Contents
The American Medical Association is focused on making technology an asset, not a burden, in the delivery of health care. We believe it is our responsibility to help ensure that the needs of physicians and their patients are articulated, respected and addressed. That’s why we have built a powerful and committed network—one we’d like you to consider being a part of—to remove obstacles that interfere with patient care, and to help drive health care technology in promising directions that are fair, unbiased and deliver the highest standard of care for all patients.
Our goal is simple: in the early stages of ideation, design, development and validation, we are working to encourage health innovation that addresses the needs and cultural perspectives of all patients, physicians and the broader care team—inclusive of diverse races, ethnicities, gender identities and sexual orientations, religious practices, ability status and preferred languages. We believe innovation is best achieved when a focus on health equity is there from the start.
Evidence-based, patient-centered, care team-focused, equity-minded and actively seeking common ground with others working to improve care delivery—that’s the AMA’s vision.
Learn more about our work in driving the future of digital health, and about our state and federal advocacy efforts to ensure the needs of patients and physicians are always front and center.
Optimizing and sustaining digital health
Surfacing the most relevant insights, expertise and resources.
The AMA has developed a “Return on Health” framework in collaboration with Manatt Health. This resource helps organizations clearly articulate the value of digitally enabled care by accounting for ways in which virtual care can increase overall health and generate positive impact for patients, clinicians, payors and society across various measures and value streams.
AMA's “Return on Health” report (PDF) includes case studies that explore the value of virtual care, plus real-world examples and illustrative scenarios that show how to apply the framework when considering different environmental variables.
The AMA also offers an ongoing series of Future of Health webinars available on demand and a series of digital health implementation playbooks that focus on education and optimization. It is resources like these, in addition to research the AMA conducts regularly to understand physicians’ motivations and requirements regarding the adoption of digital clinical tools, that are now in place and helping physicians, practices and health systems navigate the world of digitally enabled care.
Developing targeted state and federal campaigns to remove barriers and expand access to digital medicine.
Committed to patient care and physician practice sustainability, the AMA is a proven force that has successfully advocated for expanding access to—and payment for—digital medicine services, including telehealth, remote patient monitoring and e-consults. These efforts are especially critical for physicians working with patients in rural and urban medically underserved areas. In addition to the groundbreaking work of the AMA’s Digital Medicine Payment Advisory Group, AMA is working closely with national physician experts in digital medicine, key associations, and other stakeholders at the federal and state level to remove regulatory burdens and confusion.
These concerted efforts resulted in 2018’s landmark expansion in Medicare and Veteran’s Health Administration digital medicine access and coverage. At the state level, there has been great success with the streamlining of requirements and the passage of laws that ensure coverage parity. At the practice level, through the Digital Health Implementation Playbook Series and AMA “Return on Health” value framework (PDF), the AMA is providing physicians with a roadmap to clinical integration that is helping accelerate practice change.
It’s the AMA’s coalition building and breadth of expertise—which includes coding, payment policy, evidence aggregation and advocacy—that makes us a powerful ally and sets us apart as an organization.
Facilitating augmented intelligence (AI) integration
With rapid advancements in AI-enabled health care innovation, the AMA is committed to helping physicians become well-informed.
In 2023, the AMA conducted a comprehensive study (PDF) to better understand physician sentiments toward health care AI, including motivations, opportunities, concerns, requirements and current usage. We know that physicians are both excited and concerned about AI’s impact on health care and seek trusted resources and guidance for answers and meaningful perspective on AI. As part of AMA's successful work to fill this void, the AMA has issued foundational health care AI policy. This includes updated AI Principles (PDF) addressing the development, deployment, and use of AI in health care.
In addition, the AMA continues to seek and gain multi-stakeholder collaboration to address priorities such as transparency, privacy, equity, ethics, clinical validation, Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) coding structures, payment models and usability. We offer continuing medical education for the digital age, as well as AI-specific content that explains the landscape and points to where this fast-emerging technology may take patient care and medical practice in the future.
Additionally, the AMA has released the Future of Health: The Emerging Landscape of Augmented Intelligence in Health Care report, which offers a panoramic view of AI's current role in health care, outlines a common vocabulary around AI, and reviews the risks and opportunities associated with the design, development, and use of AI in practice.
