At a time when the state of health care is in flux, it is critical that physicians engage in the national debate by telling their stories and those of their patients to help create change, according to Andrew W. Gurman, MD, immediate past president of the AMA.

“Our country deserves better, and it is up to us as America’s doctors to keep the health and vitality of our patients, our fellow citizens [and] our friends at the forefront of these discussions,” Gurman said in a presentation at the American Society for Surgery of the Hand Annual Meeting. “Our voice is their voice. Our advocacy is their advocacy, and we owe it to a generation of Americans struggling today to pay for health care and to those who come in the future to get this right.”