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At its June annual meeting, the
American Medical Association (AMA), unveiled its new marketing
campaign with the thematic message of “together we are
stronger.” That theme was carried out in action with
the near-unanimous support and passage by the House of Medicine
of a resolution on medical imaging put forth by the American
College of Cardiology (ACC) and 11 other physician organizations.
The resolution’s passage sends a clear message that
efforts by policy makers and payers to impede the ability
of patients to safely and conveniently receive imaging services
in their physician’s office will be vigorously opposed
by the AMA and the physician specialty community.
Physicians representing more than 20 organizations
rose to speak in support of the resolution during its consideration.
The only opposition to the “Freedom of Practice in Medical
Imaging” resolution (Resolution 228) came from radiologists
representing the American College of Radiology (ACR) who attempted
to discredit the need for the resolution. ACR leaders stated
during deliberations that their organization is misunderstood
and is merely seeking policies that will better serve patients
and save Medicare money. During the debate, the ACR attempted
to gut the resolution with amendments that would have deleted
any reference to the AMA’s active opposition of restrictive
medical imaging policies.
Subsequent to the resolution’s passage,
the ACR issued a response that blatantly mischaracterizes
its intent. In a widely-circulated statement, the ACR stated
the resolution “opposes efforts to seek federally mandated
quality and safety standards for physicians and facilities
that provide complex diagnostic imaging services.” What
the resolution actually does is direct the AMA to oppose policies
designed to control imaging utilization and costs unless it
is proven that those policies achieve cost savings and improve
quality while maintaining patient access to care.
“While the ACR publicly calls for greater
understanding by the physician community that they are simply
trying to ‘raise the bar’ when it comes to providing
radiology services, its actions send a different message,”
says ACC AMA Delegate Jerry Kennett, M.D., F.A.C.C.
In April, the ACR approved a policy statement
that calls into question the ethical conduct of physicians
who provide office-based imaging services to their patients.
ACR’s policy furthermore commits to educating Congress
and payers about the “adverse effects” of self-referral
and seeks to promote its guidelines and standards as the basis
of reimbursement.
“It is these actions by the ACR that
have brought the physician specialty community together at
the AMA annual meeting two years in a row in an effort to
set the record straight and to demonstrate that ensuring quality
imaging services means achieving consensus within the medical
community and applying evidence-based best practices, not
accepting the standards of one organization,” said Dr.
Kennett.
In 2004, the AMA House of Delegates approved
a resolution aimed at countering ACR’s attempts to reform
the Stark self-referral laws to strictly prohibit the provision
of imaging services in the physician office setting.
“The ACC and its allies do not dispute
that physicians who own and operate their imaging equipment
have higher use of imaging services. It is, however, erroneous
and irresponsible to claim that this higher utilization is
due to overuse and inappropriate use,” said Kim Williams,
M.D., F.A.C.C., who also represented the ACC as an AMA Delegate.
Even the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) in
its 2005 report to Congress was unable to link the growth
in imaging services to inappropriate use.
The ACC is joined by more than 20 organizations
under the banner of the Coalition for Patient-Centered Imaging
who are working to educate Medicare officials and federal
and state lawmakers about the value of office-based imaging
to patients and why it represents good medicine. To learn
more about the ACC’s efforts to protect office-based
imaging go to http://www.acc.org/advocacy/advoc_issues/rc_imgservicesref.htm
or contact a member of the ACC Advocacy Division staff at
(800) 435-9203 or at advocacydiv@acc.org. |
