News & Media
Michigan Delegation Reports Success in Windy City
The American Medical Association's (AMA) Annual Meeting held June 9-13, 2018, in Chicago turned out to be extremely fruitful for Michigan physicians. Your Michigan Delegation to the AMA, led by Chair James D. Grant, MD, MBA, successfully advocated for 17 resolutions that were initially directives from the 2018 MSMS House of Delegates (HOD).
Additionally, Betty S. Chu, MD, MBA, was overwhelmingly elected to the AMA Council on Medical Services and Gunjan Malhotra, MD, was elected as Vice Chair to the Resident and Fellows Section 2018-2019 Governing Council. "The success of Michigan's candidates for a third year in a row reinforces that Michigan is a state delegation to watch," reported Doctor Grant.
Of Michigan's 17 resolutions, 13 were adopted in some form (e.g., as introduced, amended, part of existing policy or report, etc.) and four were referred with report back at an upcoming AMA meeting. Similar to the MSMS HOD process, Michigan’s Delegation to the AMA must submit and testify on Michigan's resolutions before respective committees to garner support and address any opposition.
"It was a hectic five days, but the Delegation's preparation and steadfast advocacy definitely paid off," Doctor Grant added. "I am proud of the effort put forth by the Michigan Delegation and resulting outcomes."
Michigan's resolutions dealt with a variety of timely topics such as suicide awareness, sexual assault, environment health, availability of pharmaceuticals, and end of life care, inclusivity, and medical education. Highlights include:
- Facilitating the development or resources and training related to suicide risk;
- Developing and implementing a plan to support the use of intake and medical documentation forms that collect patient data inclusive of sexual orientation/gender identity;
- Supporting greater efforts to ensure timely reporting of health care provider sex crimes to law enforcement by state medical boards. Due to Michigan’s resolution, the AMA will be working with the Federation of State Medical Boards on a comprehensive approach to identifying and addressing sexual crimes within medicine;
- Promoting cultural proficiency and cultural humility through peer-facilitated intergroup dialogue in medical education programs;
- Encouraging collaborative partnerships between the medical and academic communities, as well as other stakeholders, to address issues of rape, sexual abuse and physical abuse on college campuses;
- Promoting standardized protocols and regulations pertaining to water quality testing, reporting and remediation to ensure the safety of water in schools and child care centers;
- Advocating for additional research to examine potential for harmful effects of virtual reality on human health; and
- Streamlining the transfer of a patient’s code status across the continuum of care to ensure that the patient's wishes are known.
To view the top stories from the AMA’s Annual Meeting, including action on policies related to firearm safety, health insurance marketplace affordability and competitiveness, opioid use disorder treatment, and drug shortages, please visit AMA House of Delegates.