at least one or two resolutions to the table. Resolutions have the potential to become official policy of the AMA or directives that determine where the AMA focuses its efforts.

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

In recent years, the ACR has, through the AMA HOD (and in concert with RheumPAC and the ACR’s Government Affairs Committee), 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; and
  • Blocking the Medicare Part B Demonstration Project.

Not Your Grandfather’s AMA
In order to keep our seat at the HOD table and participate in other vital activities of the AMA—including the Relative Update Committee (RUC) and the CPT Advisory Committee—at least 1,000 ACR members must also be members of the AMA.

 This year, the AMA will conduct its five-year review of the ACR’s membership. Thus, ACR members should renew their membership in or join the AMA, Dr. Bryant says. He recognizes ACR members may have mixed feelings about the AMA or have had negative experiences with the organization in the past; however, “this is not your grandfather’s AMA,” he says. “In my 15 years [as part of the ACR AMA delegation], I have seen a significant evolution of those elected to AMA offices and who is sitting on the dais at the AMA HOD meetings.”

ad goes here:advert-3
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Pages: 1 2 3 | Single Page

Filed Under: Practice Management, Professional Topics Tagged With: AMA House of Delegates (HOD), American Medical Association (AMA), RheumPAC

You Might Also Like:
  • Maintain Rheumatology’s Seat at the AMA Table
  • The ACR Maintains Seat at the AMA Table, Achieves Successful Resolutions at HOD Meeting
  • The Impact of Joining the AMA
  • Let Your Voice Be Heard

American College of Rheumatology

Visit the official website for the American College of Rheumatology.

Visit the ACR »

Patient & Caregiver Resources

Find a rheumatology provider. Learn about your condition and how to live with it. English and Spanish language resources.

View Patient & Caregiver Resources »

Meeting Abstracts

Browse and search abstracts from the ACR Convergence and ACR/ARP Annual Meetings going back to 2012.

Visit the Abstracts site »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use / Cookie Preferences

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2023 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)