We are fortunate to have so many organizations contributing to the fabric of organized medicine in Arizona. To foster a greater sense of collaboration within our community, it is my honor to spotlight our colleagues in local medical societies. Today, I am pleased to highlight the Arizona Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons, which is currently led by President Henry Kwong, MD. Please take a moment to learn more about AOS’s valiant advocacy efforts, both locally and nationally.

An AOS Update From Henry Kwong, MD

The Arizona Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons is involved in critical issues for our profession at the state and national level.

With our lobbyist, Trish Hart, we meet with Representative Montenegro and Senator Shope, Chairmen of the Arizona House and Senate Health Committees, respectively. We come to them as patient advocates, aiming to prevent optometrists’ scope of practice expansion to become surgeons with the ability to do laser eye treatments and eyelid surgery that they are not trained to complete.

Additionally, AOS, in conjunction with the Arizona Medical Eye Unit of the Lions Vision Center of Phoenix, has a glaucoma screening to meet legislators and their staff, which allows us to develop relationships with state legislators before crucial votes concerning our issues.

On a national level, AOS sends a delegation to Washington in April to advocate for a physician’s fee fix, prior authorization reform, and increased funding to the National Eye Institute. Additionally, remain focused on the VA’s consideration of a vast surgical scope of practice expansion for optometry, which we oppose. We always represent ourselves as patient advocates to give American citizens the best visual outcomes. It is a very visual world we live in. Again, it is very important to develop relationships with members of Congress to shape healthcare reform and for the survival of our profession.

It is imperative that the medical community stay united because there are similar scope of practice expansion battles across specialties being played out by special interest groups through legislative fiat. We must remain patient advocates on the state and federal levels. If we do not, the serious and ongoing threats to patient care will prevail, harming the vision of countless Americans.

If you’d like to learn more about or get involved with AOS, I welcome you to visit us online at https://www.azeyemds.org/.

Sincerely,
Henry Kwong, MD
President, Arizona Society of Eye Physicians & Surgeons

Short on time? Here’s an executive summary of this month’s letter from Arizona Medical Association President William C. Thompson IV, MD, FASA:

• Celebrate the holidays and the physician community by joining ArMA’s Mix, Mingle & Jingle in Phoenix on Wednesday, December 6, at 5:30PM.
• ArMA announces the creation of its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Taskforce, which will be chaired by Ricardo Correa, MD, and begin meeting next month.
• Dr. Thompson proudly spotlights the Arizona Latin-American Medical Association, a local group of medical professionals focused on accessible health care.

ArMA is Covering All Corners of Community

Dear member,

The Arizona Medical Association has been busy on several fronts, including fostering a supportive community for physicians, residents, fellows, and medical students. Recently, we’ve hosted networking events in Scottsdale, Flagstaff, and Tucson — each of which was wildly successful at introducing our members to meaningful peer and community connections.

In Scottsdale, we were honored to hear from Mayor David Ortega, who shared how the city is planning its development around residents’ health and wellbeing. In Flagstaff, we supported the compassionate work of the Cancer Support Community Arizona and mingled with Mayor Becky Daggett. And, in Tucson, we shared an update on the remarkable achievements of organized medicine during Arizona’s 2023 Legislative Session.

Now, as the year winds down and the holiday decorations come out, we look forward to hosting our final networking event, ArMA’s Mix, Mingle & Jingle , in Phoenix on Wednesday, December 6, at 5:30PM. Whether we’ve had the pleasure of hosting you at an ArMA event or not this year, I hope you’ll consider joining us for a festive evening. Everyone is welcome, so invite your friends, family, and colleagues!

Register Today

Of course, fostering a strong sense of community extends beyond hosting social opportunities. Nurturing an inclusive and supportive environment is a multi-faceted and year-round commitment, which is why I am pleased to announce the creation of ArMA's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Taskforce.

ArMA's DEI Taskforce was borne out of a member-initiated policy proposal, which was adopted by the 2022 House of Delegates. Now, the taskforce will begin to drive initiatives that intentionally instill diversity, equity, and inclusion into our organization, organized medicine, and the field of medicine overall.

The taskforce's important work will be led by our esteemed colleague and ArMA board member, Ricardo Correa, MD, who is a recognized expert in the intersection of DEI, medicine, and patient care. Dr. Correa will be joined by a dedicated group of ArMA members across specialties, geographic locations, ages, ethnicities, and other demographics, which will bring diverse perspectives to the taskforce's initiatives.

