The California Medical Association (CMA)
is a professional organization based in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
that advocates on behalf of nearly 50,000 physicians in legislative, legal, regulatory, economic, and social issues. The organization was founded in 1856 and is a member of the
American Medical Association
The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was approximately 240,000 in 2016.
The AMA's state ...
.
History
The CMA and its leaders:
* Started the state public health department in the 1870s;
* Made immunizations compulsory for school-children in the 1880s;
* Began looking at ways to fund healthcare for the poor in the 1930s;
* Performed what were some of the first cornea transplants, and set up some of the first organ transplant guidelines in the country; and
* Started California's first medical schools, which later became Stanford University and the University of California.
Organization
On 12 March 1856, the Medical Society of the state of California held its first meeting at Pioneer Hall on "J" Street in what is now Old Town Sacramento. The society's first president,
Benjamin Franklin Keene,
M.D.
Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...
—also a state senator representing
El Dorado County
El Dorado County (), officially the County of El Dorado, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 191,185. The county seat is Placerville. The County is part of the Sacramento- Roseville-A ...
—led the meeting of 1875.
Following the 1850 Sacramento cholera outbreak, the surviving physicians became close colleagues and friends, and they began to establish county medical societies. The first ones were established in Sacramento and San Francisco. Each society stayed in touch, and society secretaries Thomas Logan, M.D. (Sacramento) and Elias Cooper, M.D. (San Francisco)—both historical figures in their own right—organized that historic first meeting in 1856. Dr. Logan, a noted medical scholar, later reorganized the CMA after years of strife, reorganizing the society in 1875 and eventually serving as the state's Director of Public Health as well as president of the CMA and then the
American Medical Association
The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was approximately 240,000 in 2016.
The AMA's state ...
. Dr. Cooper, an eye surgeon who had previously co-founded the Illinois Medical Society, would build
Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford University School of Medicine is the medical school of Stanford University and is located in Stanford, California. It traces its roots to the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific, founded in San Francisco in 1858. This ...
.
A credentials committee was established to "avoid admissions of unsuitable persons" as a result of controversy about which doctors were reputable. The Medical Society's first censor, Dr. Morse, served as the forerunner to the present-day
Medical Board of California
The Medical Board of California (MBC) is a state government agency which licenses and disciplines physicians, surgeons and certain allied healthcare professionals in California. The Board provides two principal types of services to consumers: (1) ...
.
Because travel was difficult in the early years, the society's focus remained in Northern California. Its counterpart, the Southern California Medical Society, was founded in 1898. County societies sprouted up throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s. Membership in the CMA cost $10 in 1900 and included malpractice insurance. To conform to name changes at other state medical associations and the American Medical Association, the society renamed itself the California Medical Association in 1923.
John Frederick Morse, M.D., a historian and journal editor for the medical society who would form some of the first disciplinary and licensing terms for state physicians, is credited with starting the first journal of the Medical Society, starting with his own funds a short-lived publication called the California State Journal of Medicine. There were several revivals of publications over the years. In 1873, the society published the first
Transactions of the Medical Society of California, a volume published annually until Volume 31, issued in April 1901. In that year it was recommended that, because the annual transactions were "an extravagant and unnecessary way of perpetuating the proceedings of the society, the more rational one of publishing a monthly journal" be adopted. Thus, The California State Journal of Medicine was revived. In 1924 its name was changed to California and Western Medicine, and in 1946 to California Medicine. Philip Mills Jones, M.D., is regarded as that journal's founder.
The publication changed its name to The Western Journal of Medicine in 1974 as part of a proposal to establish a regional medical journal for the West. The Western Journal has been the official publication of the CMA, six research and specialty societies, and the state medical associations of Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming for more than 20 years. The Journal stopped publishing after the British Medical Journal took over in 1998.
Merger with the California Osteopathic Association
In 1961, the CMA merged with the California Osteopathic Association.
