THE SCENE

AMA Clarifies Its Role in Healthcare Reform

It’s not often that physicians advocate for pharmaceutical healthcare marketers.

But in a townhall meeting last month, the American Medical Association (AMA) president, J. James Rohack, MD, emphasized that healthcare marketers play a critical role in helping to educate the public about healthcare costs.

This frank discussion on the role of marketers, as well as the AMA’s perspectives on healthcare reform, took place at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL, on September 10. The townhall event was set up by the Healthcare Communication & Marketing Association’s Midwest Regional Forum and co-sponsored by the Kellogg School of Management’s Health Enterprise Management program.

With healthcare reform topping national priorities, Dr. Rohack clarified the AMA’s engagement with the Obama Administration. He emphasized in no uncertain terms what criteria the association holds dear and clearly was happy to report that President Obama is in agreement with many of their requirements for reform, which include:

• Keeping the patient and physician relationship sacred, without government and insurance company involvement.
• Providing affordable insurance for all citizens.
• Promoting quality, prevention, and wellness.
• Easing the medical liability and administrative burden by creating pilot programs designed to look at ways of dealing with medical liability costs.

The event was broadcast live via the Internet by VeoMed, a technology company providing social media solutions to the medical community. In addition to the nearly 50 marketers in the Kellogg press room, participants across the country were also able to join, listen, and participate in real time.

You can see Dr. Rohack’s Town Hall Meeting on Healthcare Reform in high definition at www.veomed.com. Dr. Rohack’s PowerPoint presentation is also available on the site.
—Marita Gomez and Terry Nugent

The Scene highlights significant events in the pharma marketing industry. Companies interested in having event photos published in PM360 should contact editorial@PM360online.com for more details.