The AMA Discontinues It’s Business Relationship with Sermo

As everyone who read this blog knows I am not a physician, but provide the technology and business end of health care here, and on that one note I looked over the AMA page and found something missing, a forum where members can speak and make suggestions, is this maybe an area that the AMA could think about? Sermo sure has it and was set up that way and many other websites have forums. You have to hold your own too on Sermo and I have heard a few stories about some of the topics discussed, but it does allow everyone to be heard. Many of the physicians that I do business with have told me they dropped their AMA membership years ago.

Survey from Sermo said:

75% of physicians surveyed are not members of the AMA.
89% of physicians claim, “The AMA does not speak for me.”
91% of physicians surveyed do not believe the AMA accurately reflects their opinion as physicians.

From another blog, Medicine and Technology, we are now hearing the CPT battle is heating up too. Does the AMA really need to hold the right to license the numbers which are the complicated payment codes used to bill? Perhaps the AMA is making more money there than what they do with memberships?

“For most physicians, Current Procedure Terminology or CPT codes have become a defining aspect of how we must practice medicine. They have become the "currency" of healthcare, mandating all manner of payments to physicians from the most complex surgical procedures to routine office visits. In the process, the CPT coding system has turned into an incredibly complex system of codes, modifiers, and exceptions. Add to that the RVU formulas, and it is no wonder that most physicians are drowning in paperwork.”

Not too long ago I posted about the AMA and their agreement with HeatlhVault for personal health records and the new tool. I got on Twitter and asked if some of the members, who are doctors could share some of their PHR experiences, nothing, got ignored. Everyone knows I am a big proponent of PHRs and HealthVault, but to really show some interest and leadership, talk to your members maybe and discuss some stories on how HealthVault has helped either your or your patients instead of saying “we are doing this to help you”, get in the trenches and be one of the gang as this is something for everyone, doctor’s patients and members of Congress, so if perhaps “doing as I do instead of doing as I say” could become a new paradigm along with the opportunity for members to be heard and make suggestions on a forum, maybe transparency and communication could improve, and for that matter why not start an AMA blog? I saw a section with letters to the editor but didn’t see much more for feedback unless I missed something. BD

Noting that the relationship between the two organizations had once been quite congenial (at least publicly), KevinMD dredged up an old quote from Sermo CEO Daniel Palestrant’s rationalizing why his company wanted to partner with the AMA in the first place: “As a company, we had to take a very rational perspective on that by saying we’re a small software company, not an advocacy organization. Who is the best entity to turn voice into action? Without a doubt that’s the AMA.” The AMA, too, was enthusiastic at first, claiming to be eager to engage with Sermo’s community of users and “add to the resources the AMA can call upon to rapidly assess and respond to the issues and concerns of physicians across the United States.”
And yet, as of Monday, that partnership is no more. The AMA responded to KevinMD’s request for a comment by stating “The AMA has decided not to continue its business relationship with Sermo. The AMA is always looking for effective ways to communicate with physicians. After an evaluation of the initial relationship with Sermo, we have decided that the value was not there to justify the investment of AMA members’ dues dollars. We continue to explore ways to communicate more effectively with all physicians.”

The AMA vs. Sermo: Who Really Speaks for Physicians?