At the time, the CMA consisted of 40 medical societies, which were organized by county; after the merger, the COA became the 41st medical society.
In 1975, full CMA membership was offered to qualified
osteopathic physicians (D.O.).
In 1999, the CMA passed a resolution to work with the current osteopathic medical association, Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California, on issues that concern both M.D. and D.O. physicians.
In 2005, the CMA opposed efforts to consolidate the D.O. and M.D. medical boards.
Medicine
The physicians who founded the Medical Society of the State of California were veterans in the fight against
cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
,
encephalitis
Encephalitis is inflammation of the brain. The severity can be variable with symptoms including reduction or alteration in consciousness, headache, fever, confusion, a stiff neck, and vomiting. Complications may include seizures, hallucinations, ...
,
typhoid
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...
and
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
—diseases that became prevalent in the newly minted lands of California after the
Gold Rush
A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...
of 1849. They dedicated their organization to "promote the science and art of medicine, protection of public health, and the betterment of the medical profession."
A deadly cholera epidemic struck Sacramento in October 1850. Despite their unfamiliarity with these diseases, physicians remained committed to helping their patients. About 5,000 people in Sacramento and the surrounding areas died of cholera, and thousands of others deserted the area in fear of the disease.
Dr. Morse noted physicians’ remarkable commitment: "Not one educated physician turned his back upon the city in its distress and threatened destruction." The dead in the cholera epidemic included seventeen physicians, a third of the physician population of California. They are memorialized in a plaque at the historic Sacramento City Cemetery, with only one of them buried in a marked grave.
The CMA also helped to establish some of the first blood banks and cornea banks in the West and helped create the California Tumor and Tissue Registry in 1947—what is today the second largest tumor and tissue registry in the world.
Politics and activism
During the 20th century and beyond, the CMA has fought against tobacco use and smoking and insisted early on—in the face of criticism and fear of the newly found disease—that HIV and AIDS patients deserve needed health care. The CMA also advocated for broader immunization against disease and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
In 1975, the CMA preserved access to care for many when it forged ahead on a plan to keep medical malpractice rates affordable. Hearing the outcry of CMA physicians who had faced rate increases up to 400 percent, threatening practice viability, Governor Jerry Brown called together a special session of the legislature to discuss the malpractice cost crisis. They passed that year a collection of statutes called the
Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act
The Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) of 1975 was a statute enacted by the California Legislature in September 1975 (and signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown in September), which was intended to lower medical malpractice liability ...
(MICRA), a model for national medical liability reform. At the insistence of CMA physicians, MICRA kept patients whole and ensured compensation for their injuries while setting a cap on non-economic damages, going a long way in keeping malpractice insurance premiums affordable. CMA continued the fight to protect MICRA against a ballot measure funded by trial lawyers, eventually contributing to the loss of Proposition 46 in the November 2014 general election.
By the 1960s, it was clear to the CMA that the managed care industry needed oversight and regulation. In the 1970s, the CMA sponsored a key piece of legislation, the Knox-Keene Health Care Services Act. The law instituted financial and quality standards for
HMO
In the United States, a health maintenance organization (HMO) is a medical insurance group that provides health services for a fixed annual fee. It is an organization that provides or arranges managed care for health insurance, self-funded healt ...
s, set a basic minimum benefit package, required plans to ensure continuity of patient care, and protected the physician-patient relationship in health care decisions. In 2000, the CMA sponsored AB 1455, which gave the
Department of Managed Health Care the authority to levy penalties and fines against health plans that engage in unfair business and payment practices.
While the CMA had made some progress in the Legislature, physicians were frustrated that despite three decades of legislative and regulatory efforts, health plans still ran roughshod over physicians and patients often could not get the care they needed. In 2000, in a historic action, the CMA filed a
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.
RICO was en ...
(RICO) lawsuit against for-profit HMOs in California, alleging that they were using fraud and other illegal activities to interfere in the physician-patient relationship. Eventually, more than 800,000 physicians and 19 state and county medical association's joined the CMA as plaintiffs, becoming the largest class action health care lawsuit in U.S. history.
