AMA president-elect candidates share views: Joseph M. Heyman, MD

This has been a difficult year for our country, our profession and the American Medical Association. The health system reform debate was passionate and sometimes uncomfortable, but necessary. I wish Congress and the rest of the country had taken a lesson from the level of discussion we had. It was sometimes heated, but always respectful and constructive. Now that the law has passed, we must come together to ensure that delivery of quality care must remain our top priority. We need to have unity to fix the Independent Payment Advisory Board and dump the SGR once and for all!

I am well-positioned to accomplish those goals, if I become your president-elect. My specialty holds a unique position among specialty and primary care, giving me the ability to bridge the differences that can divide the House of Medicine. I'm also someone who welcomes a good debate. I encourage the airing of diverse viewpoints, because that's the fastest and surest path to wisdom.

Dr. Heyman

But debate and diversity alone won't be enough to heal the wounds opened during the past year. We need to develop a new level of trust and forbearance, and nothing promotes that better than transparency. One step in the right direction involves actions to strengthen the relationship between the House of Delegates and the Board of Trustees. For that reason, I support sharing recorded individual board votes on all policy issues. Transparency, trust and teamwork -- our keys to successful advocacy and a bright future.

The implementation of health system reform is just one of our challenges. We are all witnessing the next revolution in medicine, the adoption of health information technology. The next several years will change the face of reporting and clinical information aggregation. We all know what happened when the government and private insurers claimed ownership of claims data. In coming years, someone will try to do the same with clinical data, the product of electronic health records. We can't let that happen again.

Physicians must become the trusted stewards of clinical data for our patients. We need a person who speaks the language, uses the software, runs a medical practice, and has already changed the direction of "meaningful use" through forthright firmness, so that physicians can afford to embrace this technology.

There are other challenges: Tort reform, private contracting, balance billing, scope of practice, and much more. I am an enthusiastic supporter of AMA policy in all of these areas, and you can count on me to be a relentless advocate for our profession and our patients.

The lines on my CV tell only part of the story. I have had a multitude of learning experiences and continue to listen and learn on a daily basis. But most importantly, I have advocated for our profession and patients throughout my career. If elected, I will continue to do the same for our AMA, our profession and our patients.

The responses were not shared among candidates. Voting for the next president-elect will be held at the House of Delegates Annual Meeting, June 12-16 in Chicago. Results for the president-elect and trustee elections will be included in our Annual Meeting coverage.