As the taskforce's efforts unfold and as ArMA continues to nurture a sense of community and belonging for our members, I look forward to sharing our successes and opportunities to engage with you.

On another note, and in the spirit of collaborating with the broader organized medicine community, I am pleased to share an update from the Arizona Latin-American Medical Association and its vice-chair, Dr. Pedro Rodriguez-Guggiari. Please take a moment to learn more about ALMA’s admirable work and how you can get involved »

Thank you for being a part of the ArMA community. May you enjoy a wonderful start to the holiday season!

In the spirit of collaborating with the broader organized medicine community, I highlight a different medical society in each of my messages to ArMA's membership, giving our fellow colleagues a chance to share the initiatives they are undertaking.

Today, I am pleased to share an update from the Arizona Latin-American Medical Association and its vice-chair, Dr. Pedro Rodriguez-Guggiari.

Please take a moment to learn more about ALMA’s admirable work and how you can get involved below.

An ALMA Update From Pedro Rodriguez-Guggiari, MD

The Arizona Latin-American Medical Association (ALMA) is enthusiastic to re-engage with ArMA. Intentionally organized as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation in 1993, ALMA leaves direct political advocacy with government entities to other medical associations legally enabled for such purposes.

Hence, staying focused on our mission to “Coalesce passionate Healthcare Professionals, striving for excellent, inclusive, accessible healthcare for all Arizona Residents,” our goals are to:

• Promote partnerships and innovation to establish a network of health professionals facilitating access to health care for Arizona residents;
• Nurture health professionals involved in education, clinical research, and innovative health care delivery systems;
• Enhance collaboration with any society that shares the goal to develop sustainable cultural initiatives in Health, Arts & Integral wellbeing.

Pursuing the first, our members have contributed countless Volunteer-Doctor hours providing free and/or discounted care to the underinsured and uninsured since our inception. During the pandemic, we actively coordinated with the Governor’s Office regarding outreach efforts while providing a 24/7 telephone hotline attended exclusively by ALMA doctors. This service helped English- as well as Spanish-speaking callers with information and guidance during those times of duress.

Regarding our second goal, for the past 20 years, ALMA has provided substantial financial assistance for scores of medical, nursing, PharmD, and students in other health programs through scholarships. We emphasize the aid of bi-lingual Hispanic students in order to promote diversity in the medical field. ALMA physicians were also the catalyst resulting in the creation of Equality Health, which is now a four-state network.

More recently, we engaged in physician wellness and promotion of DEI in health care, which is so needed given the rate of burnout and colleagues leaving the field.

ALMA also recently established an Endowment Fund intended to improve our capacity to pursue our goals more effectively. To date, this initiative has been solely dependent on physicians’ commitment and generosity. We appreciate this opportunity to reach a larger audience, inviting you to join us in strengthening our capacity. Our annual fundraising event, the ALMA Scholarship and Endowment Fund Gala, celebrates our recipients while acknowledging donors. It is scheduled for Saturday, December 2, 2023, 6:30PM, at McCormick in Scottsdale. The ALMA Council invites ArMA members to our 25th Annual Gala. Details and tickets may be obtained at www.almahealhcare.com.

ALMA’s growth as a non-profit organization keeps the Physician–Patient relationship at its core. It supports our colleagues and associates through all stages of their careers while factoring in changing times. Increased collaboration is vital to our efforts!

Thank you!

Pedro Rodriguez-Guggiari, MD
Vice-chair, Arizona Latin-American Medical Association

This month, I am pleased to share an update from the Arizona Academy of Family Physicians (AzAFP) and its president, Dr. Kristina Diaz. Over the past few months, AzAFP has secured major wins in the arena of health care advocacy, including increased eligibility for KidsCare, and as the session slowly winds down, they have big plans for the future.

Please take a moment to learn more about AzAFP’s admirable work and how you can get involved.

An AzAFP Update from Kristina Diaz, MD, MBA, FAAFP

I am the new President of the Arizona Academy of Family Physicians and was installed in March of this year! We are off to a great start, and I’m looking forward to meeting as many of you as possible over the course of the next year. This year, we’ve been very busy monitoring the events at the Arizona Legislature.  As you know, the session has still not adjourned after more than 188 days! One issue we advocated for that passed was increased eligibility for KidsCare up to 225% of the federal poverty level from 200%. During the session, the AzAFP hosted a legislator tour of Banner University Family Medicine Residency Program where Steve Brown, MD, the program director gave a GME presentation.  On the federal advocacy front, this year, the AzAFP offered, for the second year, a Health Policy Scholars Program for residents and students. This program offers several presentations between December and May focusing on advocacy, DEI, and other health policy topics. The program wraps up with AzAFP sponsoring each participant’s trip to DC for the AAFP’s Hill Visits. 

