HJAR May/Jun 2021

DIALOGUE Editor It was announced that this year’s AMS conference will be held virtually. I think some of us were hoping that “normality” might return in 2021, especially with so many healthcare workers vaccinated. Can you speak to the decision to go virtual? Wroten As an organization representing physicians, AMS felt strongly that we should lead by example. The pandemic, despite what some want to believe, is still evolving. With the technology that exists today, there is no reason to rush back into “in-person” meetings with a hundred people in a room. That time will come, but for now, let’s put the safety of our population first. Editor What is the biggest frustration you hear from your members about the practice of medicine today, and what are they joyfully surprised at? About the Arkansas Medical Society The Arkansas Medical Society is the professional trade association for Arkansas physicians. The AMS was established in 1875 and currently represents over 4,000 physicians and medical students in all fields of medicine. The AMS serves as the voice of Arkansas Medicine and is involved in all issues affecting health and the delivery of medical care. Wroten Perhaps the biggest frustration con- tinues to be dealing with insurance carri- ers. Even practices that consist of employed physicians must still deal with what we call the “hassle factor.” Think about it. You’ve got Medicare, Medicaid, multiple Medicare Advantage plans, several commercial insur- ance plans with multiple plan options and then you have self-funded health plans. All these come with varying rules and hoops to jump through in order to treat your patient such as required referrals and prior autho- rizations. Then there’s another set of varying rules and hoops to jump through in order to get paid for the treatments that have been provided. A close second would have to be dealing with technology. The concept of electronic medical records makes sense theoretically and in time, it will make sense from a prac- tice perspective. However, many physicians continue to be frustrated with the process of adoption and how that can impact a physician’s daily work in two ways. First, entering data onto a laptop or tablet takes time. That’s time you cannot get back to see a fewmore patients during a busy day. Some physicians have resorted to using scribes. Rather than entering data themselves, they record everything and have someone tran- scribe the information into their EMR sys- tem. The other issue is the potential to inter- fere with their care of the patient. When a physician is in an exam roomwith a patient and they are entering information into a laptop or tablet, physicians worry that they come across as indifferent or disinterested in what’s going on with the patient. On the flip side, and I’m not sure I’d call it a surprise, but physicians still love what they do. Taking care of patients (despite all the interferences) and knowing that they made a difference in someone’s life is why they went into the noble profession in the first place. n 12 MAY / JUN 2021 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS