On June 15, the ACR and partnering physician specialist groups passed an American Medical Association (AMA) resolution opposing the proposed Medicare Part B drug payment demonstration during the AMA House of Delegates (HOD) meeting held June 11–15 in Chicago. Part B Payment Demo Resolution The resolution, which the ACR supported with the American Society of…
How to Decipher the American Medical Association’s Billing, Coding Processes
The American Medical Association consists of two key groups: 1) the Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC), which oversees the annual updates to the physician work relative values, and 2) the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Editorial Panel, which assigns new or revised codes in the CPT book. The CPT Process Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) was…
Opinion: Politics Should Not Trump Science in Medicine
I tell my patients there are three types of science: 1) investigative science, which sometimes gets it right; 2) science in the courtroom, which is junk science; and 3) science in Washington, D.C., which is political science. Our decisions are based on art and science; our patients’ medications are brought to market based on science….
More Than Half of U.S. Doctors Experience Burnout
(Reuters Health)—Burnout among U.S. doctors is becoming more common and now affects more than half of practicing physicians, according to a new study.¹ About 54% of U.S. doctors experienced at least one symptom of burnout in 2014, compared to about 46% in 2011, researchers report in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Overall, the researchers found that doctors are…
U.S. Doctor Group Calls for Ban on Drug Advertising to Consumers
(Reuters)—The American Medical Association on Tuesday called for a ban on advertising prescription drugs and medical devices directly to consumers, saying the ads drive patients to demand expensive treatments over less costly ones that are also effective. The influential doctors’ group said the new policy reflects physicians’ concerns that marketing spending on a proliferation of…
Why Rheumatologists Should Join the AMA
Editor’s note: Welcome to the first installment of Experiences in Advocacy, a special series authored by ACR members detailing personal experiences in advocacy. We need rheumatologists to join the American Medical Association (AMA). Here’s why, and how to do it. Having participated in your delegation for over a decade, I have seen major improvements in…
ACR Seeks Members’ Help to Boost AMA Representation
Rheumatologists who have not been members of the American Medical Association (AMA), or have let their membership lapse, should strongly consider joining now for 2015 so rheumatology can remain involved in steering the direction of the AMA. Call the AMA at 800-262-3211 and specify that you want to join for 2015, or contact ACR staff…
Increase Rheumatology’s Voice in the AMA
Each June, the American Medical Association’s (AMA’s) House of Delegates Annual Meeting is held in Chicago, gathering representatives from various medical state and specialty societies to discuss and develop official policies of the AMA.
ACR Delegates Attend AMA House of Delegates Interim Meeting
The 2009 Interim Meeting of the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates was held November 7–10, 2009, in Houston. AMA Delegate Gary Bryant, MD, and AMA Alternate Delegate Eileen Moynihan, MD, represented the ACR.
AMA House of Delegates Welcomes President Barack Obama
One cannot open a paper, turn on the television, listen to the radio, or surf the Internet without finding something about healthcare reform. This heated topic is at the center of the media and was the focus of the American Medical Association’s (AMA’s) 2009 House of Delegates meeting in June, where President Barack Obama addressed the delegates of the largest physician’s organization in the United States.