"THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUCCESS AND FAILURE IS NOT A LACK OF STRENGTH, NOT EVEN A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE, BUT RATHER A LACK OF WILL" -Anonymous
 

Dear Colleagues,

We continue to receive compliments from so many of you regarding the recent annual meeting and they are most appreciated. The credit, however, belongs to our FMA staff, as well as our most capable Speaker, Dr. Madelyn Butler, and Vice-Speaker, Dr. Alan Pillersdorf. Their many hours of planning over the past year resulted in a productive and enjoyable event. Your comments and suggestions are being reviewed and I greatly appreciate so many of you taking the time to submit them. It is never too late to tell us how we can improve our meetings.

Access to care for the people of our state remains our chief concern for the future. As we've discussed, price controls have been in place on physicians since 1992 and have contributed to shortages in physician supply. On the National scene we will work closely with the US Congress to increase the number of post graduate training programs in our state. We will also work with the AMA and all the national specialty groups to insist on a permanent fix to the flawed SGR formula that is suffocating the private practice of medicine. Click here to view the chart showing how physician payments have failed to keep up with cost of living indices.

Dr. David McKalip, a neurosurgeon from St. Petersburg, Chairs the FMA's Council on Medical Economics. His Council is charged with developing ways to ease your regulatory burden and restore your right to receive adequate reimbursement for your services including the right to balance bill. They have also begun to explore the development of a Florida solution to the problem of the uninsured and underinsured. Your input will be critical to the success of this effort and you'll be hearing more about this soon. If you did not have the opportunity to see Mitt Romney's address to us at the Flampac Good Government luncheon, you can view the address by clicking here.

On the State level, increasing Medicaid reimbursement to AT LEAST Medicare levels is our top priority. We will also work closely with the specialty societies, especially the Florida College of Emergency Physicians, to obtain sovereign immunity for emergency care. We must view our emergency rooms as a precious state resource and, similar to other resources, they must be protected. Dr. Miguel Machado, a neurosurgeon from St. Augustine and the Chair of the FMA's Council on Legislation, will be fighting hard for you and our patients on this front. When he requests that you meet with your legislators, please respond.

Dr. John Rock, the Dean of the new Florida International University College of Medicine, addressed the FMA BOG during the annual meeting and brought us up to date on his progress. FIU is putting in place an innovative curriculum that you'll be hearing more about in the future. He is well aware of the challenges ahead especially as they impact the poor and minorities and he is attempting to address these in his medical curriculum. Additionally, we'll publish a Dean's Report monthly containing news and notes from Florida's colleges and schools of medicine. Look for this soon.

I visited the FMA Headquarters in Tallahassee on Friday. Staff morale is high and they are unified in their desire and effort to make the organization an even greater force on our behalf. An internal administrative audit of the organization will begin soon. Dr. Stephan Baker, a plastic surgeon (and MBA) from Miami, chairs the FMA's Administrative Audit Committee and they will supervise this project. When the analysis is complete, this committee will make recommendations to your Board of Governors. We are seeking to make all of the FMA's divisions centers of excellence to better serve our members. Our ultimate goal is to position the FMA to be the Association of the future. Along these lines, Dr. Dolan, FMA Vice President will begin exploring the increased use of videoconferencing. He is also exploring the use of Internet technology such as chat rooms and pod casts to enhance communication with our colleagues.

Please let us know how we can improve our services to you. Suggestions from one and all are always welcome. My "listen and learn" tour around our state continues and I appreciate the opportunity to meet with you and your County and Specialty Society leadership. I can assure you that the leaders of your Florida Medical Association are not burdened by a lack of will.

Until next week...


Sincerely,
Karl M. Altenburger, M.D.
President, Florida Medical Association