We are ONE
 wo
years ago, the American Medical Association (AMA)
began its campaign with the theme “Together
We Are Stronger.” How true do those words become
apparent every day? We could do amazing things in
so many aspects of our professional lives if we worked
together for common goals. Does that mean we have
to agree on everything from the get-go? Of course
not. But in the end, we need to agree to disagree,
come up with a united plan and move our agenda forward…
together. Those with whom we don’t necessarily
see eye-to-eye on many issues would like to see nothing
more than a House of Medicine that is divided instead
of focused on moving our Society and our profession
forward.
Last month I was invited as a guest to a place few
physicians have ever explored before — the Board
of Trustees of the Michigan Health & Hospital
Association. After a weekend of collegial dialogue,
we knew that we never would agree on everything, but
we did come to a consensus. We concluded that we are
together on 90 percent of our issues and that we would
leave those few that were contentious “in the
parking lot” and move forward together as a
united team… the physicians… the hospitals
and, yes… even the health plans. The end result
was the effectiveness of ONE.
“The way a team plays as a whole determines
its success,” Babe Ruth once said. “You
may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in
the world, but if they don’t play together,
the club won’t be worth a dime.”
How true is this? Do you remember after 9/11 how there
were no longer Republicans and Democrats, but everyone
was an American? The partisan bickering of the past
that had held this country hostage for so many years
was gone. We worked together, because at that time,
we all were attacked. In some ways, this country was
never stronger. Those attacking the United States
probably cringed at the idea of all of us working
together — as one — to fight the attacks
on our people. By working together, as a nation of
ONE, our accomplishments could be endless.
All of these principles hold true for our specialty.
Think about so many of our activities. If every ASA
member gave just $50 per year to our Foundation for
Anesthesia Education and Research, that would be $2,250,000
additional dollars into its coffers to sustain our
specialty and to reach new horizons in research. How
about $50 a year to the Anesthesia Patient Safety
Foundation, another $2,250,000 to the world leader
in patient safety studies? I am pretty sure that when
you go out for a dinner for two on a Saturday night,
you spend more than that! Can you imagine the strength
if each and every member of ASA gave just $100 to
our ASA Political Action Committee (ASAPAC)? ASAPAC’s
receipts would be more than $4.5 million — just
think about the impact that would have. Better yet,
think about American physicians. Most recent reports
are that there are about 950,000 physicians practicing
in the United States. If each physician gave $50 (the
equivalent of about a dozen caramel macchiatos) to
the American Medical Association’s AMPAC, it
would have receipts of $47 million, which would make
it clearly the largest political action committee
in America — and would likely be the greatest
voice in Washington.
Last August at the ASA Board of Directors meeting
in Chicago, there was discussion about plans to increase
ASA’s contribution to our foundations. At one
point, someone stood up and referred to academic anesthesiologists
and private practice anesthesiologists as “us
and them.” “Us and them?!” I was
taken aback. Then there was a side discussion that
ASAPAC was for “private practice issues.”
Pretty confident that this was not a common thought
by anesthesiologists in any of the different practice
models, it was still baffling. What is the one thing
that our Washington Office and our ASAPAC have worked
so hard for over the past few years? The “Teaching
Rule,” the fight to change the way that the
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services pays
for teaching anesthesiologists in our academic programs.
We will be successful on this issue because of the
united strength of our entire anesthesiology community
fighting together for what is right. Resident education
and the solvency of our programs are vital for the
growth of our academic departments as well as our
private practices. Without successful and flourishing
residencies, private practitioners will have no one
to join their practices — they will be stifled
and unable to expand and build.
We are not the “Academic Society of Anesthesiologists”
or “Community Society of Anesthesiologists,”
we are the AMERICAN Society of Anesthesiologists.
We can, will, must and do work together for the needs
of our specialty. Together we are so much stronger,
together we will be heard with one articulate voice.
If we want to debate, let’s do it with collegiality,
professionalism and respect and then come out of the
room with one united message.
We are ONE.
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