AMA in the News: November 2023

AMA in the News covers media coverage and mentions about the American Medical Association. Find articles recognizing our efforts in health care, advocacy, medical education and improvements in public health. Read coverage on the achievements of our leadership and the members of the AMA community.

1. Perspectives on burnout, trust, hope in medicine from the president of the AMA

   1. Medical Economics, Nov. 30, 2023
   2. His presentation painted “a picture of our health care system in 2023, and it is not a happy or uplifting one,” with record physician burnout, shrinking Medicare reimbursement, administrative burdens, and a workforce exodus. Ehrenfeld also discussed AMA’s Recovery Plan for America’s Physicians.

2. Congressional panel tackles AI in health care

   1. Modern Healthcare, Nov. 29, 2023
   2. On Tuesday, the AMA published a new official policy regarding augmented intelligence, a form of AI that requires human involvement. The medical society also is lobbying Congress to take action about AI in health insurance and patient data security and privacy, AMA President Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, said. “We do think government has a big role to play,” he said. (Publication subscription is required for full or unlimited access.)

3. AMA releases principles for AI use

   1. Becker’s Hospital Review, Nov. 28, 2023
   2. The American Medical Association has unveiled seven new principles for the development, deployment and utilization of AI in health care, a step closer to establishing a unified governance framework for the progress of the technology within the industry.

4. Just what the (urgent care) doctor ordered

   1. New York Times, Nov. 17, 2023
   2. Last month, the president of the American Medical Association gave an address about the growing shortage of doctors in the United States. In it, he cited a host of reasons that the number of physicians is declining, from burnout to shrinking Medicare reimbursements to medical school debt. (Publication subscription is required for full or unlimited access.)

5. AMA pushes for action on drug shortages

   1. Medical Economics, Nov. 14, 2023
   2. “Drug shortages are the highest we’ve seen in a decade, making it more and more difficult for patients and physicians across the country to get necessary medications,” Jack Resneck, Jr., MD, the AMA’s immediate past president, said in a statement. “We must continue to push for actions to mitigate drug shortages that will help ensure the drug supply chain is more resilient and adaptable so our patients can get the medications they need when they need them.”

6. Medicare cuts are 'relentless,' AMA president says

   1. Becker’s ASC Review, Nov. 13, 2023
   2. The upcoming payment "cuts are too deep, too relentless, and they touch too many lives—physicians and patients alike," Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, said in his speech. "We must keep the pressure on. And we will."

7. Doctor groups eye Medicare pay cut concessions

   1. PoliticoPRO, Nov. 13, 2023
   2. The American Medical Association says doctors are paid more than 25 percent less by Medicare in inflation-adjusted terms than they were in 2001.
   3. The proposed 2024 pay cut “is an unfortunate continuation of a two-decade march in making Medicare unsustainable for patients and physicians,” said AMA President Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, in a statement. (Publication subscription is required for full or unlimited access.)

8. Health organizations making strides in health equity, AMA leader says

   1. MedPage Today, Nov. 12, 2023
   2. Half of health care organizations surveyed have eliminated or are working to eliminate race-based clinical algorithms and decision-making tools that incorrectly use race as a proxy for genetic or biological ancestry, a survey by the American Medical Association (PDF) (AMA) found.
   3. "This is critically important," Aletha Maybank, MD, MPH, the AMA's chief health equity officer, said Sunday during a special session on health equity at the interim meeting here of the AMA's House of Delegates. The AMA will be publishing a peer-reviewed article that will explore the issue in more depth, she said. (Free registration is required to view content.)

9. AMA president decries devastation of another round of Medicare cuts

   1. Healthcare Business Today, Nov. 11, 2023
   2. In his speech to delegates, AMA President Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, outlined the specific challenges, elevated stories of colleagues leaving the profession early, and spoke about government interference in the practice of medicine. He also spoke of the power and influence of organized medicine to affect change, and he unveiled a new Fix Medicare Now grassroots campaign to help reverse devastating Medicare cuts that imperil patient access to their physicians.

10. Medicine is not just at a crossroads, it's in a crisis, AMA president says

    1. MedPage Today, Nov. 11, 2023
    2. American Medical Association (AMA) President Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, urged his fellow members to continue the good fight against the multifront crises in medicine. "I know the work of advocacy isn't easy ... but the truth is nobody's going to do this difficult work for us. It has to be us, " said Ehrenfeld during a presidential address at the AMA Interim Meeting of the House of Delegates.
    3. "Medicine is not just at a crossroads...it's at a crisis. And we demand action," he stated. (Free registration is required to view content.)

11. Senate moves to delay $16B hospital cut, trim doctor pay hit

    1. Modern Healthcare, Nov. 8, 2023 
    2. The American Medical Association and other medical societies have pleaded with Congress to tackle what doctors say are inadequate Medicare payments. When CMS announced it would institute a small cut next year, the calls for lawmakers to step in grew in volume. "When adjusted for inflation, Medicare physician payment already has effectively declined 26% from 2001 to 2023 before additional inflation and these cuts are factored in," AMA President Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, said at a news conference last week. (Publication subscription is required for full or unlimited access.)

12. CDC/Rush event: Dr. Ehrenfeld appearance

    1. NBC 5 News, Nov. 6, 2023
    2. AMA President Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, joined the CDC and Rush at a live vaccination event in Chicago, IL.

13. Drowning in patient emails, doctors start charging for their replies

    1. Washington Post, Nov. 4, 2023
    2. Physician Jack Resneck, MD, chairman of dermatology at UCSF and the immediate past president of the American Medical Association, says “sometimes in health-care things get turned on without a plan for how we are going to build this into our workday and how are we going to compensate for the time and … how will physicians … have protected time.” Resneck says he often answers patient emails after putting his children to bed. (Publication subscription is required for full or unlimited access.)

14. The mad scientists of AI

    1. Politico, Nov. 3, 2023
    2. The panel comes on the heels of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report last month, which found an increasing number of providers feel burned out. Panelist Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, president of the American Medical Association, has told us that “reducing the stigma around mental health care and burnout,” is among his priorities.

15. Medicare cuts doctor and hospital payments

    1. Axios, Nov. 3, 2023
    2. The American Medical Association called the final physician payment plan "a recipe for financial instability." 

16. 'Thin gruel': Groups react to 2024 Medicare physician payment rule

    1. Becker’s Hospital Review, Nov. 3, 2023
    2. "This is a recipe for financial instability," American Medical Association President Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, said in a Nov. 2 statement "Patients and physicians will wonder why such thin gruel is being served."
    3. Dr. Ehrenfeld said physicians have routinely faced cuts over the past two decades, "yet, there is nothing routine about the past few years." 

17. Physician groups decry finalized Medicare payment cuts for 2024 as expenses rise

    1. Fierce Healthcare, Nov. 1, 2023
    2. "The Medicare physician payment schedule released today is an unfortunate continuation of a two-decade march in making Medicare unsustainable for patients and physicians," wrote Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, president of the American Medical Association in a statement.

18. Medicare physician pay is unsustainable, AMA says

    1. Healthcare Finance News, Nov. 1, 2023
    2. The American Medical Association and others are calling on Congress to stop the advanced Alternative Payment Model bonus payment cut that is scheduled to expire at the end of the year for most physicians.