CHICAGO – The American Medical Association will convene its five-day annual meeting here on June 13 with a policy-filled agenda that includes discussion of the healthcare IT provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The meeting concludes on June 17.

The IT panel, which is expected to include a representative from the Department of Health and Human Services, is slated for Monday, June 15, from 8-9 a.m. A separate panel on Monday will feature the Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania, a recognized IT leader.

Healthcare reform and the use of IT to help achieve it has been at center stage for the AMA; the association recently joined other healthcare professionals and lobbying groups in Washington, D.C. to tell President Barack Obama they are on board with health reform.

"The AMA is committed to action to help achieve greater value from our nation's healthcare spending," AMA President Nancy H. Nielsen said on June 1. "We want to help bend the spending curve and move forward on health reform."

Several cost-savings measures outlined by the AMA and other organizations are based on the use of information technology.

The AMA conference will become "the center of American medicine, bringing together the nation's broadest representation of physicians," said AMA executives. In all, 543 physician delegates will speak on behalf of their peers from 180 medical societies and groups during discussions that address issues that affect physicians and the patients they serve. 

Policy recommendations from more than 200 reports and resolutions will be considered through a democratic process designed to create a national physician consensus on healthcare issues. The physician consensus results in policies that not only give the AMA direction, but act as the driving force to move the profession, even the nation, toward change, AMA leaders said.

Other special programming slated for Monday, June 15, includes:

• Heal the Claims Process: Check-up for Physicians and Payers. The AMA will reveal results from its second annual "National Health Insurer Report Card" showing how each of the nation's largest health insurers is performing in terms of timeliness, transparency and accuracy of claims processing.
• Current Concepts in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury. The Federal and Military Medicine Section Council will sponsor a presentation on two of the most prevalent conditions affecting military personnel returning from Afghanistan and Iraq: post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. Experts will present the current understanding of the two conditions and the magnitude, prevalence and medical burden of these disorders and share insights into evolving therapeutic interventions.
• Lessons on Establishing a Quality Improvement Culture. Physician efforts to transform patient care delivery and quality at the Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania will be highlighted. Key features of this successful initiative will be identified, including performance measures developed by the AMA convened Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement.

On Tuesday, June 16, the meeting will feature the inauguration of the AMA's 164th  president, J. James Rohack, MD, a cardiologist from Bryan, Texas.