President's Message
From Alan Hillard, MD
2020 BCMS President
Thank you for being a part of the Boone County Medical Society and for allowing me the privilege of serving as the Society’s president in 2020.
As a practicing physician with 38 years of experience, nearly 30 of which have been in Columbia, I recognize the important role the members of our profession play in the community. People seek our expertise during some of the most difficult times of their lives. To earn and maintain that trust, we must put our patients first and act in their best interests.
It’s also vital that we know what’s happening around us in the larger medical community. A professional medical society is important because we need strong local, state, and national organizations (BCMS, MSMA, the AMA and specialty societies) to provide a unified voice for medicine.
Today there are other stakeholders in medicine - insurance companies, large hospital conglomerates, government and pharmaceutical companies, and middle-men - who have a different lens. Although they talk the talk, ultimately, they look at us and see us as commodity and/or financial problem to solve. They neglect that crucial individual patient/physician relationship. We must take back control of the doctor/patient relationship. Your involvement in this process is critical.
Another reason a professional medical society is important is camaraderie and getting to know others in the community of physicians. We tend to isolate ourselves in our specialties and practices. Boone County Medical Society is a great way to network and meet those from other specialties — you can build relationships. It allows one to set up new referral patterns. We are a medical family when we are all moving in the same direction.
With that in mind, I have outlined three goals for 2020:
First, we must continue to build our membership. Currently, we have only 20 percent of the potential active physicians in our area in our membership. I want to like to see BCMS grow by at least 10 percent or a minimum of 20 new members this year. I challenge you to invite and bring one non-member physician to at least one of our outstanding events.
The second goal I have deals with our name. Our mission is to support the physicians of central Missouri, not just Boone County, as they strive to provide quality patient care. Our organization is here to provide a unifying voice for physicians in mid Missouri. At present we have members from Boone, Howard and Cooper counties, while we always have welcomed those from Audrain, Callaway, and Cole counties, as well.
Our board is looking at a more inclusive name (along the lines of Central Missouri Medical Society) in an effort to make physicians from adjacent counties welcome. This is something our Officers and Board members will be discussing in the upcoming weeks and months.
Our third goal is to present member programs that are timely, interesting and relevant. These are open to all members and their spouses/partners. Dinner is provided. During the coming year, we plan to have guest speakers tackling subjects such as medical marijuana, an issue that generated a lively discussion at our fall meeting last year.
We plan to continue our Physician Financial Boot Camp series. Experts will come to talk about stocks/bonds, insurance, trusts/wills, practice management — all the stuff they did not tell us in medical school.
We’ll also hear from guest speakers on subjects like Medicare for all, palliative care, artificial intelligence in medicine, and physician burnout.
I urge you to check out our Boone County Medical Society website for latest events on what is happening. Our monthly Board meetings are the first Tuesday of every month. All members are welcome to attend.
In cooperation with our Alliance, we also plan to host a family picnic in August. It will correspond with National Physician Family Day, which was established by the AMA Alliance. This event encourages local societies to host special events for medical families.
So, to briefly recap our goals:
1. Bring one non-member to an event and help us reach our goal of 20 new members.
2. Consider changing our name and mission to better reflect the area we cover and physicians we serve.
3. Provide timely, interesting and relevant talks for our members.
I invite you to come and enjoy getting to know other physicians and hearing topics relevant to our profession. Finally, this is our local voice — let us be the face of medicine in central Missouri.
2020 BCMS President
Thank you for being a part of the Boone County Medical Society and for allowing me the privilege of serving as the Society’s president in 2020.
As a practicing physician with 38 years of experience, nearly 30 of which have been in Columbia, I recognize the important role the members of our profession play in the community. People seek our expertise during some of the most difficult times of their lives. To earn and maintain that trust, we must put our patients first and act in their best interests.
It’s also vital that we know what’s happening around us in the larger medical community. A professional medical society is important because we need strong local, state, and national organizations (BCMS, MSMA, the AMA and specialty societies) to provide a unified voice for medicine.
Today there are other stakeholders in medicine - insurance companies, large hospital conglomerates, government and pharmaceutical companies, and middle-men - who have a different lens. Although they talk the talk, ultimately, they look at us and see us as commodity and/or financial problem to solve. They neglect that crucial individual patient/physician relationship. We must take back control of the doctor/patient relationship. Your involvement in this process is critical.
Another reason a professional medical society is important is camaraderie and getting to know others in the community of physicians. We tend to isolate ourselves in our specialties and practices. Boone County Medical Society is a great way to network and meet those from other specialties — you can build relationships. It allows one to set up new referral patterns. We are a medical family when we are all moving in the same direction.
With that in mind, I have outlined three goals for 2020:
First, we must continue to build our membership. Currently, we have only 20 percent of the potential active physicians in our area in our membership. I want to like to see BCMS grow by at least 10 percent or a minimum of 20 new members this year. I challenge you to invite and bring one non-member physician to at least one of our outstanding events.
The second goal I have deals with our name. Our mission is to support the physicians of central Missouri, not just Boone County, as they strive to provide quality patient care. Our organization is here to provide a unifying voice for physicians in mid Missouri. At present we have members from Boone, Howard and Cooper counties, while we always have welcomed those from Audrain, Callaway, and Cole counties, as well.
Our board is looking at a more inclusive name (along the lines of Central Missouri Medical Society) in an effort to make physicians from adjacent counties welcome. This is something our Officers and Board members will be discussing in the upcoming weeks and months.
Our third goal is to present member programs that are timely, interesting and relevant. These are open to all members and their spouses/partners. Dinner is provided. During the coming year, we plan to have guest speakers tackling subjects such as medical marijuana, an issue that generated a lively discussion at our fall meeting last year.
We plan to continue our Physician Financial Boot Camp series. Experts will come to talk about stocks/bonds, insurance, trusts/wills, practice management — all the stuff they did not tell us in medical school.
We’ll also hear from guest speakers on subjects like Medicare for all, palliative care, artificial intelligence in medicine, and physician burnout.
I urge you to check out our Boone County Medical Society website for latest events on what is happening. Our monthly Board meetings are the first Tuesday of every month. All members are welcome to attend.
In cooperation with our Alliance, we also plan to host a family picnic in August. It will correspond with National Physician Family Day, which was established by the AMA Alliance. This event encourages local societies to host special events for medical families.
So, to briefly recap our goals:
1. Bring one non-member to an event and help us reach our goal of 20 new members.
2. Consider changing our name and mission to better reflect the area we cover and physicians we serve.
3. Provide timely, interesting and relevant talks for our members.
I invite you to come and enjoy getting to know other physicians and hearing topics relevant to our profession. Finally, this is our local voice — let us be the face of medicine in central Missouri.
