The Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society Issue 1 Vol 115 | Page 19

Dr. Harmon updated attendees about what the
AMA has been doing on behalf of all physicians and
patients. The AMA’s work this past year included
dialogue that helped prevent mergers that would
have affected patient choices, halting bad policies
on the part of insurers, reducing the burden of prior
authorization in some states, continued prevention
of APRNs and PAs from practicing independently
from MDs, and improvement in medical records
coordination across systems.
“One of us couldn’t do it, but the entire AMA
could do it,” summed Dr. Harmon of the AMA
as a difference-making organization. For more
information about Dr. Harmon’s address or being
part of the AMA, contact him at Gerald.harmon@
ama-assn.org.
President-Elect Dennis Yelvington, MD
The AMA report was followed by recognition
of the 2018-19 president-elect. Accepting his
appointment to fill the role, Dennis Yelvington, MD
was escorted to the front of the room to speak.
After a standing ovation, he said, “I’d like to thank
the nominating committee for nominating me, and I
humbly accept the challenge.”
relevancy of the House of Delegates. Dr. Atiq chaired
the committee that also included Drs. Alan Wilson,
Scott Cooper, Steve Magie, and Gene Shelby. The
following is from Dr. Atiq’s committee report:
“As you all know, the House of Delegates
is the policymaking body of the AMS, with the
Board of Trustees serving as the fiduciary body
responsible for the business affairs in between the
meetings. The House of Delegates is comprised of
past presidents, members of the Board of Trustees,
county and specialty society delegates, and any
dues-paying member of the AMS. Despite this broad
array of representation, the attendance at the House
of Delegates has been declining over time. If you
look at the attendance since 2009, attendance has
gone from 78 down to 40 today. More importantly,
[attendance by] the other delegates – those who
are not members of the Board of Trustees or past
presidents – has gone from 32 in 2009 to 1 today.
This trend has been experienced all around the
country. There were 14 societies that have done
away with their House of Delegates.
Addressing those he chose to escort him that
day, Dr. Yelvington said, “Dr. Atiq was very influential
in helping me become chairman of the board – thank
you, Dr. Atiq. Dr. Stallings, for those that don’t know,
was my residency director 33 years ago. Not only
was he my mentor, he was also my friend. If you get
him alone and ask him about our duck and pheasant
hunts, he’s a very poor shot. (laughs) I have a lot of
respect for the Arkansas Medical Society, and I look
forward to this being a year that