Long recognized for a track record in championing evidence-based medicine and high-quality clinical care, the AMA seeks to be a helpful force in the AI conversation by contributing to:
- Development of rigorous standards and guidelines
- Medical ethics
- Effective advocacy
- Physician input and insights
- Adoption and implementation in health care settings
- Industry/developer collaboration
Fighting physician burnout
Promoting physician well-being, enhancing professional satisfaction and giving physicians more time with patients.
According to industry surveys, more than 40% of U.S. physicians experience burnout at some point in their careers. As the physician’s powerful ally in patient care, the AMA is working to change this statistic. From ensuring physicians have a direct say in EHR usability, to simplifying documentation and coding and fighting prior authorization, we are implementing digital health solutions to reduce administrative burdens so physicians can get back to what matters most—caring for patients.
To attack burdensome reporting guidelines and subsequent “note bloat” within patient records, the AMA brought together specialty societies and other health care professional organizations via the CPT® Editorial Panel and AMA/Specialty Society RVS Update Committee to partner with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on the first overhaul of evaluation and management (E/M) office visit codes in more than 25 years.
On Jan. 1, 2021, this landmark effort delivered coding simplifications that have freed physicians from undue documentation complexity by:
- Eliminating history and physical exam as elements necessary for code selection
- Allowing physicians to choose whether their documentation is based on medical decision-making (MDM) or total time
- Modifying MDM criteria to move away from simply adding up tasks to focus on tasks that affect the management of a patient’s condition
It’s through efforts like these—efforts that translate into more time for physicians—that the AMA is fighting burnout and working to improve professional satisfaction.
Investing in equitable health care innovation
Professional stewardship demands we be in the middle of the action.
High-quality health care increasingly is dependent on advances in technology and science, advances that are taking place at lightning speed. The AMA has a responsibility not only to keep pace, but to be ever-present in helping ensure innovations in medicine are evidence-based, validated, actionable, equitable and strengthen the patient-physician relationship.
To this end, the AMA’s investment in innovation is both strategic and long term.
The AMA is committed to forging powerful partnerships and alliances, to delivering effective advocacy for patients and physicians, and to funding and disseminating research that spurs product development and new thinking.
Several resources, efforts and collaborations help comprise the AMA innovation ecosystem, a vibrant space featuring dynamic entities and initiatives such as the AMA Physician Innovation Network, Health 2047, the AMA Ed Hub™, the MATTER health technology incubator, the Digital Medicine Payment Advisory Group, the CPT Editorial Panel, electronic health records research, and many more key players and activities.
Collaborating to support equitable health innovation.
The In Full Health Learning & Action Community to Advance Equitable Health Innovation initiative, which is based on the 5 principles for equitable health innovation, seeks to advance equitable opportunities in health innovation investment, solution development and purchasing. AMA is partnering with founding collaborator organizations to support the In Full Health Learning & Action Community with content, tools, resources and opportunities to connect, engage and learn with and from each other to advance equitable health innovation.
Resources highlighting the AMA innovation ecosystem
Digital Health Implementation Playbook Series
The AMA’s Digital Health Implementation Playbook Series packages key steps, best practices, and resources to accelerate the adoption and successful optimization of digital health innovations, helping physicians extend care beyond the exam room.
AMA Equity and Innovation Advisory Group
This advisory group was formed in 2020 to help guide the AMA’s efforts to ensure equitable opportunities and conditions in health innovation for historically marginalized and minoritized people and communities. The group is composed of external leaders with expertise at the intersection of health equity and innovation, including: the development, scale and funding of new companies and solutions; investment and payment models; emerging technologies; upstream causes and social determinants of health inequities; and models for centering marginalized patients and communities in solution design. Investing in equitable health innovation is not just the right thing to do, research demonstrates that it is a wise investment.
CPT Editorial Panel
The CPT Editorial Panel (the Panel) ensures that Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) codes for describing medical procedures and services remain up-to-date and reflect the latest care provided to patients. The Panel, which consists of 21 volunteer physicians and qualified health care professionals, convenes three times per year. The review process is open and transparent, soliciting the direct input of practicing physicians, medical device manufacturers, developers of the latest diagnostic tests, and advisors from more than 100 professional societies representing physicians and other qualified health care professionals.
