The American Medical Association (AMA) and Arkansas Medical Society (AMS) commended Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and the Arkansas General Assembly for putting an end to senseless administrative barriers to evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD). Signed into law this week, Arkansas Act 964 requires all health insurers and the Arkansas Medicaid program to remove prior authorization to FDA-approved medications that have been shown to support recovery, reduce health care costs and save lives, including buprenorphine, methadone and naltrexone. These medications are… Read More

AMS Past President Omar T. Atiq, MD, FACP, has been named Chair of the Board of Governors of the American College of Physicians (ACP), the national organization of internists. His term began during the ACP’s… Read More

With the launch of the nARcansas app coinciding with the 17th Arkansas Drug Take Back Day, the theme is “I can. You can. We can. Save a life with Narcan!” “The main goal of every… Read More

The May edition of the Journal is hitting mailboxes, and in this issue we cover the osteopathic medical schools in Arkansas and their impact on physician shortages and access to care.  NYITCOM at A-State in… Read More

UPDATE:  Application deadline has been moved to August 16, 2019. The Physician Practice Quality Improvement Award Program online application is live! Physician practices continue to make great strides in providing reliable preventive services and implementing effective care… Read More

ARKMED.org now features a new photo gallery feature, and you can view it here.  We’ll be adding to it in the coming months, so be sure to check back to see the latest photos. Do… Read More

By a vote of 49 yeas, 37 nays, and 14 no-votes, the House FAILED the CRNA Supervision Removal Bill (SB 184). To get an update on the other bills we’re tracking visit our website. http://bit.ly/AMSBillTracking… Read More

Read the April 2019 issue of the Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society here. In this issue you’ll find information about the 2019 Annual Membership Meetnig and reports from the Board of Trustees, AMS Benefits,… Read More

SB 184 (Stubblefield) passed out of the House Public Health Committee with 11 “yes” votes and 8 “no” votes. It will now be heard in the full House of Representatives on Monday, April 1st. The… Read More

Despite powerful testimony from Charlotte Allison, a patient whose eyes were permanently damaged by a laser used by an optometrist, the Senate Public Health Committee voted 5 to 2 in favor of passing the Optometrists… Read More

Last week, the Arkansas House of Representatives passed House Bill 1251, which allows optometrists to perform surgery on the eye ball and eye lid.  We believe this would jeopardize patient safety and lower the quality of… Read More