State Update: Advocacy Advantage: the Power of Partnering

The MMS dedicates many of its resources to furthering the positions of physicians and their patients on critical health care issues. To maximize its efforts, the Medical Society leverages the power of partnering and has become increasingly involved in an array of alliances aimed at advancing common health care goals.

During the current legislative session, the MMS has collaborated with other like-minded organizations on a range of issues:

• Opposition to budget cuts in health care access and public health
• Support of smoke-free workplaces
• Advancement of state policies to promote medical error reduction

"Combining our experience and resources with those of other patient-focused groups has vastly strengthened our ability to effectively achieve industry changes through the legislative process," said MMS President Thomas Sullivan, M.D.

At present, the MMS works closely with 30 partners in the Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors to promote a nonpunitive approach to medical error reduction. Other efforts include participation in the MassHealth Defense Group, which seeks to mitigate the impact of budget cuts on health care access for low-income patients. More than 100 primarily community-based advocacy groups from around the Commonwealth participate.

Collaborators seem to share the Medical Society's enthusiasm for these joint ventures. "Broad-based coalitions are vital to making positive change in public policy. When providers, advocates and consumers sit around the same table working together, it is amazing what can be accomplished. The MMS plays
a role in ensuring doctors are involved in important issues," said Allison M. Staton, division manager of statewide projects with Health Care for All.

The Society is also actively involved with local chapters of the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association and 25 other organizations promoting smoke-free workplaces through Tobacco Free Mass (formerly the Massachusetts Coalition for a Healthy Future).

A Formula That Works
The Society's most visible partnering success came just three years ago, with the passage of a Patients' Bill of Rights for Massachusetts, which significantly expanded protections for patients and physicians vis-à-vis health insurers. The MMS worked as a key member of the Coalition for Managed Care Quality for four years to secure passage of this landmark legislation. More than 90 organizations participated, including the AIDS Action Committee, the AARP, the American Cancer Society, Health Care for All, the Massachusetts Hospital Association and the Massachusetts Nurses Association.

Another recent victory occurred in 2000 when the MMS co-convened the Health Now! Massachusetts Coalition with the American Cancer Society and Health Care for All. Within two years, this alliance successfully promoted a 75-cent per pack increase in the state cigarette tax that has reduced youth smoking.

- Steve Shestakofsky