We are currently in Kansas City, MO, for the American Academy of Family Physician’s (AAFP) National Conference where all Arizona Family Medicine Residency Programs exhibit to try to attract medical students to join their programs! We updated our exhibit space this year to make it more attractive and cohesive! The AZ FM programs enjoy working together and successfully completed the first Spring Academic Family Medicine Research, QI & Innovation Forum. This program allowed residents to present research projects and share information across programs! We plan to continue this event each year.

We’re also happy to let you know that the AAFP’s premier CME event will be September 24-28, 2024, in Phoenix at the Convention Center. We will be hosting fun events during this time and would love to have all of you involved! We’ll keep you updated on this event! If you’re interested in this year’s AAFP CME event in Chicago, you can check out the website here:https://www.aafp.org/events/fmx.html

We appreciate the opportunity to let you know what we’re up to and look forward to working with all of you in the days, weeks, and years to come!

Best,
Kristina Diaz, MD, MBA, FAAFP
AzAFP President

This month, I am honored to share an update from the Arizona Psychiatric Society (APS) and its president, Dr. Gagandeep Singh. Over the past few months, APS has been hyper-focused on ensuring success in the legislative arena, as our peers specializing in psychiatry faced many dangerous scope of practice expansion bills from psychologists. Please take a moment to learn more about their admirable work and how you can get involved.

An APS Update from Gagandeep Singh, MD

The Arizona Psychiatric Society (APS) is the professional association in the state of Arizona that focuses on the needs of physicians who specialize in psychiatry. We represent the 485 member psychiatrists across Arizona. APS addresses all aspects of psychiatric care and includes public, academic, and private practice psychiatrists, as well as psychiatric residents. Our objectives are to continuously improve the ability of our members to provide quality psychiatric services and access to care to persons in need and their families. APS strives to promote the welfare of all those with mental illness and to foster the medically based principles of psychiatry.

We have experienced a highly successful year from an advocacy standpoint thus far. APS sponsored SB1018, a bill designed to expand the adoption of evidence-based practices for enhancing access to mental health and collaborative care. This bill establishes the Collaborative Care Uptake Fund and requires the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) to use fund monies to make grants to primary care physicians who are in a medical practice with up to 50 employees to meet the initial costs of establishing and delivering behavioral health integration services through the collaborative care model. It specifies the expenses that a primary care physician that receives a grant may use the grant monies for. ADHS is required to solicit proposals from and enter into grant agreements with eligible collaborative care technical assistance center applicants to provide technical assistance to primary care physicians providing behavioral health integration services through the collaborative care model. A collaborative care technical assistance center that receives a grant is required to assist primary care physicians with a list of tasks. The bill has appropriated $1 million from the state’s FY2023-24 budget to the fund, which will be distributed by ADHS. Currently, we are meeting with ADHS to ensure the funds are successfully deployed.

Other bills supported by APS that passed included 2753 (graduate medical education; residency programs and SB1220 (Alzheimer’s disease state plan; appropriation).

In addition, with ArMA’s support, APS successfully opposed SB1457 (psychologists; prescribing authority), which would have expanded the scope of practice for psychologists. The bill sought to allow prescribing authority to non-physicians without adequate training and overrode safeguards for ensuring high-quality, safe psychiatry care.

APS also successfully participated in an event to improve awareness about mental health and reduce stigma at the Arizona State Capitol on May 8. We joined several other agencies in the reading of a mental health proclamation.

Outside of our advocacy efforts, APS held a highly successful annual meeting on April 15, which was attended by over 100 professionals. We offered 6 CME credits and brought together experts from all areas of psychiatry to share their latest research, best practices, and insights into the challenges facing our profession. It was also a chance for psychiatrists across the state to find time to bond with their peers and thus, enhance their well-being.

In the coming year, APS will continue to work to ensure access to mental health care for Arizonians. This means we will continue to work with stakeholders to ensure people in Arizona can maintain health care coverage, have parity in access to mental health care, have availability of collaborative care models, and have available specialty mental health care when needed.

