CPM Winter 2020 - 6

daup h i n cm s .org

President's Message

Is it 2020 Already?
What's in Store for the
Dauphin County Medical
Society and its Members?
Heath B Mackley, MD, MBA, FACRO
President, DCMS

t is truly exciting times to practice medicine in Central Pennsylvania, and both
the Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED) and Dauphin County Medical
Society (DCMS) remain committed to improving the lives of both patients and
physicians through advocacy and service. As the incoming President of DCMS,
I am indebted to the leaders and members, both past and present, that have paved the
way for me to start my term in an organization that is financially stable and blessed
with a vibrant membership and staff. But just as the practice of medicine is always
evolving, aspects of DCMS will need to change as well. What might that look like?

DCMS has always been and will always be a member led organization. As the local
branch of PAMED, we are the only organization that represents all physicians. But
only a minority of practicing physicians are members. It is true that it is unrealistic for
any professional organization to have 100% marketing penetration without coercion,
but it is also true that there are numerous physicians in our community that are on
the fence about being a member. They recognize the importance of the organization
and recognize that they benefit from the work of the organization through advocacy
efforts, but they aren't convinced that it is vital for them to join as an individual.
How can we improve this situation and make our tent larger? I would argue we need
to improve both components of the value proposition, enhancing the benefits of
membership and decreasing the cost.
How do we improve the benefits of membership? One way to do this is to offer
to regional physicians benefits that their county medical societies do not. There are
physicians in adjacent counties that have no path to involvement in the PAMED House
of Delegates. They do not have access to a one-day continuing medical education
event before their state medical license renewal that takes care of their opioid and
child abuse requirements. They do not have a platform like Central PA Medicine to
share their expertise with their community. By seeking ways to allow these physicians
to join us, we improve the PAMED value proposition.
Another way to increase the benefits of membership is to give more opportunities
to Dauphin County physicians to engage in activities they value. Many of our members, especially our younger members, are energized by advocating for public health

Winter 2020 Central PA Medicine

http://www.dauphincms.org

CPM Winter 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CPM Winter 2020