‘Who’s Who in Health Care’ campaign educates patients, legislators about qualifications of health care team members
ISMA and the Indiana Physician Coalition have launched a new advertising campaign to help Hoosiers understand the various roles on their physician-led health care team.

Funded by a new grant through the AMA Scope of Practice Steering Committee, ISMA engaged an outside firm to help design the campaign. The initiative includes a new infographic fact sheet, updates to the coalition website, INphysicians.org, and a media buy dropping banner and social media ads online that target the general public as well as state lawmakers.

The ads help convey the message that Hoosiers want to understand who’s delivering their health care and what their qualifications are in terms of the amount of training required by each profession. The campaign also aims to help patients make the right choice for their physician-led care.

At the same time, the strategy is timed to support ISMA’s top legislative priority for 2022: Health care licensure transparency.

The ISMA Government Relations team is working with state lawmakers to increase transparency in health care, also known as “truth in advertising,” by requiring that:
  • Advertisements that feature health care professionals clearly state the professionals' license type (physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, etc.).
  • Identification that includes a health care professional’s license type be worn in appropriate clinical settings, and if applicable, include their status as a trainee, resident, or fellow.
  • Medical specialty designations, such as anesthesiologist, dermatologist, cardiologist, etc., be reserved for physician specialists according to the statutory definition of the "practice of medicine."
House Bill 1113 and Senate Bill 239 seek to do just that for practitioner identification and advertising.

The House bill is authored by Rep. Dennis Zent, DDS (R-Angola) and co-authored by fellow House Public Health Committee members Reps. Brad Barrett, MD (R-Richmond), Rita Fleming, MD (D-Jeffersonville) and Donna Schaibley (R-Carmel). Meanwhile, the Senate bill is authored by Sen. Kevin Boehnlein (R-Jeffersonville) and co-authored by Sen. Eddie Melton (D-Merrillville), members of the Senate Health and Provider Services Committee.

If passed into law, these transparency measures would apply to a wide variety of practitioners holding a license – physicians, nurses, physician assistants, pharmacists and many others. Health care professionals would have until Jan. 1, 2023, to comply, which would carry minimal costs. More importantly, passage of these measures would demonstrate a willingness to help patients better understand who is providing their care and the qualifications of those professionals.

Ask your legislators to support greater transparency for patients!

Visit www.ismanet.org/ActionCenter (for members only) and click 2022 Legislative Session to find more information and connect with your representatives on this and other key issues.