We also continue to build a community of support to promote our own well-being and prevent burnout. We will provide opportunities for psychiatrists to connect with each other and find a sense of community while also providing ongoing education and CME opportunities.

Finally, while we firmly believe that health care is a team sport, and we value the unique contributions and skills of each profession that contributes to great care, we will continue to advocate against scope of work changes so we can ensure high-quality, safe care for Arizonians at risk.

We cannot do any of this work alone. Several society members are active in ArMA, and we continue to look forward to our collaboration. If you’d like to learn more about APS, I invite you to visit our website and get in touch!

Sincerely,
Gagandeep Singh, MD
President, Arizona Psychiatric Society

This month, I am pleased to present some words from the Arizona Society of Anesthesiologists (AzSA) and their president, Dr. Steve Lindauer. Under Dr. Lindauer’s direction, AzSA has been hard at work, fiercely advocating against dangerous scope of practice expansions and more. Please take a moment to learn more about their important work and how you can get involved.

An AzSA Update From Steve Lindauer, MD

The Arizona Society of Anesthesiologists (AzSA) is comprised of over 800 physician members. AzSA’s primary mandate is advocating for and advancing the safe practice of anesthesiology in the state of Arizona. Together with ArMA, AzSA has worked tirelessly to ensure all Arizonans have access to safe, high-quality physician-led anesthetic care.

During the 2023 Arizona Legislative Session, AzSA has very actively combatted the Arizona Association of Nurse Anesthetists’ attempts to remove physicians from anesthesia care. Chief among their attempts was SB1269, the CRNA independent practice bill. This bill would have removed the requirement for physician direction of nurse anesthetists in Arizona. United with ArMA, AzSA successfully engaged a strong response to SB1269, resulting in overwhelming opposition to the bill on multiple fronts, including multispecialty grassroots and professional lobbying.

With this strategic response, we were ultimately successful in defeating SB1269. AzSA and ArMA also had a great deal of success removing dangerous scope of practice expansion language in SB1334, the APRN State Compact Bill, and advocated for the protection of the Sunrise Review Process, which was ultimately upheld.

AzSA supported HB2457, a bill that would give anesthesiologist assistants licensure in Arizona. Certified anesthesiologist assistants (CAAs), like nurse anesthetists, can play a vital role in the anesthesia care team. For more information on CAAs, please see the following statement by the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA): https://www.asahq.org/standards-and-guidelines/statement-on-certified-anesthesiologist-assistants-description-and-practice

HB2457 passed through the House with a strong vote of 49-11. Unfortunately, the bill was not given a fair debate in the Senate, as Senator T.J. Shope, Chair of the Senate Health Committee, refused to hear the bill.

In addition to these state-level initiatives, AzSA and ASA have engaged many national initiatives, including:

1. Protecting physician-led anesthetic care at the VA.
   
2. Supporting H.R. 2474, Strengthening Medicare for Patients and Providers Act — add a mandatory inflation update to Medicare physician payments.
   
3. Urging Congress to hold government agencies responsible for implementation of the No Surprises Act consistent with the original intent of the law (To this date, these agencies have fallen short in creating an unbiased and balanced independent dispute resolution (IDR) process that would give physicians and insurance companies equal footing in negotiations.)
   
4. Supporting legislation that would create additional graduate medical education (GME) funding that would provide 14,000 additional residency positions.

Though it is clear we face a wide range of challenges in Arizona and nationally, AzSA remains committed to facing these challenges and advancing physician-led care anesthetic care in Arizona for generations to come. If you’re an anesthesiologist or anesthesiologist-in-training, I welcome and encourage you to join our society and its efforts to defend our specialty! Please learn more about AzSA and becoming a member by visiting our website: https://az-anes.org/.

Sincerely,
Steve Lindauer, MD, FASA
President, Arizona Society of Anesthesiologists

Over the past year, the Arizona Medical Association worked diligently to actively support physicians and patients on multiple fronts, achieving momentous wins along the way. From developing a robust 3-year strategic plan for success to tackling key strategic objectives, ArMA’s efforts have been thoughtful, well-balanced, and focused on both our internal strength and external influence.

It is my pleasure to highlight a few of our many accomplishments during my presidential term.

