American Medical Association (AMA)

IAIABC: Please provide an organizational overview (number of employees, years in business, vision)

Erin Kalitowski, Director Print Digital and Guides, AMA: Founded in 1847, the American Medical Association (AMA) is the largest and only national association that convenes more than 190 state and specialty medical societies, along with essential stakeholders. The AMA’s mission has remained consistent throughout its history: to promote the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health. Headquartered in Chicago, the AMA employs nearly 1,750 professionals dedicated to fulfilling its mission.

IAIABC: How does your organization serve the workers’ compensation industry? 

EK: The AMA proudly provides the following resources to support the workers’ compensation community:

• AMA Guides® to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment is the standard in medical impairment rating, emphasizing the fundamental skills physicians need to evaluate and communicate patient impairments. The AMA Guides are adopted in 43 states in the United States and 7 countries internationally. The newly updated AMA Guides Sixth 2024 provides evidence-based methodologies and a simplified grading system and evaluation process to ensure more accurate and reliable ratings that strengthen regulatory standards.
• Current Procedural Terminology( CPT®) is one such essential data asset that is foundational to the delivery of health care. Containing more than 11,000 codes developed by medical professionals for over 50 years, the CPT code set is the shared language of health care, an essential resource used by stakeholders across the health care ecosystem for communicating, understanding and innovating the latest medical care available to patients.
•  Furthermore, the AMA’s Physician Professional Data™ is the nation's largest repository of physician data. The AMA has been collecting information on physicians for over 100 years. Today, that repository totals approximately 1.4 million records, inclusive of AMA members and nonmembers. With 135 million updates every year, a variety of data services are offered to meet the medical community’s need for accurate and comprehensive physician information. This robust dataset can be used to check the credentials of the physicians who submit ratings, ensuring the reliability and integrity of the workers' compensation process.

IAIABC: What do you see as some of the major challenges the industry is facing, and how can we as a community address them? 

EK: As a physician and patient advocate, the AMA believes that timely, quality care improves patient outcomes while increasing satisfaction for all involved. Our key concerns include improving access to care and using up-to-date methodologies for impairment ratings.

Injured workers covered by the workers’ compensation system face challenges due to administrative complexities and limited physician participation. As a community we can strive to simplify processes and expedite care, enabling a return to optimal function at work and in life.

Together we can promote the use of current evaluation methodologies, moving away from outdated approaches required in some jurisdictions for performing impairment ratings.

IAIABC: Are there any projects/programs/initiatives going on at your organization that you are particularly excited or enthusiastic about?

EK: We are particularly excited about the release of the AMA Guides Sixth 2024, which unveils eagerly anticipated enhancements that fine-tune the concepts from the AMA Guides Sixth (2008), providing enhanced inter- and intra-impairment rater reliability. Here are just a few of the highlights:

• Evidence-based enhancements: Embrace the latest advancements in medical knowledge with evidence-based updates to spine, upper, and lower extremity impairments, ensuring accuracy and relevance in impairment assessment.
• Streamlined grading system: Experience a transformative shift from a five-grade system to a refined three-grade system, enhancing validity and reliability while minimizing variation in impairment ratings.
• Simplified evaluation process: Bid farewell to complexity as musculoskeletal adjustment grids are eliminated, allowing for direct evaluation and grading of criteria within the Diagnosis-Based Impairment (DBI) Grid for seamless impairment value selection.

An additional AMA resource is the AMA Ed Hub™ , an online learning platform that includes continuing medical education (CME) modules on the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. New 2024 modules are coming soon!

IAIABC: What's an interesting fact about your organization that most people don't know?

EK: We are the largest national association that brings together over 190 state and specialty medical societies, along with essential stakeholders. We curate, manage, and distribute crucial data and solutions, including Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®), Physician Professional Data™,  and the AMA Guides® to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. Our resources underpin critical areas of health care, such as interoperability, research, innovation and equitable care.

IAIABC: Why is your organization a member of the IAIABC? What would you tell others about the benefits of membership?

EK: We are proud members of the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions (IAIABC) because it provides a unique platform for collaboration, innovation, and advancing best practices in workers' compensation and disability management. Through IAIABC, we engage with diverse stakeholders, share our expertise and stay at the forefront of developments in the field. The IAIABC provides opportunities for us to actively contribute to the global workers’ compensation community. The relationships forged within the IAIABC go beyond improving the workers’ compensation system; they lead to enduring collaborations and friendships. The IAIABC collaborative helps improve outcomes for injured workers while creating valuable opportunities for stakeholders, participants and those involved in workers’ compensation worldwide.