Marion Mass, M.D.

In 2016, I was privileged to be a co-founder of Practicing Physicians of America (PPA), a true grassroots organization. We have a diverse board, including Brian J. Dixon, M.D., pediatric psychiatrist; Niran S. Al-Agba, M.D., pediatrician; Westby G. Fisher, M.D., cardiologist; and Judith L. Thompson, M.D., general and breast surgeon. With the publication of the position paper, Reducing Cost and Waste in American Medicine: A Physician-Led Roadmap to Patient-Centered Medical Care, for the first Free2Care Physician Symposium in April 2019, groups similar to PPA networked to form the FREE2CARE Coalition, which has since become an umbrella for 30 groups, 8 million citizens, and 70,000 physicians. Many in the coalition now speak, write, and advocate at the state and national levels to advance the agenda articulated in the original position paper. I have no conflicts of interest, have never taken a speaking fee, and serve as a volunteer on my county newspaper’s editorial board and with my county’s health society. Friends and family know my foibles and faux pas best. Sometimes, I’ve been so focused on the task at hand that I’ve run errands in public in my bathrobe—my attire of choice when writing at home.