OXFORD - Historic public-private partnerships are coming together for health care reform, American Medical Association president-elect Dr. James Rohack told Mississippi doctors Friday.

"For the first time, the private and public sector committed to quality, affordable health care," Rohack told the delegates at the Mississippi Medical Association annual convention in Oxford.

Rohack, a Texas cardiologist, was the AMA's representative at the White House meeting with President Barack Obama that also included representatives of hospitals, drug makers, insurance companies, organized labor, medical device manufacturers and other health care stakeholders.

They committed to improving efficiency and reducing waste in order to slow the growth of health care costs in the coming years.

Physicians and patients don't need to fear the rise of a monolithic health system with no choice, because it's not something the American people would accept, Rohack said.

The president didn't advocate a single-payer system for the United States at the meeting, Rohack said. Obama said he believes in access to health care for all with a system that is a mix of public and private sources with patients still able to see the physicians of their choice.

"I was behind him, reading over the teleprompter, and that's what he said," Rohack said.

Physicians from Tupelo said they felt they were in good hands with Rohack's leadership.

"The president is at least giving us a seat at the table," said Tupelo physician Dr. Merrell Rogers. "Hopefully, he'll listen to us."

Tupelo obstetrician Dr. Wayne Slocum said he hopes Washington won't let fears about Medicare running out of money push it into hasty decisions, such as those made on stimulus packages.

"It would be disastrous if they did that for health care," Slocum said.

Physicians can help improve quality and reduce unnecessary health costs, Rohack said. But they will need relief from regulations and rules that cut off innovation, penalize preventive care and make it hard to share information on costs.

"We're going to need liability protection if we're going to reduce the costs, which is defensive medicine," Rohack said to applause from the Mississippi physicians.

Federal government can help by setting standards, like they did for railroads, so electronic medical records can be accessible to any health care provider who needs them, Rohack said.

Contact Michaela Gibson Morris at (662) 678-1599 or michaela.morris@djournal.com.