ACG Advocates for Gender Equity and Physician Compensation at AMA HOD Meeting
This week, the American Medical Association’s (AMA) House of Delegates (HOD) adopted in-part an ACG resolution on the disparity in physician payment among men and women. AMA HOD meetings are held twice a year, and allow state and national societies to submit resolutions. If adopted, these resolutions then become AMA policy priorities. The ACG resolution tasked the AMA to prioritize efforts on reducing gender payment disparity among physicians by:
- creating an awareness campaign to inform physicians about their rights under the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and Equal Pay Act (together with the assistance of professional medical societies);
- helping U.S. public medical schools and facilities create guidance for institutional transparency of compensation, and regular gender-based pay audits (together with the assistance of professional medical societies); and
- recommending to eliminate the question of prior salary information from job applications for physician recruitment in academic and private practice.
Click here to read the ACG resolution (Resolution 011) before the June 2018 AMA House of Delegates Annual Meeting: Women Physician Workforce and Gender Gap in Earnings-Measures to Improve Equality
The ACG resolution was combined with three other similar resolutions on payment equity. This combined resolution, entitled “Advancing Gender Equity in Medicine” was ultimately adopted. This combined resolution directs the AMA to:
- draft and disseminate a report detailing its positions and recommendations for gender equity in medicine, including clarifying principles for state and specialty societies, academic medical centers and other entities that employ physicians;
- advocate for institutional, departmental and practice policies that promote transparency and best practices in defining the criteria for initial and subsequent physician compensation;
- recommend as immediate actions to reduce gender bias, such as elimination of the question of prior salary information from job applications for physician recruitment in academic and creating an awareness campaign to inform physicians about their rights under the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and Equal Pay Act, and establishing educational programs to help empower all genders to negotiate equitable compensation; and
- help create guidance for medical schools and health care facilities for institutional transparency of compensation.
- Review AM’s internal compensation process, structure and leadership.
The ACG resolution was spearheaded by Suriya Sastri, MD, FACG and the ACG physician representatives to the AMA, Bruce Cameron, MD, FACG and March Seabrook, MD, FACG. The College commends Drs. Sastri, Cameron, and Seabrook for all of their efforts in getting this resolution adopted. ACG will continue to work with like-minded organizations to eliminate disparity in gender payment. ACG welcomes your help to recruit more involvement from other organizations.
AMA Article on ACG Efforts for Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands
ACG was also featured in a recent AMA article on aid for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. As ACG members recall, the ACG submitted an emergency resolution to the November 2017 AMA House of Delegates meeting, urging for the AMA, the House of Medicine, and U.S. policymakers to provide more support for hurricane disaster relief efforts for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Last week, the ACG Governor for Puerto Rico, Dr. Wilmer Rodriguez, was featured in an AMA article on this resolution, describing the chain of events and process of working together with ACG leadership, Dr. Bruce Cameron, and AMA staff to get quickly get this resolution drafted, shepherded through the process, and ultimately passed.
Remember to contact your ACG Governor on important state and local issues impacting you and your practice.
The ACG Board of Governors is one of the most unique aspects of the American College of Gastroenterology. Governors are ACG Fellows that are elected from the membership of a particular state or region. There are currently 76 Governors across seven different regions in the U.S. and abroad. The Board of Governors acts as a two-way conduit between College leadership and the membership at-large. This helps the College make certain it is meeting the evolving needs of the membership.
ACG Members: Check out the latest updates to the ACG Practice Management Toolbox
Gastroenterologists in private practice find themselves working in a time of unprecedented transformation. Pressures are high as they make important management decisions that profoundly affect their business future, their private lives, and their ability to provide care to patients. The ACG Practice Management Committee has a mission to bring practicing colleagues together in order to explore solutions, overcome management challenges, improve operations, enhance productivity, and support physician-leadership. It was in this spirit that the Practice Management Toolbox was created.
The Toolbox is a series of short articles, written by practicing gastroenterologists, providing ACG members with easily accessible information to improve their practices. Each article covers an issue important to private practice gastroenterologists and physician-lead clinical practices. They include a brief introduction, a topic overview, specific suggestions, helpful examples and a list of resources or references.
