The legislative agenda of the American Podiatric Medical Association was the topic of a previous “President’s Message” from me, and our important government initiatives have been featured at length in APMA NEWS. Now a new tool has been added to our lobbying armamentarium—an e-Advocacy Web site that will make it easier than ever for APMA members to make their voices heard by their senators and representatives on Capitol Hill.
These are challenging times for medicine in general and for podiatric medicine specifically. Because of the developments that occur in Washington on an almost daily basis, APMA must expand its commitment to effective—and immediate—lobbying. Over the years, APMA has certainly developed an enviable reputation of having a strong voice in Washington. But times are changing, especially in the arena of technology—a fact that led our new Legislative Committee to bring e-Advocacy from concept to potent reality.
The Internet has been changing the lives of people—and the way we do business—at a rapid pace, and members of Congress are no exception to this phenomenon. Your senators and representatives are now plugged into the Internet and are using it more and more as a tool for communicating with their constituencies. Today, most congressional offices consider e-mail contacts to be the best way to measure the views of their constituents on issues.
To keep pace with this trend, APMA has introduced an e-mail service that gives our members quick and easy access to their senators and representatives. The service allows you to create either an e-mail message—which is sent automatically to your congressional representatives—or to create a letter to be printed out and mailed.
A template for the message and talking points on current issues being addressed—Medicare reform, managed care reform, and improving access to health professionals—are provided to clarify APMA’s position and to help members gather their thoughts. Members do not even have to know who their legislators are! The software identifies them automatically on the basis of the member’s log-in identity.
The e-Advocacy program was activated at the APMA members-only Web site in August during the 2001 Annual Scientific Meeting and can be reached by going to www.apma-online.org and clicking on the link to the e-Advocacy section. To enter the members-only site, enter your membership number (found on your membership card, or call APMA Membership Services) in the box for “user name,” and, for the password, enter your last name, with the first letter capitalized.
Once at the e-Advocacy site, you will again use your APMA identification number and last name to help the program identify your senators and representatives.
The e-Advocacy site will allow the APMA to leverage its strength by using the power from individual members to advocate for appropriate legislation that affects the health care of the nation and the welfare of the podiatric medical profession.
APMA needs your involvement in this process. Log on and get involved. Democracy is not a spectator sport.
Remember also that the fuel driving the engine of our efforts is the money raised by the Podiatry Political Action Committee (PPAC). It is critical that we all give generously to PPAC, because there is “Strength through Unity.”
