Ardis Dee Hoven, MD
President-elect, American Medical Association
Medical director, Bluegrass Care Clinic
Lexington, Ky.
What goals are you setting for yourself as the new leader of the AMA?
One of my challenges all along my career in medicine and particularly at the AMA has been being out there and listening and paying attention. I am deliberately going to continue to have that message. I do believe the American Medical Association, and me as a representative, plus the physicians of this country, need to continue to have a dialogue - a meaningful dialogue - where we listen to one another, we learn from one another and we together get us to a place that's best for patients and physicians whom we serve.
What are some of the ethical challenges you think the healthcare industry faces right now in this time of turbulence in the industry?
Again, I think access to care is still going to be an issue. (Many challenges) are financially driven. If you look at Medicaid populations, underserved populations, the uninsured - trying to make sure they're getting what they need - because we don't want to do healthcare on the back end, which is what, unfortunately, we do in this country. We don't concentrate enough on the prevention and wellness and front end of care. All of our healthcare dollars, all of our time, is spent on the back end when patients are sick and that's not good for them, that's not good for the costs, it's not good for anybody. That to me is always a challenge.
The other thing is cost. The American Medical Association, and I think, every physician in this country, recognizes that if the cost of care goes up, that is not a good thing because what we've got to do is provide what is best for the patient. More care, or more expensive care, isn't necessarily better care. You want the right care, at the right time, at the right place, by the individual, by the right physician, so we must continually look at that as we are beginning to and have been doing for some time.
What encouragement - if any - would you give doctors in their roles as both care givers and business leaders?
Being a doctor is probably the best job in the world. It really is. All of us went into medical school with passion, the fire in our belly, the desire to make a difference in people's lives and being a physician is probably the best place to be do that. It is a very, very privileged place. I encourage my colleagues out there to remember that because that is what's so wonderful about them and the people they take care of. That very sacred place between the doctor and the patient is one of the most important things we must take care of. That's our job.
Interviewed Stephanie Bouchard, Managing Editor.