The AMA is the American Medical Association, the largest professional organization for physicians in the United States. Founded in 1847, it works to advance medical science, set standards for physician education and ethics, and influence health policy. Its reach extends well beyond its membership: the AMA maintains the billing code system used by virtually every doctor’s office, hospital, and insurance company in the country, and publishes one of the most cited medical journals in the world.
How the AMA Started
In 1845, a physician named Nathan S. Davis introduced a resolution to the New York Medical Association calling for a national medical convention. That resolution led to the founding of the AMA two years later in Philadelphia. At its very first meeting, the organization set two priorities: establishing a code of ethics for physicians and defining minimum requirements for medical education and training. Those two pillars, along with scientific advancement and public health improvement, have remained central to its mission ever since.
The AMA’s official mission today is to “promote the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health.” In practice, that plays out across several areas: setting ethical standards, publishing research, developing the coding system that underpins medical billing, and lobbying Congress on health policy.
The Code of Medical Ethics
The AMA’s Code of Medical Ethics, first adopted in 1847, is one of the oldest professional ethics frameworks in the country. It drew heavily from a code published by English physician Thomas Percival in 1803, which itself built on principles tracing back to the Hippocratic tradition. The code has been revised multiple times since then, with major updates in 1957, 1980, and 2001.
The current version contains nine core principles. Among the most significant: physicians must provide competent care with compassion and respect for human dignity, safeguard patient confidentiality, report colleagues who engage in fraud or are deficient in competence, and support access to medical care for all people. That last principle was added in 2001, reflecting a shift toward recognizing healthcare access as a professional responsibility. The code also affirms that physicians should respect the law but have a duty to push back against legal requirements that harm patients.
These principles aren’t just symbolic. Medical schools teach them, licensing boards reference them, and courts have cited them in malpractice and ethics cases. They form the baseline expectation for professional conduct across American medicine.
CPT Codes and Medical Billing
One of the AMA’s most consequential but least visible roles is maintaining the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code set. Every time a doctor performs a service, from a routine office visit to a complex surgery, it gets assigned a CPT code. That code is what insurers, hospitals, and government programs like Medicare use to process claims and determine payment. The system is so embedded in U.S. healthcare that it’s essentially unavoidable for any provider who bills for services.
The CPT Editorial Panel, an independent body convened by the AMA, oversees the code set. It meets three times a year and accepts change requests from a wide range of stakeholders: specialty medical societies, hospitals, labs, device companies, insurers, and individual physicians. Each request goes through a formal review process where physician advisors evaluate whether a proposed code accurately describes the service and fits within existing coding principles. Notably, the panel does not consider payment or insurance coverage when deciding whether to approve a code. Most approved changes take effect on January 1 of the following year.
The AMA holds the copyright on CPT codes, which generates significant revenue for the organization and has also drawn criticism from those who argue that a billing system so central to public healthcare shouldn’t be owned by a private entity.
JAMA and Medical Publishing
The AMA publishes the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), one of the most influential medical journals in the world. With a 2023 impact factor of 120.7, JAMA ranks among the very top journals in science and medicine. The broader JAMA Network includes 13 journals covering specialties like cardiology, dermatology, neurology, oncology, pediatrics, and psychiatry, all sharing a mission to publish the best health-related research available.
For the general public, JAMA matters because the studies it publishes frequently shape clinical guidelines, inform public health recommendations, and drive news coverage of medical breakthroughs. When a major study changes how a disease is treated or a drug is evaluated, there’s a good chance it appeared in JAMA or one of its sister journals.
Policy and Political Influence
The AMA is one of the biggest lobbying forces in Washington. It spends tens of millions of dollars annually advocating on issues ranging from Medicare physician payment to drug pricing, insurance reform, and public health funding. Its political action committee donates to candidates on both sides of the aisle, and its House of Delegates, a legislative body made up of physician representatives from every state and specialty, votes on the organization’s official policy positions.
At its 2025 annual meeting, the AMA continued to set policy on issues affecting both physicians and patients. The organization’s current president is Bobby Mukkamala, MD, and its Board of Trustees is chaired by David H. Aizuss, MD. Leadership rotates regularly, with presidents typically serving one-year terms.
Membership and Representation
Despite being the largest physician organization in the U.S., the AMA represents a minority of practicing doctors. Membership has fluctuated over the decades, and many physicians choose not to join, sometimes because they disagree with the organization’s policy positions or don’t see direct value in membership. Still, the AMA’s influence far exceeds its membership numbers because of its role in ethics, coding, publishing, and lobbying. Whether or not a physician carries an AMA membership card, the organization’s decisions shape the professional landscape they work in every day.