The Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society Med Journal May 2020 Final 2 | Page 10
I Am a Member
Because …
“The physician voice muffled both
by regulation and limited numbers has
not been heard by policy makers. As a re-
sult, our profession has suffered in terms
of autonomy, quality of life, and effec-
tiveness. The AMS serves to condense
many voices into one amplifying our
message. Without a forum to speak with
one voice we will not be heard.”
“I’m a member because AMS legisla-
tive advocacy supports all doctors in our
state including osteopaths. Doctors do
not take an active enough role in the po-
litical landscape, and we will suffer for it
if we don’t take notice. Legislators hear
only the loudest voices and we need a
collective to be noticed.”
“It’s an educational vehicle for me.”
“One thing’s for sure: The regulators
will continuously change the practice of
medicine. Our only choice is whether we
want to be involved in those choices or not.”
Advocacy Is Job #1
Every time there is an active session of the
Arkansas Legislature, AMS Governmental Affairs
Director Scott Smith and his team are in place
and working on issues facing medicine. Smith
gave examples of advocacy measures past and
present. In the past, AMS led the fight for public
health issues like the Clean Indoor Air Act, a to-
bacco tax increase that helped pay for the state-
wide trauma system, graduated driver’s license
restrictions on 16- and 17-year-olds, and a Pre-
scription Drug Monitoring Program, just to name
a handful among many successful initiatives.
“One of the biggest issues we’ve been in-
volved in [recently] is the optometrist fight last
year. That is still ongoing,” Smith said, referring
to Act 579, which says that optometrists can
perform eye surgery with minimal training. “We
250 • The Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society
believe surgery should only be done by those
who have gone to medical school and then
have had residency training. Scope of practice
issues like this one come down to protecting
the public by insisting on the highest quality of
training possible. Other recent scope of prac-
tice issues have included APRNs and CRNAs,
both seeking independent practice.
“These issues will come back in 2021, so we
have to gather as many physicians together as
we can in order to fight for the highest level of
training in protecting the patients of Arkansas.”
AMS also regularly advocates at the Capitol
in Washington, DC, the Arkansas Department
of Health, the Arkansas State Medical Board,
the Arkansas Insurance Department, and the
Arkansas Department of Labor. According to
Smith, joining the AMS non-partisan political
action committee, ArkMed-PAC, is the easiest
and quickest way to help AMS advocacy efforts.
ArkMed-PAC helps support candidates who are
medicine-friendly. (Go to the AMS website and
look under “Advocacy” or go directly to https://
www.arkmed.org/advocacy/arkmed-pac/. Be-
cause of federal rules, ArkMed-PAC membership
is available to AMS members only, so the link
to join is password protected. Contact AMS at
[email protected] for the password.)
A service provided by AMS that has been a
great inspiration to those physicians who have
taken part in it is called Doctor of the Day Pro-
gram. Organized by AMS Legislative Support
Specialist Laura Hawkins, the Shuffield Infirma-
ry is open to everyone during an active session
at the Capitol. Hawkins schedules the doctors,
works with the Department of Health, contacts
the Senate and the House, and is physically
there each day to introduce physicians to their
legislators and act as a liaison. “Doctors at the
Capitol may feel a little out of their element at
first, but they quickly feel at home there,” said
Hawkins. “The program is a great service for
the legislators, but it also gives Arkansas doc-
tors a chance to be a part of the process and to
have their voices heard.”
Physicians who have participated in it call
the program “meaningful” and “appreciated.”
One physician said, “It was good recognition
for physicians, and I feel proud to be involved
at that level… the appreciation for it, and the
respect that they offered us.” Another added,
“Just being at the state capitol and being in-
volved and listening in the public health com-
mittee hearings, and to know that I could ac-
tually make a difference by my presence, was
phenomenal.”
Help with the Practical Side of Medicine
If you’re a member, you can call AMS with
questions about private insurance, Medicare/
Medicaid, staffing issues, medical records, HI-
PAA violations, cybersecurity, human resourc-
es, coding, and more. In all points of managing
your practice – or if you need help managing
as an employed physician – AMS Director of
Practice Management Billie Jean Davenport,
BRST, is available to help. Davenport helps
physicians with the practical side of medicine,
from starting a practice to retirement, and all
points in between. “We also stand up for phy-
sicians in payer issues,” said Davenport. “In
January, we were made aware of an issue with
Arkansas Health and Wellness about the STAT
lab policy, which would limit in-office laborato-
ry procedures. Physicians and office manager
contacted us, and we were able to talk with the
company and get them to rescind their policy.”
AMS Physician Outreach Specialist Tere-
asa Holmes, CMPE, is also available to help.
Recently, the Society became aware of a phy-
sician who had an issue with his Medicaid li-
cense. “The physician was able to get his Med-
icaid license back on in a minimal amount of
time,” said Holmes. “Ultimately, we worked to
get the patients the medicine they need, and
the doctor and his staff were so appreciative.”
The group has sometimes acted as a voice
to the opposition for physicians. Davenport
gave an example. “We wrote Walmart and
urged them to reconsider their policy on re-
quiring electronic prescriptions for controlled
substances,” she said. “They had this policy to
help combat the opioid epidemic, but what it
did was put a burden on rural physicians and
patients who don’t have the IT infrastructure
to comply with the policy. We’re definitely sup-
portive of e-prescribing, but we have to make
sure that physicians are supported in meeting
the state mandates.”
In addition to practice management issues
of all types, Hawkins, Davenport, and AMS Di-
rector of Administrative Services Kay Waldo
www.ArkMed.org