Twenty-five hundred years ago Hippocrates said “wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also love for humanity”. Unfortunately, that’s not the case these days. I don’t think many physicians feel loved in today’s world. There is also another old saying, “God helps those who help themselves”. Again, we have not been very good about helping ourselves. We doctors have sporadically and individually shown interest and effort to further the cause of physicians, but as a group we have not been very effective. My job as President of the Chester County Medical Society will be to change that and involve people who are either not involved or at the fringe. My first request as President will be to the Board of Directors: we as a group need to get the message to other physicians. We do have representation from every corner of Chester County and we would like to have more people involved. I would like each board member to recruit 5 to 10 people in the next year to join the society. We have made some changes in the cost of membership and we have also made it easier for larger groups to join us. Not only is new membership important but we need to involve members who have been part of the society for many years. We also need to show that we are here, we are viable, and we are effective. We can tout some of the accomplishments that were recently achieved under our departing president, Ruth Holland, who was relentless in bringing our society into the 21st century. Unfortunately, the very conditions and problems which she has been trying to solve have led her to seek employment in another part of the country where she can make ends meet. Despite my multiple requests, I believe that she will be leaving within the next few months and we will all miss her and her bounding energy. I believe that once physicians see that CCMS is not just an irrelevant organization, that they will be drawn towards it. My personal goals for the society are many, but in dealing with legislators we come up sometimes with so many points that legislators are left confused and it becomes more difficult to achieve our goals. The board and membership ultimately set the agenda and direction but my main thrust will be the following: 1. Most importantly, we must be advocates for our patients, maintain quality of care, prevent harm, and police ourselves to the betterment of our patients. We also need to develop some method where the cost of insurance to the patients does not keep increasing and filling the coffers of insurance companies. My elderly patients often talk to me about increasing costs and the fear of loss of coverage. Our patients should be able to get insurance coverage across state lines. 2. Retrieval of Mcare money and ultimate closure of the fund so that we do not incur any more cost as physicians. 3. Malpractice reforms with limits on at least some aspects of injury. It is clear that properly done studies have always shown that the cost of practicing medicine reduces significantly in states with limits, and defensive medicine is less likely to be practiced. 4. We must resolve the sustainable growth problem once and for all so the 21% cut does not hang over our heads like a dagger, creating excessive anxiety and stress for everybody. 5. The costs for practices keep increasing while reimbursements keep dropping. That formula does not work in any business. Reimbursement issues must require some formula where we can sustain our practices. In the same vein there should be equal payments for all regardless of size of the practice or affiliation to an organization or a hospital or the area of practice. 6. Economic and political divide-and-conquer policies which separate internists and family practitioners from the specialists have to be fought. Our goals may not be exactly the same but they are not different in essence and principle, and we must work together to avoid distraction. It is often said the specialists are compensated better. That may be so in some cases but I believe that internists and generalists are not paid enough. We have to realize reimbursements to physicians make up only 10-20% of the cost of health care. I also believe that that disparity has blunted significantly in recent years and if reimbursements keep dropping there will be no independent specialists left. We will all be working for hospitals or insurance companies which would not bode well for the patients. We as a society must represent all physicians with equal vigor and urgency without discrimination. Obviously there are many other issues but these are the ones which affect us the most. Our goal is to meet with legislators on a regular basis with a concise plan in place with hope for some resolutions. Our next meeting with the legislators will occur at the September 24th Clambake at Radley Run Country Club, where we also hope to award the Darlington scholarship to a WCU student. We should try to get as many physicians as possible to this event, and I will try to formulate our goals to them in this meeting. We as a Society will remain nonpartisan, but at the same time we need to give to those who support our causes, especially the welfare of the patients, since we are the main advocates of the patient population. I wanted to use this occasion to convey my thoughts to the membership. While it may have sounded like doom and gloom, I think there is light at the end of the tunnel. We do practice the most honorable profession of all and we should be proud of that. Regards, Mian A. Jan, MD, FACC