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AMA’s CEO says group is focused on ‘three strategic arcs’

The AMA has been focused on three strategic areas — enhancing professional satisfaction and practice sustainability, developing the medical school of the future, and bettering health outcomes for patients with prediabetes and hypertension — according to the organization’s CEO, James L. Madara, MD. However, these three areas have expanded and are now interconnected, he said.

“It’s now possible to capture and represent the totality of AMA’s work as three strategic arcs — each with one of the focus areas at its core,” Madara told delegates at the group’s annual meeting that is currently taking place in Chicago. “These three strategic arcs — producing critical tools and policies for the field, guiding professional development, and working to improve our nation’s health — these three build upon our original three focus areas, and tell a more complete story of the AMA.”

He outlined some of the direction these arcs are taking, such as the recently announced collaboration with the Regenstrief Institute that he said will ensure that more medical students and medical trainees gain real-world experience using electronic health records during their training, as well as the recent publication of a Health Systems Science textbook that contains information on topics such as the social and ecological determinants of health, health care delivery, quality improvement, leadership, population health, and economics.

Another facet of the arcs involves the integrated innovation company known as Health2047 that Madara stated has begun creating products aimed at improving the country’s health system and allowing physicians more time with their patients by lowering administrative workloads and enhancing clinical data liquidity and organization.

“The overaching goal of Health2047 is to relieve burdens equal to returning 1 hour to every physician’s work day. “I realize you all want 2 or 3 hours returned immediately, but we first must gain a toe-hold in the daunting administrative complexity that we face,” he said.

Some of the other work Madera said AMA will continue to address is medical liability reform, the opioid crisis and health care reform. To that last point, Madara noted that AMA is using both its history and learning new things as it moves forward in trying to ensure health care access.

“We all have to acknowledge the challenging political environment we’re working in. We’re in truly uncharted waters. Yet, we will push forward with mission, advocacy and leadership, three words that have defined the AMA over these last 170 years,” he said.

“No matter how health care evolves, we must remain grounded by the policies and principles that serve as our foundation ... and always remain true to our mission: ‘promoting the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health.’” – by Janel Miller

Disclosure: Madara is executive vice president and CEO of AMA.