CPT Developer Program
To help developers turn amazing ideas into innovations that transform health care, the AMA created the CPT® Developer Program. Focused on making technology an asset in the delivery of care, the CPT Developer Program helps creators of health technology and services easily leverage AMA-published content from the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code set—the nation’s leading data-sharing terminology for medical procedures and services. In today’s environment, where digital health technologies are expected to incorporate medical terminology before emerging into the market, this program provides innovators with pioneering ideas access to AMA resources and expertise in medical terminology and coding during the crucial stages of development.
Data privacy
Nine in 10 patients view privacy as a right and 75% are worried about protecting the privacy of their medical information. Built off the AMA’s Data Privacy Principles (PDF), the AMA’s Privacy by Design (PDF) resource provides guidelines for digital health data collection and equitable data governance. These guidelines aim to help technology developers navigate this space so that patients and clinicians can make informed choices about privacy. The guides help app developers and implementers put the AMA’s Privacy Principles into action—strengthening patient and physician trust in their apps.
Cybersecurity
In 2017 the AMA and Accenture conducted a cybersecurity survey of 1,300 U.S. physicians. This research revealed 1) cybersecurity is a patient safety issue; 2) cyber-attacks are inevitable; and 3) the medical community is only as strong as its weakest link—signaling a strong need to increase cybersecurity support and resources for medical practices.
AMA MAP™ Hypertension
AMA MAPTM Hypertension is a continuous quality improvement program provided at no charge to health care organizations. It incorporates evidence-based strategies and action steps, supporting tools and resources, performance metrics, reports and coaching designed to improve hypertension management and control.
AMA self-measured blood pressure quick guide
This evidence-based digital guide helps physicians and care teams begin using self-measured blood pressure (SMBP) with their patients. It includes links to practical implementation tools and highlights seven key steps physicians and care teams can take to use SMBP with adult patients with high blood pressure.
US Blood Pressure Validated Device Listing (VDL™)
VDL represents the first U.S. list of blood pressure measurement devices that have been validated for clinical accuracy as determined by an independent clinical review process. The AMA supports the ongoing maintenance and expansion of the VDL, which is independently managed by NORC at the University of Chicago, a non-partisan research institution that helps governments, nonprofits and businesses with decision-making.
Diabetes prevention implementation
This digital experience helps health care organizations define and implement evidence-based diabetes prevention strategies. The platform also provides clinical tools to support screening and treating patients with prediabetes.
AMA Ed Hub™
Designed to support lifelong learning, licensure and certification needs, the AMA Ed Hub is an online platform that brings together high-quality education from the AMA and other trusted sources. Learners can access thousands of CME/MOC opportunities, including featured courses on digital health topics such as telemedicine, electronic health record management and precision medicine. With automatic credit reporting for some state and specialty medical boards, the AMA Ed Hub helps health care professionals stay current, save time and improve care. AMA Members access unlimited, free CME from the JAMA Network™ on the AMA Ed Hub.
Health2047
The AMA’s Silicon Valley-based innovation subsidiary, Health2047 Inc. finds, forms and funds a growing portfolio of tech-enabled commercial health care enterprises. In partnership with the AMA, Health2047 is transforming U.S. health care at the system level by shaping powerful ideas, collaborating with key industry partners, and attracting diverse entrepreneurs working in the areas of data, chronic care and radical productivity.
First Mile Care
One of several successful Health2047 launches is First Mile Care. This preventive chronic care company is building an affordable, sustainable, scalable platform to improve the lives of people who have prediabetes. First Mile Care’s initial offering will enable community-based, peer-to-peer connections that give people living with prediabetes the ongoing support they need to make lifestyle decisions and reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
MATTER
MATTER is a Chicago-based health technology incubator and home to more than 200 digital start-ups that is working with physicians to solve common health care frustrations. The AMA’s Interaction Studio at MATTER encourages emerging companies to test solutions in a simulated physician practice and gain physician feedback.
Disclaimer: No endorsement is implied or intended by the American Medical Association of any third-party organization, product, or service.
