Dr. Jean Silver Isenstadt of the National Physicians Alliance
Dr. Jean Silver-Isenstadt
On Tuesday, September 11, Dr. Jean-Silver Isenstadt, the founding Executive Director of the National Physicians Alliance spoke at Social Medicine Rounds about the work of the NPA since its formation in 2005.
She began her presentation with Broken Covenant, a short film which captures the issues and events surrounding the birth of the NPA; it is available on the NPA website. The Alliance developed from a core group of AMSA (American Medical Student Association) ex-presidents who wanted to create an “AMSA beyond AMSA,” i.e. a physician’s organization that could better express the values animating AMSA. These core values, as identified by NPA’s founders, were: service, integrity and advocacy.
Core Issues
The core issues identified by the new organization were:
Equitable, Affordable Health Care for All, Without Health Disparities
NPA Campaigns
These core issues have translated into three major NPA campaigns:
1. The Unbranded Doctor (which will be the subject of our next posting).
2. Rx: Vote, a voter registration campaign (see our posting of June 20, 2008)
The Secure Health Care for All campaign has chosen not to endorse a specific plan, but rather endorses the Institute of Medicine’s general principles for health care reform:
1. Health care coverage should be universal.
2. Health care coverage should be continuous.
3. Health care coverage should be affordable to individuals and families.
4. The health insurance strategy should be affordable and sustainable for society.
5. Health insurance should enhance health and well-being by promoting access to high-quality care that is effective, efficient, safe, timely, patient-centered, and equitable.
This campaign has been undertaken in alliance with a number of groups including HCAN, Health Care for America Now. HCAN calls for a plan which guarantees affordable coverage and allows people to: “keep your current private insurance plan, pick a new private insurance plan, or join a public health insurance plan.” It appears this plan has been controversial within the NPA, some seeing it as too left, others as not left enough. (For a recent critique of HCAN from Physicians for a Naitonal Health Plan, see the PNHP blog). The campaign also offers NPA’s report card on the health plans of the current presidential candidates.
In addition to these three large campaigns, the NPA website has information on campaigns to address malpractice, safety, and the global health worker shortage.
The NPA lays great importance on the role of physicians as advocates. Dr. Silver-Isenstadt stated: “Patient advocacy is a responsibility of the profession.” And their website offers many opportunities for physicians to work as advocates. In addition, NPA has a blog and a facebook page.
From the NPA website: “Jean Silver-Isenstadt holds a doctorate in the history and sociology of medicine from the University of Pennsylvania, a medical degree from the University of Maryland, and a master’s degree in nonfiction and science writing from the Johns Hopkins University. Her doctoral work focused on 19th-century American health reform. She is the author of Shameless: The Visionary Life of Mary Gove Nichols (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002), a biography of the infamous and influential health advocate and social reformer best known for her leadership of the water-cure movement and for her scandalous public lectures to women on anatomy and physiology.”
After her talk, Dr. Silver-Isenstadt reminded me that the Social Medicine Portal was one of the first sites to give publicity to the NPA in 2005.
Posted by Matt Anderson
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