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SAS American Medical Association Initiative

Dear SAS Members:

The SAS is pleased to bring to your attention a new initiative we’re embarking on, official representation in the American Medical Association’s (AMA) House of Delegates.  The House of Delegates serves as the policy-making body for the AMA, and consists of delegates representing each of the 50 state medical societies, and over 100 national medical specialty societies.  We have grown and evolved enough as a professional society that now is the time to add our voice, the voice of the spine surgeons from around the world – along with the six other orthopaedic societies now enjoying representation – to the AMA House of Delegates.

Policies developed and approved by the House of Delegates drive AMA advocacy efforts in Washington, myriad state capitols, and the commercial health care market.  The AMA still maintains a large and influential presence in those arenas, and we feel it is imperative that our voice be a part of the AMA, and that our policy and advocacy goals can be further enhanced by our participation in this body.

Participation in the AMA House of Delegates:

• Increases our legitimacy and credibility within the orthopaedic community, throughout the wider medical society world and within the entire health care arena.
  
  
• Provides our society with an official voice as an advisor to the CPT Editorial Panel, and as a representative to the CPT Relative Values Update Committee (the RUC).  As new technologies and procedures emerge in spine arthroplasty, it is imperative that we have a seat at the table when CPT codes are created or modified, and when CPT codes are valued through the RUC process.
  
  
• Gives our society a seat within the AMA Physician’s Consortium for Performance Improvement (the Consortium).  The Consortium is one of the leading bodies driving the development of performance measures that are increasingly being used by Medicare, Medicaid and commercial health insurers to improve physician performance and to modify physician payment in accordance with adherence to recognized measures.  As performance measures are developed with regard to spine and spine arthroplasty, it is critical that SAS is leading this effort.

Obtaining a voting seat in the AMA House of Delegates is a three-year process, which allows us: to identify SAS physician leaders who are willing to represent us at the twice-yearly House meetings; to learn more about how business is conducted within the House of Delegates and how we can best be impactful; and, to increase our AMA Membership market share so that we meet the thresholds set by the House for voting representation.

As this process continues, we will provide additional background on the activities of the AMA and their role in health system reform, the quality improvement movement, and in maximizing health care delivery and financing for everyone.