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ACOEM’s delegation to the American Medical Association (AMA) (
Delegates: Kenji Saito, MD, JD, FACOEM and Allison Jones, MD, MS, FACOEM; Alternate Delegates: Romero Santiago, MD, MPH, FACOEM and Albert Osbahr III, MD, MSCM, FACOEM) had the opportunity to participate in the AMA 2026 Annual Meeting on June 5-9, 2026 in Chicago, IL.
The meeting provided an opportunity to build and reinforce relationships with AMA leaders, specialty societies, caucuses, state delegations, and allied organizations. Specifically, Dr. Jones helped contribute to ACOEM’s successful reinstatement as a full member of the Mobility Caucus, which creates new opportunities for collaboration on education and policy related to mobility, function, impairment, and return-to-work issues.
The delegation also maintained engagement with the Section Council on Preventive Medicine & Public Health (SCPMPH), the Specialty and Service Society (SSS), and other caucuses aligned with ACOEM’s strategic interests. In fact, Dr. Saito was elected to serve as the next Vice Chair of SCPMPH for 2026-2027, where he will then serve as the Chair during 2027-2028. Dr. Osbahr attended the Senior Physician Section meeting and Dr. Santiago attended the Young Physician Section meeting.
Dr. Santiago serves on the Young Physician Section Engagement & Opportunity Standing Committee, which is focused on increasing young physician engagement in the AMA policy-making process.
During the meeting, ACOEM sponsored Resolution 417 on respiratory protection for wildland firefighters. Dr. Santiago submitted the resolution for consideration and Drs. Saito and Santiago testified before the Reference Committee. A representative from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention United States Public Health Service recommended a friendly amendment, which the Reference Committee accepted.
The amended resolution was then presented to the House of Delegates and adopted, establishing the AMA as an official supporter of advocacy for appropriate respiratory protection for wildland firefighters.
The delegation also advanced ACOEM’s resolution regarding the AMA
Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. Drs. Saito and Osbahr provided testimony emphasizing the importance of maintaining a process to keep impairment evaluation guidance current, clinically relevant, and useful to physicians. Following extensive discussion, the House adopted a modified version of the resolution that encourages appropriate criteria and processes to inform next steps for maintaining and updating the
Guides.
In addition to ACOEM-sponsored resolutions, the delegation engaged in policy discussions with colleagues on issues that are relevant to ACOEM’s mission and membership – maintaining quality and transparency in the use of AI in patient care, improving patient access to anti-obesity medications, designating workplace violence in health care as a national advocacy priority, advancing nutrition education, supporting research and policy efforts, and addressing terminology concerns related to use of the term “provider” in the context of ongoing scope-of-practice debates.
For additional highlights from the 2026 Annual Meeting, click
here.