Our Role in the AMA House of Delegates

Each year, the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) proudly represents our specialty in one of the most influential policymaking bodies in American medicine: the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates (HOD). As the official legislative and policymaking body of the AMA, the HOD shapes the direction of national healthcare policy through democratic debate and decision-making. For the Academy, our presence at these meetings ensures that the unique perspectives and priorities of our specialty are heard, debated, and included in the larger conversation about the future of healthcare in the United States.

Here, we outline the Academy’s specific role and provide highlights from last month’s Annual Meeting of the AMA HOD on June 6–11.

The Structure and Role of the AMA House of Delegates

The AMA HOD is composed of more than 600 voting delegates representing state medical associations, national medical specialty societies (including the AAO-HNS), and federal services. Each of these entities appoint delegates to serve as their official representatives in the HOD. These delegates bring forth resolutions, participate in reference committee hearings, and vote on policies that ultimately guide AMA advocacy and initiatives.

As a member organization of the HOD, the AAO-HNS has three voting delegates and one alternate delegate. Our current delegates are Douglas R. Myers, MD, Michael S. Goldrich, MD, and Susan D. McCammon, MD. Rahul K. Shah, MD, MBA, serves as our alternate delegate as the Academy’s Executive Vice President and CEO. As the Academy’s direct liaisons to the AMA, these physician leaders significantly contribute to the formulation of AMA policy positions and the identification of AMA policy priorities.

The HOD meets twice annually—once during the AMA Annual Meeting in June and again at the interim meeting in November. These gatherings are where AMA policy is created, updated, or rescinded. Topics range from public health and patient safety to scope of practice, payment reform, and medical education. The HOD deliberation process offers all specialties the opportunity to contribute to the development of broad-based policies that reflect the needs and experiences of physicians nationwide.

The Academy’s delegates also serve on the AMA’s Specialty and Service Society, which specifically represents medical specialties (as opposed to state medical societies) and is the largest caucus in the HOD, and the Surgical Caucus of the AMA, which provides a forum for discussing professional and socioeconomic issues of interest to surgeons.  

In addition to the delegates mentioned above, the Academy appoints an AMA Resident and Fellow Section delegate each year. The current delegate, Shreya Mandava, MD, attends both the AMA RFS meetings in June and November and serves as liaison between the Academy’s Section for Residents and Fellows and the AMA-RFS, representing the concerns of the specialty and promoting otolaryngology to medical students.

 “I had the amazing opportunity to represent our AAO-HNS Section for Residents and Fellows, said

Dr. Mandava, of the June meeting. “[The meeting] was filled with policy discussions on a range of topics, including preserving Medicaid, changes to NIH research funding, and the administrative burdens that contribute to physician burnout."

How the AAO-HNS Advocates on Your Behalf

The Academy’s delegation is actively involved in every aspect of the HOD proceedings. We review and analyze hundreds of pages of resolutions, collaborate with partner specialty societies, and advocate for policies that align with otolaryngologists’ clinical, regulatory, and professional interests. Our participation ensures that decisions made by the AMA are informed by otolaryngologists’ unique expertise and reflect the Academy’s commitment to high-quality, evidence-informed, and equitable ear, nose, and throat care. 

In addition to influencing AMA policy, participation in the HOD provides an opportunity to form new coalitions, share concerns across specialties, and collaborate on cross-cutting healthcare issues. The Academy coordinates with the AMA Section Council on Otolaryngology, which brings together all otolaryngologist-head and neck surgeons in the HOD. The Academy’s delegates are often not the only otolaryngologists participating in the HOD. An otolaryngologist may serve as a delegate for their state medical society, for example. The OTO Section Council brings together all otolaryngologists in the HOD to share information, discuss policy, and unite the voice of the specialty.

Highlights from the 2025 Annual Meeting of the AMA HOD

Button Battery Safety
This year, the AMA HOD adopted a new resolution, sponsored by the AAO-HNS, regarding one of the Academy’s top advocacy priorities: advocating for the promotion and development of safer button and coin cell battery technologies. As AAO-HNS members are well aware, button battery ingestion is a growing public health concern, particularly for young children. When ingested, these small batteries can cause severe tissue damage to the esophagus, trachea, or vasculature within just hours.

Citing alarming statistics—such as an emergency department visit for a battery-related injury occurring every 75 minutes in the U.S.—the resolution as passed instructs the AMA to adopt the following two key actions:

1. Promote a definition of safer button or coin cell batteries as those that do not cause significant tissue injury if lodged in the body, while still adequately powering electronic devices.
2. Advocate for the development and industry-wide use of safer battery technology, in coordination with other medical specialty organizations.

In his testimony in support of this resolution, AAO-HNS HOD Delegation Chair Douglas R. Myers, MD, emphasized that ingested button batteries are not only dangerous to children, but deadly. As the global leader in optimizing quality ear, nose, and throat patient care, this resolution builds upon the Academy’s public commitment to promoting patient safety, preventing injuries, and advocating for urgent reform in battery manufacturing practices.

Other Key Resolutions of Interest
While the button battery resolution is a highlight of this year's HOD meeting, the AAO-HNS also monitors and engages with a wide array of resolutions that may impact our members’ clinical practice, administrative burden, or regulatory environment. 

For example, the HOD adopted a resolution that elevates Medicaid to an urgent and top legislative advocacy priority alongside Medicare payment reform, specifically advocating for maintaining and expanding Medicaid coverage. Many delegates spoke in favor of this resolution and believe that the AMA ought to be a leading voice on this issue.

In response to the administration’s decision to dismiss all members of the Center for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the HOD adopted an emergency resolution that directs the AMA to send a letter demanding an immediate reversal of the decision and another letter urging Congress to investigate the matter.

The HOD adopted a resolution directing the AMA to advocate for a "nicotine-free generation," which will involve developing model legislation and supporting jurisdictional efforts to facilitate a gradual phase out of sales of (combustible and non-combustible) nicotine delivery devices through a generational ban. Under this approach, anyone born after a designated date would be prohibited from purchasing these products for their entire lifetime. 

The OTO Section Council supported each of these resolutions.

Looking Ahead

Participation in the AMA HOD is a powerful way to ensure that our voices are heard on the national stage. It is also an essential means of protecting patients’ safety and wellbeing by influencing broader health policy decision-making. The AAO-HNS remains committed to representing our specialty’s interests within the AMA and to ensuring that policies adopted by the HOD reflect the Academy’s goals and objectives.

As AMA Immediate Past President Bruce A. Scott, MD, stated in his February Bulletin article, “By working closely with the AAO-HNS on a broad range of issues of concern to otolaryngologists, the AMA acts as a force multiplier in helping effect changes that improve our ability to give our patients the quality care they deserve." The AAO-HNS encourages its members to stay engaged and amplify your voice within the house of medicine.

The next meeting of the AMA HOD will be held November 14–18, 2025, in National Harbor, Maryland (outside of Washington, DC). For questions about the AAO-HNS delegation to the AMA, please contact the Academy’s Director of Advocacy, Harry DeCabo at hdecabo@entnet.org.