Our Top 10 list is an annual tradition that serves as a recap of our last year. There’s always a recurring theme as we review our year. Typically, phrases like community building and development come to the forefront.  I believe our relationships have strengthened, thanks to many of you. It is now time to put those relationships to great use and take our medical community to a level that influences the health of the population of the Greater Memphis area.  

In case you have not heard it lately, thank you for your membership, and thank you for what you do to improve the health of this community! I invite you to join us or engage with us even more in this new year.  

Our 2024 Top 10 

  1. 2024 President’s Gala. We gathered to honor the year of board presidency for Dr. Lisa Usdan, while laying the groundwork for Dr. Criner’s term. Lisa did an outstanding job, and it has been an honor to follow her. She continues to be highly engaged in our mission, and she chaired our most recent nominating committee meeting. I also want to thank Dr. Andrew Watson, TMA Immediate Past President, for his continued representation of Memphis and leadership of our profession at the state level. I am excited to stay engaged in organized medicine as my term as board president ends. I greatly appreciate the support of my clinical colleagues, the MMS staff and my fellow MMS board members, and of course my family as we all worked together to get everyone where they needed to be this past year. 

What’s next?  

Dr. James Beaty will be assuming the responsibility and honor of leading our organization as our President in 2025. Jim is one of the most accomplished physician leaders in our community and I’m excited to see how his leadership will influence our strategic plan going forward. Look for an email and please save the date for Physicians’ Gala on Saturday, March 1st at 6pm at Memphis Botanic Gardens. Note the new name for the event.  

  

  1. Advocacy Wins (many rooted right here in Memphis). It was another successful year in advocacy through the continued partnership with Tennessee Medical Association. Our relationships with elected officials continue to be strengthened almost exclusively due to the active engagement of our members. We are seeing increased involvement from early career physicians, and we are promoting those members into leadership roles in our organization. You can read the full list of advocacy wins in TMA’s Legislative Report Card. Here are some highlights that have a distinct Memphis connection: 
  • Assault on Physicians – The Dr. Benjamin Mauck Act passed the legislature and expanded the definition of assault on our profession. Update: Senator Brent Taylor is proposing a much-needed bill that closes a loophole regarding enforcement of the law. Please be on the lookout for a call to action regarding this bill during the session.  
  • Truth in Advertising – primarily led by dermatologists across the state, several Memphis-area physicians advocated for this bill that prohibits non-physicians from using specialty designations in their practice. Cleanup regarding enforcement of the law may be needed. Note: In 2025, MMS will become the administrative partner for Tennessee Dermatology Society. We are looking forward to this new partnership and their annual meeting being held in Memphis in November 2025.  
  • Physician Wellness – Rep. Tom Leatherwood was a sponsor of legislation that sought to continue to enact statutory protections that enable physicians who are experiencing symptoms of burnout get the care they need.  

What’s next? Ride the bus! We will be participating in TMA’s Day on the Hill on Tuesday, March 4th. I invite each of you to join us for a great day of meetings with legislators and unique fellowship with your colleagues. We are also taking a bus to TMA’s House of Delegates and Annual Meeting. We need more delegates from Memphis to represent us at House of Delegates so please reach out if you are interested. Click here to register! 

  1. Project Access. Project Access West Tennessee (PAWTN) has enjoyed a successful third year. We entered into a facility agreement with West Tennessee Healthcare, and have dramatically increased our services in West Tennessee, outside of Memphis. In Memphis, we are engaging in strategic discussions with Church Health in hopes of launching a partnership that effectively utilizes the funds our State is investing in Memphis for uninsured sub-specialty care. More to come! 

What’s next?  

We need more partners for this effort, and we need a community-wide strategic plan to effectively take care of our vulnerable patients. If you or your clinic is interested in providing coordinated, effective, and efficient care to those without insurance, please reply to this email. Seeing just one patient a month makes a huge difference, and patients are navigated by an elite team of case managers, many of whom are bilingual. Thank you to those physicians and community partners who agreed to serve on the Board of Directors for the Foundation to further support this mission.  

  1. Mid-South Healthcare Leadership Institute (MHLI). Our newest program has built on its first-year success with a second practice administrator cohort, as we continue to partner with our own Memphis Medical Foundation and our friends and colleagues at Mid-South MGMA. Special thanks to Jessica Harrison (University Clinical Health), Eric Gibson (MOGA/ClearlyMD), Andreana Smith (Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare), and Cara Azhar (MMS) for their leadership in developing this program. 

What’s next? 

We plan to continue to grow this program to include physician cohorts, practice-based cohorts, and advanced educational offerings for those who have completed an initial cohort. 

5,6, & 7) Our Strategic Plan. We continue to aspire to achieve the goals we set forth as a board four years ago through our strategic plan. Here is where we are. 

Increase membership to 1,100 dues-paying members. 

While we have not achieved the 1,100 dues-paying members benchmark YET, we continue to show strong membership numbers. We still boast more than 2,500 members total when considering our student and resident members! 

Create an inclusive medical community that supports and advocates for physicians, their practices, and their patients.  

See MHLI information above. We also continue our collaborative work with other local healthcare groups that represent the House of Medicine.  

Utilize the talents of our members to improve the health of our communities. 

As mentioned, Project Access is becoming more visible in our medical community, which will lead to better health outcomes for those without access to insurance. We must and will continue to mobilize the physician community to create better outcomes for our patients and our community.  

What’s next? Our strategic plan will be updated in 2025, and we will be asking for your input! 

  

  1. MedTemps. We firmly believe that MedTemps is one of the hidden jewels of our medical community. MedTemps has been meeting the workforce needs of our medical community for almost 40 years! In 2025, we plan to continue to grow our capacity and share more with the community about how your locally-based staffing agency sets itself apart from the competition.  
  1. Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion. We are proud to report that our Nominating Committee and Board of Directors have continued its efforts to represent diversity in our leadership appointments. That work will continue in 2025!  
  1. Events. We are pleased to share that our events continue to grow. The MMS staff plans and conducts 50+ events annually for our members and our partner organizations.  

What’s next? A new location for our Gala, and the partnership with Tennessee Dermatology Society will keep us busy in 2025! 

  1. MMS staff. We can’t have a Top 10 without our amazing staff, so we went to 11. Their elite talents, combined with our unique mission make MMS one of the best organizations in which to serve and work. Thank you to each of them for representing us so well every day! 

  

Here’s to making 2025 our best year yet! Thank you to each of you for your dedication to a better medical community. 

  

All our best, 

  

R. Dale Criner, M.D.                                                                              Clint Cummins, MHA 

2024 President                                                                                        Chief Executive Officer