Of the 10 defendants, six settled (including the now merged Anthem/Wellpoint/Blue Cross), and three had their cases dismissed by the court. The settling health plans agreed to pay a combined $585 million in monetary damages. But of even greater value were the binding commitments made by the insurers to change the way they do business with physicians. These prospective commitments have been valued far in excess of the monetary relief, at well over $1 billion over four years.
In 2015, the CMA co-sponsored
California Senate Bill 277
California Senate Bill 277 (SB277) is a California law that removed personal belief as a reason for an exemption from the vaccination requirements for entry to private or public elementary or secondary schools in California, as well as day care ce ...
, authored by Senator Dr.
Richard Pan
Richard Juien-Dah Pan (born October 28, 1965) is an American Democratic politician and physician who served in the California State Senate from 2014 to 2022, representing the 6th Senate district, which encompasses parts of Sacramento and Yolo ...
, which removes the personal belief exemption from school vaccination requirements. The bill was signed into law by Governor
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...
on June 30, 2015. The CMA was also a partner in the Save Lives California coalition, which passed
California Proposition 56 (2016)
Proposition 56 is a California ballot proposition that passed on the November 8, 2016 ballot. It increased the Cigarette taxes in the United States, cigarette tax by $2.00 per pack, effective April 1, 2017, with equivalent increases on other t ...
to raise tobacco taxes by $2 per pack. CMA, in conjunction with the
California Dental Association
The California Dental Association (CDA) is a nonprofit, professional organization representing organized dentistry in California. Founded in 1870, CDA’s membership currently consists of 27,000 dentists in 32 local dental societies throughout th ...
, has announced it intends to run a
sugary drink tax
A sugary drink tax, soda tax, or sweetened beverage tax (SBT) is a tax or surcharge (food-related fiscal policy) designed to reduce consumption of sweetened beverages. Drinks covered under a soda tax often include carbonated soft drinks, spor ...
on the 2020 ballot.
In 2021 Democratic Assemblyman
Jim Wood introduced AB 890 to allow nurse practitioners in California to practice without physician oversight. The association, in partnership with conservative advocacy group Physicians for Patient Protection, lobbied against the bill. Governor
Gavin Newsom
Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California fr ...
signed the bill into law which goes into effect in 2023.
Demography
At the medical society's second annual session in 1857, the Committee on Education declared that at the very least German, French—but especially Spanish—should be part of a medical student's education, stating: "In no country in the world is there such a national admixture of languages as this State." CMA began on the principles that all patients of all ethnicities should be treated for their illnesses, and the CMA supplied the nation with some of its first ethnic medical leaders. Just as in 1857, the CMA continues to work toward bridging language and ethnic barriers with patients by placing new physicians in underserved areas of the state through the Stephen M. Thompson Loan Forgiveness Program, and studying the effects of limited English proficiency on patient care.
In recent decades, the CMA House of Delegates approved "mode-of-practice" forums to provide representation for physicians based on the type of practice they are in—solo/small group, medium, large and very large group, academic, hospital-based, or government employed. An ethnic physicians' forum also was established.
Today, the California Medical Association has more than 48,000 members in all modes of practice and specialties representing the patients of California.
Physicians for a Healthy California (formerly CMA Foundation)
The CMA Foundation - renamed Physicians for a Healthy California (PHC) in 2018 - primarily began in 1963 as a charitable arm of the California Medical Association, disbursing over $1 million in grants and loans to medical students. The CMA, while supporting the interests of California's physicians, realized that it was important to help along future physicians during their educational years, and so remained as a source of resources for medical students until 1995, when Dr. Rolland C. Lowe, M.D., CMAF Board Chair, recommended that the Foundation expand its role to encompass community health.
