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Good evening and on behalf of the board of trustees of the Oslo Medical Society and myself, the incoming president, I would like to welcome all of you to our annual dinner, election and installation of officers. First, I would like to thank the board of trustees and members of the Oslo Medical Society for placing their trust in me to continue to lead physicians in our county through such a trying time in medicine. I would also like to thank Dr. Richard Ioffreda for his leadership over the past year. He has guided us through a very difficult time in
New Jersey medicine. We must continue the efforts that have been put into motion to accomplish our ultimate goals. Finally and most importantly, I would like to thank my wife, Annemarie, whose unyielding support and devotion have served as an inspiration and driving force allowing me to accomplish my goals and step into this position of leadership tonight.
I entered medicine for a simple reason. I wanted to help people and make a difference in their lives. I was very idealistic. I envisioned myself in a white coat with a stethoscope around my neck attending to my patients. I never envisioned myself in that same white coat, standing outside on a cold, rainy day in February of 2003, shoulder to shoulder with my colleagues in front of the state house in Trenton, rallying for tort reform in the state of New Jersey. Nor did I envision myself meeting with elected state officials discussing the issues facing physicians and I certainly never envisioned myself talking to my patients about the problems threatening the practice of medicine in our state and what they could do to help. But there I was doing all of these things and why? Because it was and still is imperative for us to remain proactive to keep doctors practicing in the state of New Jersey and to maintain the high quality of care that we and our patients have come to know.
My involvement in organized medicine deepened on April 28, 1999 when I was elected to the board of trustees of the Oslo Medical Society. I consider it a privilege and an honor to serve an organization that has done so much for its members. I have seen our society participate in the prompt pay legislation, help physician practices become HIPAA compliant, support the Medical Society of New Jersey’s class action suits against six managed care companies and most recently, help unify physicians into a cohesive force fighting for tort reform to attempt to bring about an end to the medical liability insurance crisis in our state.
The overall election results this past November were disheartening for physicians but in no way should they be discouraging. If you think about your personal road to success, I am sure you will realize it did not come in a single effort, nor did it come overnight. It required years of dedication, determination and hard work to accomplish your goals. Likewise, true tort reform will not come with a single effort or overnight, but like our personal careers, will require resolve and an unwavering commitment from New Jersey physicians to this goal.
On March 29th, 2004 Assembly Bill 50 “New Jersey Medical Care Access and Responsibility and Patients First Act” passed the New Jersey senate. Although this bill does not contain caps on noneconomic damages for which we strived, it does contain some reforms that will help physicians. It reduces the statute of limitations to thirteen years for injuries sustained at birth. It allows physicians to file an Affidavit of Non-Involvement to be dismissed from a case in which they had no role. It places more stringent requirements on expert witnesses, expands the Good Samaritan Act and allows judges to lower a jury award. Most importantly, it creates a seventeen-member task force whose role it will be to further study caps and reimbursements as well as other pressing tort reform issues.
We cannot afford to lose another neurosurgeon. We cannot afford to have another obstetrician decide to stop delivering babies. We cannot afford to lose another physician to this crisis, period! Although this bill has some reforms, it is not a cure but a “Band-Aid” solution to a broken system. Caps on noneconomic damages, though not feasible presently, are still needed. Over the next year we must continue our efforts in a bipartisan manner working through the task force to help bring about true tort reform in the state of New Jersey.
Success will not come with small numbers of physicians on board. We must continue to grow our membership and must continue to provide funding to our political action committees if we want to effectively bring about change. I implore you to make a donation to MedAC and JEMPAC our political action committees. I actually challenge each and every member in this room tonight to become a Capitol Club member of MedAC by making a donation at the one thousand dollar level, thereby joining the already growing number of Capitol Club members of the Oslo Medical Society.
There are other issues to be addressed in the year ahead. The managed care industry has positioned itself as a middleman in healthcare, posting large profits while physicians struggle to pay their overhead and themselves with decreasing reimbursement for their services. In addition, many of the terms in the contracts offered to physicians are unilaterally decided by the insurance companies giving the physician little or no ability to negotiate. On January 7th, 2002 the Joint Negotiations Bill passed the state Assembly shedding a ray of hope to New Jersey physicians. This law which is to be implemented within the next year will allow physicians to negotiate in common with managed care companies under the supervision of the state attorney general. This will hopefully allow us to reverse the ever present downward trend in reimbursement we have been experiencing.
Over the next year, we will also continue to support the Medical Society of New Jersey’s efforts to defeat scope of practice legislation and thereby prevent an increase in the scope of practice of allied healthcare professionals. In doing so, we will guarantee that physicians continue to be the primary practitioners of medicine in our county and state.
I would like to end by quoting the great American poet Robert Frost. In his poem “Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening” he ends with the lines:
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
You see friends and colleagues, we have come but a fraction of the distance we need to go to triumph over our obstacles and accomplish our ultimate goals. We cannot rest until we overcome the forces threatening our profession and the practice of medicine in our county and state. I would like to once again thank you for your confidence in me. Enjoy the rest of the evening. Thank you.
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