AMA says goodbye to president and elects its next
Key takeaways:
- An otolaryngologist from Kentucky will become president of the AMA in June 2024.
- The president-elect said he “will advocate relentlessly” for the AMA Recovery Plan for America’s Physicians.
At the annual meeting of the AMA House of Delegates, physicians elected the next AMA president and heard one final speech from the organization’s outgoing leader.
Bruce A. Scott, MD, an otolaryngologist from Kentucky, will become AMA president in June 2024, according to a press release. Scott has been a member of the AMA House of Delegates for more than 25 years, during which time he was elected speaker of the House of Delegates, served as vice speaker and was a member of the AMA Board of Trustees.
“Winning the faith and support of my peers to represent the nation’s physicians and patients we serve is a great honor and tremendous responsibility,” Scott said in the release.
Scott, who also holds a clinical appointment at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, has been president of his county and state medical associations and continues to serve on the board of the Kentucky Medical Association and the Greater Louisville Medical Society, according to the release. As head of these organizations, Scott has advocated for efforts to reduce administrative burdens in health care, increase access to health care for vulnerable populations and improve public health.
Scott said that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, physicians have “faced incredible challenges” including personal struggles with their own health, financial difficulties “and inflation that closed many, and imperiled other, physician practices.”
“With physician burnout surging, prior authorizations taking more and more time and resources away from patient care, and an unsustainable Medicare system, I will advocate relentlessly during my presidency for the AMA Recovery Plan for America’s Physicians,” Scott added.
Jack Resneck Jr., MD, outgoing president of the AMA, emphasized the success of the recovery plan as he offered his assessment of the United States’ health care system.
Resneck, who becomes immediate past president on June 13, highlighted successes such as both state and federal progress in constraining prior authorization, the introduction of bipartisan legislation to align the Medicare fee schedule with the Medicare Economic Index and extending Medicare telehealth coverage.
He also noted formidable challenges facing the field, noting his disappointment in the country’s “lack of progress to address the public health crisis of gun violence.”
“I can’t sugarcoat the very real threats,” Resneck said. “I’m still appalled by the Medicare cuts. Practices are on the brink. Our workforce is at risk. Access to care stands in the balance. Preventable and needless homicides and suicides continue.”
However, Resneck offered a few words of optimism as he reflected on appearing in public on behalf of the AMA over the past year.
“That has afforded me many opportunities to absorb just where our profession, and the public, stand in this divisive time,” he said. “And I want to tell you something I’ve learned: There are more people who agree with us than those who do not.”
References:
- Kentucky otolaryngologist chosen as AMA president-elect. https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/press-releases/kentucky-otolaryngologist-chosen-ama-president-elect. Published June 9, 2023. Accessed June 12, 2023.
- AMA president assesses nation’s health care system. https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/press-releases/ama-president-assesses-nation-s-health-care-system. Published June 9, 2023. Accessed June 12, 2023.