Share Your Voice!
Contacting Your Legislators
Contact* your legislators by:
Email
Online portals, tools, websites
Social media
Phone
Postal mail
In-person meeting
*Not all contact modes will be available for every representative.
Find your legislators (and send a message!) by typing your zip code into this link:
Congressional Bills Trackers
Staying informed on current bills helps you focus conversations with your legislators and allows you to provide timely feedback on issues most important to you.
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has a congressional bill tracker focused on bills that pertain to family medicine and provides information on AAFP’s stance on the issue
Govtrack.us has a tracker of all bills in Congress. This link leads to bills related to health
Tips for Communicating with Legislators:
Introduce yourself with your title and how you are connected to the legislator (ex: constituent)
If you are speaking on behalf of an organization or group, state the group and provide brief information on the group
State your request at the beginning and the end of your communication
Be specific in your requests, and prioritize what is most important
Share stories of how an issue affects you, your patients, and medicine
Bring visual aids, short informational documents, and business cards to leave with the legislator’s staff
Make yourself available as a resource for more information
Reshare your expertise, title, and credentials
Follow-up in a timely manner if applicable
If you say you will send more information, make sure it gets sent promptly
If you are having a follow-up meeting, ensure that the meeting is scheduled
Henry TA. 7 tips for physicians looking to connect with lawmakers. American Medical Association. https://www.ama-assn.org/health-care-advocacy/federal-advocacy/7-tips-physicians-looking-connect-lawmakers. Published March 15, 2021. Accessed October 20, 2021.
How to communicate effectively with legislators. Animal Welfare Institute. https://awionline.org/content/how-communicate-effectively-legislators. Accessed October 20, 2021.
Robeznieks A. What physicians need to know about how to reach lawmakers. American Medical Association. https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/career-development/what-physicians-need-know-about-how-reach-lawmakers. Published February 6, 2018. Accessed October 20, 2021.
Letter Template
This sample advocacy letter can be used to advocate for change within your organization. This letter talks about using apps to reduce workload for physicians, but the template can be modified to fit what you are advocating for. Make sure to include your name, title, and contact information.
Dear Mrs. Administrator:
As a physician in this organization, I am writing to ask you to take action to reduce EHR-associated burnout. Physician burnout is an epidemic, impacting between 35%-54% of U.S. physicians. A Washington Post- Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 30% of health care workers are considering leaving health care due to pandemic-related burnout. Studies have found a strong association between EHR and physician burnout. A lot of this is due to the excessive documentation requirements. U.S. physicians spend 44% of computer-facing time on documentation, resulting in anywhere from 19 to 41 hours each week in their EHR.
To reduce this, I am suggesting the organization introduces an app or software company-wide to reduce physician’s administrative workload with EHR. CareAlign connects to any EHR to improve clinical workflows, with 81% of clinicians who use it saying it saves them at least an hour a day. Suki is an artificial intelligence assistant that allows physicians to finish their notes an average of 76% faster. HealthTensor is an AI-powered clinical diagnosis tool that saves physicians 50-75% of time at their EHR. These are just a few of the tools available on the market that could integrate with our EHR system and drastically save time and reduce burnout for the many clinicians at (Insert name of Health System).
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. I urge you to take action now on reducing physician burnout, before it is too late. Please let me know if you would like more information on this topic or if you would like to further discuss the issue in person. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Mark Greene, MD
Chief of Emergency Medicine
greene@countygeneral.org; 123-456-7890
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