American College of Lifestyle Medicine announces induction into the American Medical Association House of Delegates

The 11,000-member medical professional society will now have a direct voice in shaping health care policies and priorities to advance lifestyle medicine and impact future health care delivery.

ST. LOUIS, June 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) is proud to announce its induction into the prestigious American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates. This significant milestone highlights ACLM's unwavering commitment to shaping the future of health care policy to ensure the highest value care for all patients.

As AMA's principal policy-making body, the House of Delegates is responsible for establishing health care policies and priorities that reflect the needs of patients and physicians nationwide. It serves as a democratic forum that represents the views and interests of a diverse group of member physicians and medical students among its 500 voting delegates.

ACLM, the nation's leading organization for promoting lifestyle medicine as a first-line treatment for chronic disease, will now be able to amplify the voice of its 11,000 members in establishing policy on health, medical, professional and governance matters that address the most pressing challenges facing health care today.

"The American College of Lifestyle Medicine's induction into the AMA House of Delegates is an enormous step not only for the organization but also the rapidly growing field of lifestyle medicine," said ACLM Past President Cate Collings, MD, MS, FACC, DipABLM, FACLM, who will represent ACLM as its official delegate. "This achievement is the result of years of hard work, membership growth and adoption of lifestyle medicine by health systems, as well as recognition by payors who now acknowledge the urgent need for lifestyle medicine-trained physicians and interdisciplinary team members who are uniquely equipped to achieve the Quintuple Aim of improved health outcomes and patient experience, lower costs, health equity, and clinician well-being. Lifestyle medicine often reignites our passion for the practice of medicine. We are excited to collaborate with our peers to advance lifestyle medicine principles for the betterment of patient care." 

Before an organization is eligible for admission to the House of Delegates, it must undergo a rigorous eligibility process that includes three-year membership in the AMA Specialty and Service Society Caucus. It must also meet several other criteria, such as representing a field of medicine with recognized scientific validity, meeting a membership quota, having physicians comprise the majority of the voting membership, and being national in scope.  

ACLM was established in 2004 by a group of visionary physicians who recognized that a medical professional home for lifestyle medicine was needed, as no other field of medicine represented evidence-based, therapeutic lifestyle interventions to treat, even reverse, and prevent chronic disease by optimizing modifiable risk factors. Lifestyle medicine is today one of the fastest growing career fields of medicine globally and holds the promise for true health reform as it addresses the root-cause of chronic illness.

"ACLM's induction into the AMA House Delegates is another pivotal moment in the pursuit of the organization's vision of a world wherein lifestyle medicine is the foundation of health and all health care," said ACLM President and Harvard Medical School Associate Professor, Part Time Beth Frates, MD, FACLM, DipABLM. "As ACLM celebrates its 20^th anniversary, I am overjoyed at the organization's remarkable progress in advancing lifestyle medicine and full of gratitude to the many passionate health care professionals who have worked so hard to arrive at this recognition by the AMA."

About ACLM®
Serving as a transformation catalyst, disruptor of the status quo, and a galvanized force for change, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine is the nation's medical professional society advancing the field of lifestyle medicine as the foundation of a redesigned, value-based and equitable healthcare delivery system, essential to achieving the Quintuple Aim and whole person health. ACLM represents, advocates for, trains, certifies, and equips its members to identify and eradicate the root cause of chronic disease by optimizing modifiable risk factors. ACLM is filling the gaping void of lifestyle medicine—including food as medicine—in medical education, doing so across the entire medical education continuum, while also advancing research, clinical practice and reimbursement strategies. Adding years to lives and life to years, while reining in the alarming, unsustainable trajectory of healthcare spending, is what lifestyle medicine delivers.

SOURCE American College of Lifestyle Medicine