Gurman says, ‘Our voice is their voice’ in explaining the importance of physician advocacy

At a time when the state of health care is in flux, it is critical that physicians engage in the national debate by telling their stories and those of their patients to help create change, according to Andrew W. Gurman, MD, immediate past president of the AMA.

Andrew W. Gurman

“Our country deserves better, and it is up to us as America’s doctors to keep the health and vitality of our patients, our fellow citizens [and] our friends at the forefront of these discussions,” Gurman said in a presentation at the American Society for Surgery of the Hand Annual Meeting. “Our voice is their voice. Our advocacy is their advocacy, and we owe it to a generation of Americans struggling today to pay for health care and to those who come in the future to get this right.”

Advocating for patients

One issue the AMA has brought to the forefront is raising awareness of the dangers of opioids and substance abuse. Recommendations released by the AMA include increasing the availability of naloxone, increasing the availability of medically assisted treatment and destigmatizing pain and substance abuse, Gurman said.

“We are fighting to raise public awareness about the dangers of opioid addiction, advocating for coverage of alternative methods to treat pain, and collaborating to make education and resources available for physicians,” he said.

The AMA is also working on improving health outcomes and raising public awareness about “the early warning signs and signals” in the area of pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, issues that can lead to other chronic conditions, Gurman noted. This involves making sure people have access to good food sources, safe neighborhoods to walk in and sidewalks that are safe to walk on.

“Chronic conditions account for about 80% of all health care spending in the U.S., so we cannot talk about reforming our national health care system without addressing the rise of diabetes and heart disease in our communities,” he said.

The physician’s voice

Beyond being a voice for patients, Gurman noted physicians should look out for one another. The AMA has been an advocate for physicians by working on making physicians’ jobs easier and more satisfying.

“Evidence tells us that by any metric one cares to use, physicians who are satisfied with and happy in their work provide better quality of care,” Gurman said.

PAGE BREAK

One area of interest for the AMA involves reducing the risk of physician burnout by scaling back excessive governmental regulations and red tape that takes attention away from the patient.

“This includes advocacy work to improve and streamline the function of electronic health records and to promote intraoperability across systems,” he said.

Updates to medical education

As technology has evolved, changes have occurred to the way physicians learn. To update the way physicians are taught medicine, the AMA began a consortium of medical schools several years ago, which has identified three pillars of medical education: basic science; clinical science; and health systems science.

“Most physicians were trained in a model that comes from the late 19th, early 20th century ... It is basically patterned on a European model of 2 years of basic science training and then 2 years of clinical education in the hospital, organized around department,” Gurman told Healio.com/Orthopedics.

However, Gurman noted that with access to materials like the U.S. National Library of Medicine through a smart phone, that is no longer the way medicine is practiced.

“It is perhaps not necessary to cram all of this knowledge in for the first 2 years,” he said. “Maybe, we could be using that for other things. There is a lot to learn.”

Becoming an advocate

Along with treating patients, according to Gurman, physicians have the “responsibility to nurture and care for” their profession and they should “pass that responsibility on to the next generation of physicians, whether it is in the operating room, the surgeons’ lounge, at medical staff meetings or at conferences.”

For physicians who want to become advocates, Gurman noted beginning is easy.

“Find some item that is meaningful to you and your practice and jump in,” he said in his presentation. “Odds are there is someone out there who is facing the same frustrations you are and wondering what to do about it.” – by Casey Tingle

Reference:

Gurman, AW. A special AMA lecture: The AMA: Advancing medicine in the digital age. Presented at: American Society for Surgery of the Hand Annual Meeting; Sept. 7-9, 2017; San Francisco.

Disclosure: Gurman reports he receives a salary from the AMA.