It is about to play a central role in a major campaign to restore confidence in our ability to keep our health system the finest in the world. Increasingly, patients and physicians are aware of a troubling gap between the way things are supposed to be and the way things actually are. Choice is rapidly eroding. The patient-physician relationship seems constantly at risk of being intruded upon. Medicare is headed for a meltdown.
Most patients have an uneasy feeling of being out of control in terms of their care.
They like their own doctors, but worry about finding themselves trapped in an uncaring system. At the same time, many physicians seem to have lost faith in the ability of the profession to bring about positive change. One sign is that many are opting out of membership in organized medicine. Those are good reasons for the AMA to seize this moment, to refocus its vision of itself and to reassert its position as the nation's leading advocate for what is best in health care. A major public campaign, starting soon, will deliver the message of what AMA is about to millions of Americans, through print ads in major newspapers and newsmagazines.