Physicians still highly value professional medical societies.(Guest Viewpoint)(Viewpoint essay)

I was recently asked by a product manager about the value that physicians gain in aligning themselves with their respective medical societies. Although professional societies for physicians differ in their programming and execution, they have at their heart a common commitment to improving the health of patients by enhancing the knowledge and skills of their physician members and by advocating for policies to improve the health care system. It is difficult to generalize across the broad spectrum of physician medical societies in the United States; however, the philosophies of physicians who join medical societies align with these principles.

It may be that physicians are by nature committed to lifelong learning, and those who seek medical society membership seem to have a strong commitment to this ideal. For many medical societies, it is the continuing medication education (CME) offerings and board certification resources that initially attract members, but with the plethora of medical information and educational resources available electronically and in print, the societies' roles are broadening.

Physician members are becoming more reliant on their medical societies to guide them through this information morass and steer them to high-quality, essential, and relevant resources. In essence, the societies are being asked to provide an information-filtering function for their busy physician members. Members cite the quality and credibility of the societies' clinical information resources as the reasons these resources are their top picks for keeping current on clinical advancements and on changes in standards of practice and patient care.

However, knowledge in and of itself does not change physician behavior, no matter how relevant or credible. As such, in addition to more traditional CME programs, societies are testing new modes of engagement with their physician members to identify the interventions that have the greatest effect on changing behavior so they can better comply with current standards of care.

No issue better illustrates the need for nontraditional approaches and the benefit of society membership than the recent emergence of national initiatives on health care quality improvement. These initiatives will likely require significant changes in how physicians care for patients, how they administer their practices, and how they report their practice data. A number of medical societies have taken on national leadership roles in health care quality improvement to ensure that these initiatives result in improved patient care and are not unduly burdensome to physicians. Physician members look to their medical societies to help shape the debate on such issues as the relevance and validity of physician performance measures, as well as to offer practical solutions on how to realign their practices to comply with new measures and reporting requirements. This movement is an issue that product managers should carefully monitor, as it will alter the landscape of physician practices, change care delivery, and will likely affect prescribing patterns.

Last month, the AQA Alliance (Washington, DC), a national coalition of 150 organizations, including many medical societies, adopted 31 quality measures for physicians in 25 surgical and medical specialties. These quality measures are being incorporated into insurance provider contracts and numerous medical practices. Many medical societies are now assisting their members with best practices for implementing these changes within their practices.

The roles of medical societies evolve as U.S. health care aligns to meet the needs required by demographic shifts and technological and pharmaceutical advancements. Advocating for policies and providing the resources necessary for their physician members to provide the best patient care possible still forms the core of the medical societies' missions. Physicians who are actively engaged in their medical societies gain access to well-vetted, current clinical information and to unique services to help transform their practices. They are well informed on national health policy issues and are engaged in advocating for positive changes in our health care system. As such, they are the physician leaders to whom their physician colleagues look.

David L. Sgrignoli

Senior Vice President, Marketing and

Communications

American College of Physicians

Philadelphia

Print Get the Mag Weekly Updates