AOA Dues Increase to Fund Public Education Campaign - American Osteopathic Association - Brief Article

0 Comments | Family Practice News, Sept 1, 2000 | by Greg Borzo

CHICAGO -- The American Osteopathic Association's "unity" campaign appears to have instilled solidarity within the group; AOA's 430-member House of Delegates voted unanimously to approve a 20% dues increase at its annual meeting.

The AOA launched the "unity" campaign 2 years ago to rally together disparate groups within the house of osteopathic medicine and bolster the public and professional image of osteopathic physicians.

Full membership dues in 2001 will climb $100 (to $590); new physicians, students, military, and other categories of physicians will see smaller increases. This is the AOAs first dues increase in 5 years; 17% of the new funds are earmarked for the unity push, a $2-million consumer advertising campaign.

The dues increase follows an attempt to finance such ads by assessing regular members $100. In each of the past 2 years, only about one-third of AOA members paid the voluntary assessment.

Dr. Norbert Buddle, membership director, does not expect the dues hike to hurt membership, which has grown steadily in recent years. Strong programs and new online benefits will continue to bring in new members, despite the additional cost of membership," he said. AOA picked up 522 new members last year and 1,347 the year before. Membership stands at 29,400, or about 66% of the nation's approximately 44,000 osteopathic physicians (DOs).

Future growth depends, in large part, on attracting graduates of osteopathic medical schools and getting them active in the profession. AOA's new president, Dr. Donald J. Krpan, dedicated his 1-year term to the challenges of graduate medical education. Studies have shown that DOs who continue in AOA-approved postdoctoral training programs are four times as likely to be active members of the profession than those who train outside the profession, he said. "I ask that our colleges recognize a 7-year commitment from the date a student enters one of our programs."

But there is a shortage of osteopathic internships and residencies. Noting that only 53% of the class of 2000 graduates have been matched with AOA-approved programs, Dr. Krpan urged osteopathic colleges to hold medical school class sizes at current levels until adequate postdoctoral training is available to satisfy the demand.

"We simply have not done a good job of keeping the supply of quality osteopathic training positions balanced with the demand," Dr. Krpan said.

In other matters, the delegates:

* Urged physicians to warn their patients about the dangers of Internet sites that prescribe and sell medications without a thorough knowledge of the patient.

* Called for holding dietary supplements and herbal remedies to the same Food and Drug Administration reporting and labeling requirements that are applied to prescription drugs.

* Endorsed a modified version of the Milbank Memorial Fund's "Core Principles for End-of-Life Care." At least 14 medical groups, including the American Medical Association and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, have endorsed the principles, which call for compassion and dignity in death.

* Endorsed efforts to ensure adequate funding for the Newborn Infant Hearing Screening and Intervention Act of 1999, which provides up to 3 years of funds for state grants to develop screening and intervention programs. One out of every 1,000 Americans is born deaf or with severe hearing loss; if not detected early, it can interfere with speech and language development.

* Deferred for further study a plan for a new national program to replace Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. The new system would offer uniform eligibility and benefits for all children; contributions would vary according to family income. Children could be enrolled in a private insurance plan or be automatically enrolled in a new national program. Delegates said more study was needed on the far-reaching plan.

* Rejected as ambiguous a proposal to endorse the use of existing professional review organizations to investigate and review issues raised by the Institute of Medicine's 1999 report on medical errors, which found that up to 98,000 hospital patients die each year due to medical errors.

Although these and most other matters considered during the 3-day meeting were resolved with little or no discussion, delegates bogged down in a lengthy debate about physician competency and cultural diversity. Some physicians indicated that the debate was off the mark, even embarrassing. The initial resolution read, quite simply, that "the AOA endorse and promote the Healthy People 2010." But amendments called on the AOA to "encourage the integration of curriculum guidelines for competency in cultural diversity."

Several delegates suggested that such a statement could generate legal liabilities and expose DOs to financial risk. "I should not be held responsible for learning about and understanding all the cultural diversity that exists in this country," one delegate said. Others feared that all-inclusive statements in the Healthy People 2010 documents would encourage nonphysicians to increase their scope of practice. After two roll calls on wording of the resolution, delegates adopted the measure with the amendment about competency in cultural diversity but directed it to legal council for review.