AMCNO Participates in Meeting with AMA Representatives

Recently, several members of the AMCNO physician leadership and AMCNO staff met with Drs. Nedza and Irmiter from the American Medical Association (AMA) at the AMCNO offices. The AMCNO was chosen for this interview because it is a regional organization that works very closely with physicians and because we are located in an Aligning Forces for Quality community. The American Medical Association(AMA) has been asked to assist the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) program to move quality improvement initiatives forward in targeted communities across the country. Dr. Nedza and Dr. Irmiter have been reaching out to state and county medical societies to gain an understanding of the challenges physicians in selected communities face in providing care and the role these organizations play in supporting physicians. The premise is that state and county medical societies have a long tradition and the expertise to help physicians deal with the unique demands of providing high-quality care in their communities. These organizations play a key role in maintaining strong local relationships that enable physicians to effectively respond to a rapidly changing practice environment.

The AMA representatives have met with various medical societies and organizations regarding the current challenges and opportunities in their communities, the involvement of physician leadership in local quality improvement (QI) efforts, their involvement in supporting physicians as they undertake QI efforts, and their resources for supporting practice managers and others in undertaking these efforts. Other items of discussion included membership recruitment, the definition of quality and issues related to practice management and foundation activities.

The AMA representatives noted that their purpose was to spend time with the AMCNO representatives to strengthen sustainable efforts that might be done together. The main goal of the meeting was to ascertain what the AMCNO does for our members and if there is a way that the AMA can assist in providing some value. The AMA staff visited 15 communities as a part of this study and they plan to share the study with the AMCNO and other participants once it is completed. The AMCNO representatives shared various insights with the AMA and provided comments on health care reform, quality initiatives, electronic health records, group membership, and comments on the importance of recruitment and retention of young physician members in our organization. The AMCNO will provide additional information on the study once it is completed and sent to us by the AMA.