Anthony Geroulis, MD, FAACS | AMA Delegate
Robert F. Jackson, MD, FAACS | AMA Alternate Delegate

The annual meeting of the AMA House of Delegates was held June 8-12, 2024. The Academy was represented by your delegates, Drs. Tony Geroulis and Robert Jackson, and your YPS representative, Dr. David Henry. Dr. Alton Ingram also attended as an observer.

Much of the meeting concerned helping physicians with the everyday challenges of taking care of patients. The AMA is working to alleviate some of those challenges, and several of these items were covered in multiple resolutions. as Additionally, progress was made over the last year in the following:

• The AMA is advocating against non-physician, mid-level providers practicing independently and encroaching on physician practice.
• The AMA helped pass legislation to prevent physician assistants from practicing independently without physician oversight, pharmacists from diagnosing and treating patients and prescribing medication, optometrists from performing surgery, naturopaths from prescribing legend drugs, and Nurse Practitioners and other APRNs from expanding their scope of practice.
• The AMA continues to oppose federal bills that aim to expand the scope of practice for pharmacists, psychologists, Nurse Practitioners, physician assistants, and nurse anesthetists in Medicare and other federal healthcare programs.

The above demonstrate how the AMA is working hard to retain scope of practice that keeps physicians in control of the profession.

Great strides have been made in streamlining prior authorization processes to reduce burden and save time. Additionally, the AMA is actively lobbying and collaborating to align physician payments with those in other medical specialties, which will address the long-standing issue of decreased compensation for physicians over the past two decades.

Of special interest to our Academy was the reaffirmation of policies adopted by the House of Delegates concerning board equivalence and maintenance of certification. Dr. Geroulis testified to this in the Surgery section and during our section council. Dr Jackson supported the Council on Medical Education at the House of Delegates, reiterating these items had been extensively studied over past two to three years, and he agreed with the council concerning reaffirming House policy. Reaffirmation was passed by the House, and this is now firm House policy.

Dr. Bruce Scott, former Speaker of the House of Delegates, was inaugurated as president of the AMA. Dr. Scott is an ENT Surgeon from Louisville. Dr. Bobby Mukklamala, an ENT surgeon from Michigan, became president-elect. The new members added to the board of trustees include Dr. Melissa Garretson, a pediatric emergency medicine physician from Texas; Dr. Lynn Jeffers, a plastic surgeon from California; and David Welsh, a general surgeon from Indiana.

Dr. John Armstrong remains vice speaker of the house. These individuals are well known to your delegates, and we are confident that they will represent the profession well.

Dr. Henry represented us at the YPS, and he also attended the Section Council, Triple S, and Reference Committee meetings. We welcome him as a valuable asset to our team.

Dr. Jackson remains Vice Chairman of the Section Council of Plastic Reconstructive, Facial Plastic Reconstructive, and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. We were also reinstated in the House of Delegates for five (5) more years.

We thank all of our members who joined or renewed their AMA membership. Our involvement in the house of medicine gives us unmatched credibility. We must stay involved.