Blog: Are Doctors Losing Faith in the AMA?
This summer, the American Medical Association reported that its total membership had fallen by about 5% between 2009 and 2010, following the passage of the Affordable Care Act. Now a physician staffing firm headquartered in Atlanta is touting a survey that says the AMA's support for the controversial health reform law is continuing to cost it goodwill among physicians.
Jackson & Coker, part of Jackson Healthcare, recently released the results of an online poll of physicians showing that more than 70% of respondents agree with the statement that "the AMA no longer represents physicians" and that physicians need a "more representative voice." The poll also revealed that of physicians who had dropped their AMA memberships, about 47% said it was due to the organization's support for the Affordable Care Act.
The Jackson & Coker survey isn't a scientific analysis of physician views on the AMA. It's not random or nationally representative. The national recruitment firm, whose parent company Jackson Healthcare is partnering with Newt Gingrich's Center for Health Transformation on a project to improve hospital communication, simply sent its online survey to the more than 111,000 of its physician clients; about 1,610 physicians responded. Since these physicians opted to take time out of their day to answer questions about their attitudes about the AMA, it's safe to assume they are predisposed to be passionate about the subject.
AMA officials were skeptical about drawing broad conclusions about a non-representative survey with a low response rate, but they didn't completely discount the fact that there is discontent among physician ranks. In a statement about the survey, AMA President Dr. Peter Carmel said the group recognizes that physician attitudes are diverse but they are making the most of it. "We are leading the charge during the implementation of the health reform law to advocate for policies that help physicians and patients thrive as we keep moving medicine forward together," Dr. Carmel said.
One person who wants to move forward with the AMA is Dr. W. Jeff Terry, president of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama and chair of state's delegation to the AMA House of Delegates. Dr. Terry was and is personally opposed to the Affordable Care Act and he said he thinks the AMA leadership was sold a bill of goods in its efforts to gain coverage for more Americans and get a fix to the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula used in setting Medicare payments for physicians. The result is that the AMA is now spending much of its time trying to rid the law of things like the Independent Payment Advisory Board, while continuing to press for the SGR fix that didn’t come with health reform.
While Dr. Terry would rather see the AMA pushing for a full repeal of the law, he isn't dropping his support for the group and he'd like to see others unhappy with the health reform process come back into the fold. The AMA is a democratic organization just like Congress and if people want to change the organization they can only do that from the inside, he said. "That’s politics," he said.
--Mary Ellen Schneider
So what do you think about the AMA and its role as the voice of physicians. Does it reflect your views?
Take our non-scientific poll: