At a special meeting in November, American Medical Association delegates voted to formally establish a section for private practice physicians.
Four things to know:
1. The AMA Private Practice Physicians Congress, which was established in 2008 as a caucus, officially became a section. AMA sections are interest-based groups intended to give a voice to underrepresented physicians.
2. The establishment of a section for private practice physicians will give them a "forum for networking, mentoring, advocacy, educational activities and leadership development," according to an AMA report that delegates adopted.
3. The section will focus on advocacy for private practice physician policy issues, provide leadership development and educational opportunities, and monitor trends affecting private practice, such as shifting ownership models and financial fallout from COVID-19. Physicians have averaged a 32 percent drop in revenue since February, an AMA survey found.
4. Barbara Hummel, MD, serves as secretary of the AMA Private Practice Physicians Congress as well as an AMA delegate for the Wisconsin Medical Society. Her Milwaukee-based practice has gone "technically bankrupt," amid pandemic-related volume losses, she told USA Today in November.