New projects began in 1996 and 1997, such as ComPACT (tobacco education) and the Physician Leadership Recognition Dinner. These programs established our position in the community as leaders of public health initiatives. The Pharmacy Partnership Project, begun in 1996, gathered pharmacists from across California working in independent pharmacies to remove tobacco products from their stores. We realized a nearly 80% success rate (currently 78% of independent pharmacies in California are tobacco free). In July 2000, the Partnership changed its name to Prescription for Change to encourage chain pharmacies to go tobacco free as well. Overall, the mission of this project is to facilitate public education campaigns, advertisements, and media coverage that focus on increasing consumer awareness about pharmacies selling tobacco.
Beginning in 2000, PHC initiated its community involvement by launching the AWARE Project (Alliance Working for Antibiotic Resistance Education), a nationally recognized project. In addition, there are many other health projects, public outreach programs, and physician conferences that point to PHC's commitment to improving the health of California's residents.
Institute for Medical Quality
In January 1996, the California Medical Association launched a new not-for-profit subsidiary, the Institute for Medical Quality (IMQ), to help improve the quality of care delivered to patients in California. Its programs include ambulatory care facility accreditation, the Consolidated Accreditation and Licensure Survey program, continuing medical education accreditation and certification, correctional health care accreditation and membership, peer review consultations, extensive educational programs and research.
Audio-Digest Foundation
The Audio-Digest Foundation is a
continuing education
Continuing education (similar to further education in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland) is an all-encompassing term within a broad list of post-secondary learning activities and programs. The term is used mainly in the United ...
provider that was an affiliate of the California Medical Association (CMA).
In January 2008, Audio-Digest Foundation and Marathon Multimedia became Learners Digest International (LDI). LDI was formed by Housatonic, who acquired and consolidated these two businesses formerly owned by the California Medical Association. In August 2015, LDI was acquired by Wolters Kluwer Health Division for $150 million cash.
The organization was established in 1953 and was founded by
Jerry Lyle Pettis
Jerry Lyle Pettis (July 18, 1916 – February 14, 1975) was an American politician and a four-term Congressman from California from 1967 to 1975. He was also a rancher, teacher, aviator, religious leader, and businessman. Pettis was the first ...
. It currently employs 70 full-time staff members and is based in
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...
.
The organization produces
continuing medical education/
continuing education
Continuing education (similar to further education in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland) is an all-encompassing term within a broad list of post-secondary learning activities and programs. The term is used mainly in the United ...
(CME/CE) audio programs for
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
s and
health care professional
A health professional, healthcare professional, or healthcare worker (sometimes abbreviated HCW) is a provider of health care treatment and advice based on formal training and experience. The field includes those who work as a nurse, physician (su ...
s who subscribe. Programs are published on 15
specialties. These are typically audio tapes of meetings (such as
seminar
A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some parti ...
s, short courses at universities,
conferences
A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic.
Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main pu ...
and
symposia
''Symposia'' is a genus of South American araneomorph spiders in the family Cybaeidae, and was first described by Eugène Simon in 1898.
Species
it contains six species in Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic o ...
) at which experts present new research.
The organization is accredited to provide continuing education to
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
s by the
Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education
The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) sets and enforces standards in physician continuing education (or 'lifelong learning') within the United States. It acts as the overseeing body for institutions and organizations ...
, to nurses (by the
American Nurses Credentialing Center
The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association (ANA), is a certification body for nursing board certification and the largest certification body for advanced practice registered nurses in the U ...
's Commission of Accreditation), and to
physician assistant
A physician assistant or physician associate (PA) is a type of Mid-level practitioner, mid-level health care provider. In North America PAs may diagnose illnesses, develop and manage treatment plans, prescribe medications, and may serve as a pri ...
s (by the
American Academy of Physician Assistants
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
, which accepts educational activities by ACCME-accredited organizations up to a certain number of credits).
References
Sources
*
*
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
Medical associations based in the United States
Glendale, California
1856 establishments in California
Organizations established in 1856
American Medical Association
Medical and health organizations based in California