I’ve written before about an AMA half-price membership flyer, and pointed out it was actually half-price because it was for half a year.
Today comes a pitch email for half price AMA membership. Mildly curious to see if they’re still running the same playbook I followed their link, and when looking into the details, got to this page (click for full-size):
This is an even better deal than before! Now I am offered the chance to pay for six months’ membership and will actually get 4 1/2 months (April 17th through August 31st, 2007)! Yes, that’s right, I’d actually be paying more than full price!
Aah, with leadership like this is it any wonder physicians are voting with their wallets, and sitting on them rather than join the AMA?
Could those be the dates that you can use the half-off offer, that would then be good for a year? Say if you tried to subscribe Sept. 1, you’d have to pay full price, but if you pay now you just pay 1/2 the price?
Just wondering.
The AM-What?
The AM-What?
I dunno… I hear there’s this organization out there for physicians… except it’s not really for physicians… or something.
Whatever. I have to go see a nosebleed.
It is the same ol’ sales pitch. But it is true. Whatever the problems with the AMA currently (and despite my very deep involvement with organized medicine I admit some), a large organized lobby is an absolute necessity to influence public policy.
The AMA has its high profile legislative failures, but if physicians think government’s involvement in health care can’t get worse that is a sad mistake.
Centralization of money, effort, resource is the absolute key. Every physician going off and advocating on his/her own is magnitudes less successful than a collaborative effort. Such being the case isn’t being part of organized medicine and trying to change it from the inside better than merely scoffing at it?
WE (the people in the Trenches) have an organization like that already… it is headquartered in Dallas.
Actually, Colin, No.
I, and many like me, will not join the AMA because they haven’t very publically announced that they’re going to change their ways and stick to an agenda that is very clearly in the interest of all doctors and patients. Their prior advocacy into things that are a) none of the AMA’s business as a national organization and b) anathema to my concepts and politics will keep me away until there is a very decided refocusing.
By joining now all I’d do is tell the AMA leadership ‘sure, you’re on the right course’. They may well be on some issues, but on others they have been so far off I won’t support them. Also, I’d display an ineptitude at basic math.
I think the future of medical representation on State and National levels is going to be through the professional societies, because a) their messages are more focused, and b) individual docs can have more input into their societies than I could as an AMA member. I’m a Member of both ACEP and AAEM, and where my/their interests and the AMA’s correspond, terrific; where they diverge I’m more likely than not to side with my EM Societies. (Which isn’t to say the EM societies are always right either, they aren’t).