Originally published June 28 2005
AMA aims to boost membership and power with new ad campaign
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The American Medical Association is launching a series of promotional videos and ads to showcase their role as a powerful force in touch with physicians and patients, reports the Chicago Tribune, a move designed to reverse the recent decline in the association's membership.
The American Medical Association Thursday launched a three-year brand campaign designed to increase membership and showcase the AMA as a powerful group in touch with everyday needs of physicians and their patients.
The Chicago-based national doctor group plans to change the way it spends its $20 million for marketing each year, hoping that a new mix of print, TV and radio spots as well as marketing videos will bring more physicians into the group.
AMA membership has dropped 20 percent since 1993, and was down to 244,530 as of the end of 2004, representing less than 30 percent of the more than 800,000 doctors in the United States.
The AMA said it will use doctors and patients in more aggressive issue ads designed to build consumer and medical professionals' support of lobbying efforts such as malpractice reform and reversal of Medicare payment cuts to physicians.
The first print ads debut this weekend, coinciding with the AMA's annual meeting, which begins Saturday and runs through Wednesday at the Chicago Hilton and Towers.
This campaign highlights the AMA's commitment to unify all physicians and shape the future of health care."
In the past, the AMA admits, its message was not always unified, and the group's credibility took several hits, particularly after an embarrassing marketing deal with Sunbeam Corp. in the late 1990s gave the organization a black eye and fueled an exodus of members.
They cite lost battles in Washington such as over managed-care reform and the ability of doctors to bargain collectively with health plans.
"There may be an aspect of this that tries to emphasize how crucial doctors are and how innovative they are, positioning the AMA for some of the biggest [lobbying] battles ahead," said James Unland, president of Health Capital Group, a Chicago health-care consulting firm that works with doctors and their practices.
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