KNOXVILLE ACADEMY OF MEDICINE
KNOXVILLEMEDICINE.ORG
Academy Officers
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
KAM
By: Thomas Pollard, MD
KNOXVILLE ACADEMY OF MEDICINE
Thomas Pollard, MD PRESIDENT
Neil Coleman, MD PRESIDENT ELECT
Ceeccy Yang, MD SECRETARY
Tim Wilson, MD TREASURER
Pat O’Brien, MD
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
Kimberly Weaver, PhD CEO
Board of Trustees Clif Tennison, MD Jeff Ollis, MD David Harris, MD Michael Brunson, MD Daniel Bustamante, MD
Ex- Officio Board Members Randal Dabbs, MD Elise Denneny, MD Richard DePersio, MD Jerry Epps, MD Robert Page, MD Lorraine Johnson -KAMA
Publisher Kim Weaver, PhD
Editor Jonathan Weaver
Production Coordinator Margaret Maddox
Advertising David Caudill
ADVERTISING: For advertising information, call the Academy offices at (865) 531-2766. The magazine is published four times per year by the Knoxville Academy of Medicine (KAM). All rights reserved. This publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced without the expressed written consent of the KAM. The appearance of advertising in KAM publications is not a KAM guarantee/endorsement of the product or the claims made for the product by the manufacturer. The fact that an advertisement for a product, service, or company has appeared in a KAM publication shall not be referred to in collateral advertising. The KAM reserves the right to accept or reject any advertising in the publication.
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“Doctor”. For as long as we can remember, this word has been associated with feelings of trust, professionalism, and respect. Your doctor always took care of you and your family. Your doctor could be reached at any time to allay your fears and to address your healthcare needs. Your doctor was the primary decision-maker regarding the medical needs of the community. Over the years, the term “doctor” has lost some of its mystique. The term applies to any individual who has an advanced degree in his or her given field, not just medicine. In the healthcare community, doctors of pharmacy, nursing, and administration, just to name a few, all play a vital role in our medical community. It is not the dilution of the term “doctor” that should garner our attention, but rather, the attack on our role as the primary supervisor of the health care needs of our patients. Government, third-party payors, and ancillary institutions have all issued challenges to our role, disguised as improvements in access to care and cost-cutting. At the Tennessee Medical Association delegates meeting this past month, maintaining our professional integrity was a theme of several resolutions. These actions encouraged our lawmakers to forbid the continued use of the term “medical” in advertisement particularly as it relates to “medical“ spas and salons unless a licensed physician is directly involved in the supervision of these businesses. In order to protect our patients further, the delegates asked that the State support legislation to forbid the sale of tanning services to minors at these establishments. All of us have also been effected by the efforts of our respective medical specialty societies to impose maintenance of certification (MOC) on our practice. Although the intent of these mandates is to improve quality of patient care, there is no good evidence that MOC is any better at achieving this goal over the quality initiatives of individual practices and hospitals. As the cost of MOC has become burdensome to the physician, the TMA has asked the State to no longer use MOC as a qualifier for state licensure and hospital privileging.
These are just a few examples of how the Knoxville Academy of Medicine and TMA are working on your behalf to maintain our professional integrity as doctors. I cannot thank you enough as members for your continued support of our legislative efforts!
Tommy
Calendar of Events JUNE 20 24 JULY 27
Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament Casual Pint - Farrgut, 6:30 pm KAM Family Fun Night with the Smokies, Smokies Stadium, 6:30 pm
TMA/KAM Payment Reform Roadshow, UTMCK Heart Hospital Conference Room, 8:00 am
AUGUST KAM/KAMA Family Picnic, Gettysvue 19 pavilion, 5:00 pm
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Blount County Medical Society Picnic Royal Oaks Country Club, 5:30 pm
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