Executive Director's Message

Together We Are Stronger!

The Polk County Medical Society board members along with myself joined hundreds of physicians in Washington, D.C. last week to participate in the AMA’s 2005 National Advocacy Conference.  The meetings were held to deepen doctors’ understanding of the critical issues facing the nation's health care and to advocate on behalf of physicians and patients with our Congressmen.

Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Mark McClellan, M.D., Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. spoke on common-sense solutions to the nation's medical liability crisis, and all agreed that the current Medicare system is unresponsive to reality.

The Polk county Medical Society members along with Scott County and IMS doctors met with Senator Grassley, Senator Harkin, and Representative Boswell.  We discussed how Medicare's flawed Sustainable Growth Rate formula SGR automatically cuts payments only to physicians, despite rising practice costs, and especially treats Iowa doctors unfairly. Enacting meaningful medical Liability reform to deal with rising health care costs to ensure access to patient care was also discussed.  Without changes doctors across America are forced to practice the three Rs: restricting services, retiring early or relocating.

PCMS and other counties, state and specialty medical societies across the country must actively advocate on behalf of doctors and their patients.  AMA reinforced that it will take the collective advocacy of all medical groups, along with the 73% of Americans who support reform, to have meaningful medical liability reform, and fix the flawed Medicare payment system for physicians.  The escalating cost of providing medical care has taken its toll on this country already.  79% of physicians practice defensive medicine.  Over 125,000 lawsuits are currently in the U.S. system against physicians.

The AMA’s message was "Together We Are Stronger”.  They are on target.  No longer can one group alone advocate and be the single voice of medicine.  The regulatory changes being made in medicine need the collective advocacy of all levels of medicine. The national organizations recognize the need of doctors to advocate across this country through their local (county), state, national and specialty societies, all working together with a strong message that can be heard. 

Together We Are Stronger even at the state level.  In Iowa there are bills that would affect how you do and will practice medicine.  Some of the bills are good for the doctors and their patients and some are not.  Doctors need the benefit of all of the medical groups advocating together.  Many medical groups have their own lobbyist at the State Capitol, i.e., Anesthesiologist, Psychiatrist, Iowa Academy of Family Physicians, Iowa Medical Society, Iowa Osteopathic Medical Association and Polk County Medical Society, just to name a few.  There is no one group that can do it all.  It takes a collective message to our Iowa Legislators on bills that will assist doctors in practicing cost effective medicine in Iowa.  The PCMS has an outstanding lobbyist, Frank Severino, who works together with the other medical organizations’ lobbyists.  The main benefit of membership in Polk County Medical Society has changed over the years.  Today, the most important part of your PCMS membership is advocacy on your behalf.  Remember “not all politics are local.” Advocacy, Advocacy, Advocacy, Together We Are Stronger!