In the Spotlight: Dr. Stacy Taylor, 2023-24 President of the Connecticut State Medical Society

Earlier this month, Dr. Stacy Taylor, a family medicine physician, was inaugurated as the 185th President of the Connecticut State Medical Society (CSMS), one of the nation’s oldest medical societies. She succeeded Dr. David J. Hass, who just completed his one-year term as the CSMS’ president.

In addition to her practice as a family physician, Taylor is a clinical instructor for the University of Connecticut’s School of Medicine and its Family Medicine Residency Program; she received her medical degree from UConn.

Prior to becoming the CSMS president, Taylor served on the organization’s board of directors as a representative from Litchfield County and chaired the Women’s Section and the Strategic Planning Committee. She has also been a member of the CSMS Legislative Committee and an annual participant in Physicians Day at the State Capitol, discussing key issues affecting both medical providers and patients with state legislators.

Outside of the CSMS, Taylor is an active member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and has served as president, secretary and legislative chair of the Connecticut Academy of Family Physicians. She has also been a delegate in the American Medical Association House of Delegates.

The Business Journal spoke with Taylor shortly after her CSMS presidential inauguration.

Congratulations on becoming the 2023-24 President of the CSMS. What are your priorities going to be as president?

I mentioned a few things in my inaugural speech that I felt were important. One of the things I said is we need to support and invest in the diverse individual physician and the counties that make up our society. And like Dr. Hass, who has been prior president and got involved with younger physicians and continues to do so, I think we need to encourage younger and newer physicians to join the Society. Because not only can the Society do things for them, but they can develop and be empowered by participating in this Society by meeting mentors who’ve been in medicine longer than they have.

The other is doing all we can to advocate for streamlining administrative tasks. This will allow our members to focus on their patients rather than administration – we need to reduce the burden of prior authorization and encourage the exchange of meaningful information between the health care system and other health care businesses, such as the minute clinics in our state. We should be optimizing technology to facilitate what we do every day, rather than have that act as an impediment.

You mentioned younger physicians joining the Society. Are you seeing a lot of younger people coming into the medical profession today?

There are as many as there were in the past. I don’t think the issue is the younger people coming in as much as the fact that the need is greater.

In my opinion, we have to expand the residency programs to get more people to go into medicine and be able to serve their communities. But that’s another issue. We have an aging population that’s going to require more physicians, and nurse practitioners and PAs. We have a lot of physicians retiring and it seems like many of us are getting older and getting to that age. Although there are younger people going into medicine, they’re not necessarily in the same places that the retiring physicians are, so that a large issue.

But I think younger physicians also may not recognize what an organized medicine-related society can do for them. I’ve gained a lot from being part of the Connecticut State Medical Society and the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the Connecticut Academy of Family Physicians. I think there’s a tendency when you’re going to be more isolated, to some degree, that you do your job, you go home and it’s done. And we need to tell people, ‘Listen, there’s a lot more one can do to advance medicine, to advance health care, to correct some horrible situations.’ We just need to convince people to get involved, and that’s what I’m concerned about.

Within Connecticut, are you seeing disparities in access to medical care?

Yes I am, because of the lack of providers. I switched from Hartford Healthcare to Trinity, so I could teach, when I left the area I was in there weren’t people to replace me. Although I went to another area, it was too far from my prior patients to get there. I couldn’t tell them where I was going, as well.

If there were lots of us around, it would have been easy to find a replacement for me. But there aren’t enough and the need is becoming greater. There’s a supply issue, and as long as there’s a supply issue and demand exceeds supply, there will be shortages in certain areas. That’s the situation not only in Connecticut, but all over the country right now.

In terms of the expenses related to medical care, what is the Society doing to help bring down costs?

We try to encourage people to use to prescription generics. We also try to become involved in the drug end of things – so when insulin goes up and is completely ridiculously priced, we’ve gotten involved in the past. I know the state Attorney General [William] Tong and he’s gotten involved in that as well.

It’s not just a state issue. I am part of the AMA House of Delegates as well, and we’ve passed a lot of resolutions concerning the cost of health care and the need to bring it down. I’m not sure it’s an easy fix – there are many, many factors. And it’s not only drug prices, it’s also the cost of procedures.

How much of your schedule is being devoted to the Society in conjunction to the work that you’re doing in your practice?

It’s all on my own time, whenever I’m not at work. I’m not cutting back on my work hours, and most of us don’t. I did volunteer for a hospice and I realized two days after being inaugurated that I couldn’t do that anymore, which was sad, but I knew my responsibilities were great and something had to give. I may go back to doing that once my term is done. But I’m still seeing my regular patients.