The American Medical Association's (AMA's) House of Delegates (HOD) recently convened for its 2018 Interim Meeting in National Harbor, MD. Members of the HOD debated a variety of issues, ranging from gun violence to site-neutral payments, to guide AMA's future advocacy efforts.

ACC's representatives, led by Jerry D. Kennett, MD, MACC, partnered with the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) and other cardiovascular specialty societies to introduce a resolution requiring AMA to support state legislation protecting individuals who use automatic external defibrillators to aid victims of sudden cardiac arrest. The resolution was adopted by the HOD.

The College also cosponsored a resolution opposing the requirement of a Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) to enter into a license agreement permitting the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to allow any other registry to report measures for the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System designed exclusively for that QCDR.

CMS initially included this requirement as part of the 2019 Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule. The resolution, as adopted by the HOD, will enable NCDR and other specialty society registries to maintain their standards for evidence-based measurement of patient care.

Read the full House of Delegates report at ACC.org/Advocacy.

Keywords: ACC Publications, Cardiology Magazine, Health Policy, American Medical Association, Motivation, Medicare, Fee Schedules, Medicaid, Physicians, Defibrillators, Registries, Patient Care, Death, Sudden, Cardiac, Violence

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