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GAME Founder Honored for Lifetime Editorial Achievement
American Business Media
03/13/2002

Lewis A. Miller of Darien CT, founder of the Global Alliance for Medical Education (GAME) and the Alliance for Continuing Medical Education, was honored March 13, 2002 as the 2002 winner of the Crain Award for lifetime editorial achievement. The award, presented at a luncheon ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria, New York City, is given annually by American Business Media (ABM). It is named for G.D. Crain, the founder of Advertising Age.

In nominating Miller for the Crain Award, Carroll V. Dowden, president of Dowden Health Media, Montvale, NJ, and past chairman of ABM, provided this career sketch: "Lewis A. Miller, editorial director and co-founder of Dowden Health Media, is an editorial innovator who, in his 42-year career, has changed the field of medical journalism. Under his leadership, a new genre of clinical medical journals was born. For the first time, editorial content was based on the needs of physician-readers for practical, relevant, clinical information. For the first time, clinical content was developed and written not by academic physicians, but by staff writers working with physician experts. For the first time, a new class of primary care physicians became a major audience for medical publishers."

"Miller's leadership as an editor carried over to related fields that substantially influenced the way in which medicine is practiced today. New forms of medical record keeping were introduced through his journals and then adopted widely as systems for better patient care. His stature among medical professionals in academia, medical societies and government enabled him to found what is today the leading organization of professionals in continuing medical education. These accomplishments occurred during a lifetime of editorial initiatives and leadership, reflected in the founding of four major medical publishing companies and the launch of half a dozen magazines within these; the founding of a medical record systems company and a medical web company; and the founding of three significant not-for-profit organizations in the health care field."

"In 1966, Miller and Dr. August Fink formed Miller and Fink Corporation (based in Darien from 1970-84) to publish a new clinical journal, Patient Care. They were the first to recognize that front-line doctors, then in decline in an age of specialization, would soon resurface as the single largest group of physicians. In addition, Miller was the first to develop a new brand of medical journalism. He conducted market research to determine what clinical information physician-readers wanted and needed. At that time, virtually all medical journal articles were written by physicians in research. He shifted the focus of clinical content from the subjectivity of a single author to objectivity, utilizing multiple physician sources for the sake of balance."

"As an extension of his journalistic activities, Miller was instrumental in encouraging the rational growth of the billion-dollar continuing medical education industry. In 1975, he founded the Alliance for Continuing Medical Education, which now has 2,500 members, mostly in the U.S. and Canada."

"Miller was also the first commercial medical publisher to launch international editions. Patient Care appeared in 11 countries and 6 languages -- ultimately garnering 100,000 U.S. readers and 150,000 abroad. To further promote medical publications and medical education programs internationally, he founded Intermedica, Inc., based in Darien and Mexico City, in 1986 and is now chairman of that company. In 1996, Miller formed the Global Alliance for Medical Education, so that experts from Europe, Latin America, Asia, Australia and elsewhere could learn from each other."

"In 1988, Miller and Carroll Dowden formed Dowden Publishing (now Dowden Health Media), publishers of five clinical journals, consumer health publications, and CME programs. Miller helped launch Dowden's flagship publication, OBG Management; helped reshape an acquisition, The Journal of Family Practice; and, at 73, was founding editor of Current Psychiatry, launched in January 2002. 'What's most satisfying,' Miller says, 'is helping doctors give their patients better care'."

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