Reproductive Health
ArMA has been a leading voice in efforts to affirm that reproductive health care is essential to people’s overall health. In accordance with our policies, we have continued to fight for appropriate access to care and against the criminalization of our physician community. Over the past year, ArMA has taken significant action to improve access to reproductive health care in our state. This included issuing a public call to action, filing a lawsuit requesting our state courts harmonize the laws regulating access to reproductive health care, and convening a stakeholder coalition with more than 50 representatives from Arizona’s health care community to develop a joint statement on behalf of our member organizations. ArMA remains committed to protecting your freedom to deliver care that is in the best interest of your patients.

Destigmatizing Mental Health
At the end of the 2022 Legislative Session, ArMA’s signature legislation, HB2429, reached the ultimate milestone, passing the Arizona State Legislature with nearly unanimous support and being signed into law by Governor Ducey. This new statute supports the well-being of Arizona’s physicians and nurses by encouraging the seeking of timely, confidential mental health care.

In conjunction with common sense changes to the reporting requirements on the medical licensure application and ArMA’s very own DOC2DOCAZ peer support program, these efforts send a clear message to our physician community that seeking timely mental health treatment is essential to whole-person health.

Addressing Healthcare Workforce Shortages
While there has been long-standing awareness regarding the serious impacts of the ongoing shortage of healthcare workforce personnel in Arizona, there has not been, until this past year, a coordinated approach taken to address this important issue. Thusly, ArMA has stepped up to take a leadership position on this need. With funding and support from the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS), ArMA has convened a Healthy Arizona Workforce Coalition (HAWC) that is meeting monthly to explore short-, mid-, and long-term solutions to the workforce crisis. This work is critical to ensuring that our healthcare workforce is able to meet the demands of Arizona’s unique and growing population.

Physician Leadership
ArMA is committed to helping each of our members develop their leadership skills, something that is not adequately addressed in our training. As part of those efforts, ArMA hosted a 4-part webinar series titled “4 Physician Perspectives on Transformative Leadership” last summer. That series was followed by ArMA’s inaugural Physician Leadership Course, a virtual, 10-week leadership development workshop. In addition to those sessions, we are pleased to be highlighting physician leadership during our 2023 Annual Meeting with a theme of “More Than a LeaDr.” and including 3 hours of CME credit on the topic of physician leadership.

Social Determinants of Health
One of our main goals over the past year has been to bring awareness to the social determinants of health (SDOH) impacting patient populations. As physicians, knowing how to efficiently and effectively screen for and address SDOH for our patients can drastically improve health outcomes. ArMA was one of 5 organizations across the U.S. to receive grant funding that will enhance our capacity to help physicians optimize the integration of SDOH into their practices in a way that enhances patient health and increases the value of care. Not only will this grant make the generation and compilation of resources possible, but it will also give our professional association the means to organize integration efforts and collect meaningful data. As the work on this grant is ongoing, ArMA has been highlighting members each month who are exemplars of incorporating SDOH into practice. Additionally, your professional association hosted a live, CME-accredited course on the social determinants of health at play in Arizona, which is now available online. These efforts make a difference and deserve to be recognized!

Modernizing ArMA Governance
ArMA’s Bylaws Committee has taken on the extensive responsibility of reviewing our governance structure and considering how to make it nimbler and more inclusive of our membership. The Committee has done a great job of developing a proposal to modernize ArMA’s House of Delegates in a way that addresses policy setting, leadership elections, and bylaw amendments. With this proposal, ArMA would move to a year-round process for considering new policy resolutions. In addition, the entire membership would have more opportunities for engagement on policy proposals and the ability to elect the leadership of our society. These concepts have already been adopted by a majority of other state medical associations, and we are learning from their success. The final proposal will be presented for approval at the 2023 House of Delegates meeting.

A Focus on the Future
ArMA’s continued success is dependent on meeting the needs of our members. Earlier this year, we conducted a survey of all ArMA members and convened focus groups as part of the planning process for the development of our 3-year strategic plan. The results of that member engagement show that ArMA provides its members with the value they expect from a professional association, and our members are overwhelmingly satisfied with their membership. Armed with this data and other information, our leadership developed and approved a new three-year plan that aims to address healthcare needs strategically and proactively in Arizona. Our strategic focus will direct the association’s resources and efforts toward a clearly defined future in which ArMA continues to serve as the largest organization representing physicians throughout our state.

None of this would be possible without you. Thank you for playing a vital and valued role in our organization!

Warm regards,
Jennifer Hartmark-Hill, MD, FAAFP
ArMA's 131st President