Meeting Highlights - Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Obama to AMA: I need your helpIn an earnest appeal to America's physicians Monday, President Barack Obama pledged to work with the AMA to reform the nation's health care system in a way that works best for patients and doctors alike. Obama, the first U.S. president to address the House since Ronald Reagan in 1983, cited countless priorities that are consistent with the AMA's health system reform principles, such as covering the uninsured, making insurance more affordable, increasing the value physicians receive from health care spending and enhancing prevention and wellness for all patients. He also |
 President Barack Obama called on physicians to be an integral part of the health system reform process. (AMA photo/Ted Grudzinski) |
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"[We need] to control the spiraling cost of health care," Obama said during a special session of the House that drew several standing ovations. "And to do that, we're going to need the help of the AMA." |
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Calling the $2 trillion spent annually on health care a "ticking time bomb" for the federal government and unsustainable for the nation, the president stressed the urgency of instituting comprehensive health system reform that provides coverage for all Americans.
"This is the single most important thing we can do for America's long-term fiscal health," Obama said.
The president said any health system reform bill must include ways to help replicate best practices, incentivize excellence and close cost disparities. He emphasized the need to scale back defensive medicine by exploring ways to help reduce physicians' fears of lawsuits. And he said the practice of paying incentives to doctors based on the volume of tests and services they provide—many of which are unnecessary—needs to go.
"You did not enter this profession to be bean-counters and paper-pushers," Obama said. "You entered this profession to be healers. And that's what our health care system should let you be."
AMA President Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, who introduced Obama to the House, applauded the president's commitment and underscored the AMA's engagement with his administration and members of Congress to achieve meaningful reforms that benefit patients and physicians.
"What we heard was a call for thoughtful analysis for all the options," Dr. Nielsen said. "The AMA will figure out a way to best help the president reach the goal that we share, which is affordable health insurance for all Americans."
Policy developed by delegates during the next two days will be crucial to strengthening the AMA's position on various aspects of health system reform. The debate will pick up this summer, with both chambers of Congress expected to draft health system reform legislation in the coming weeks. The time is now for physicians to make their collective voice heard on this all-important issue.
"I know there will be disagreements," Obama said, "but I also know this—we can't let this moment pass us by." Read the full transcript of President Obama's House address.
Will you qualify for your Medicare incentive?
Beginning in 2011, Medicare physicians who implement and report meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs) will be eligible for an initial incentive payment of up to $18,000, and early adopters could receive a five-year bonus of up to $44,000. These provisions and others were outlined in Monday morning's education session, "Overview: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Health Information Technology Provisions." More than 130 people heard the session—both in person and online.
Featured speaker David Hunt, MD, chief medical officer for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (IT) talked about health IT incentive provisions within the ARRA and what physicians should do to prepare for them.
"We're at a strategic point of inflection," Dr. Hunt said. "Our path forward in health IT requires a system, tremendous resources and courage.
But the path up until this point has been rocky. According to Dr. Hunt, only 20 percent of American physicians have an EHR, while only 4 percent have full capabilities, including the ability to exchange data with other physicians.
Beyond adequate financing, a key element to the widespread adoption and use of health IT is the development of uniform electronic standards that allow various health IT systems to communicate with each other. ARRA requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop such standards by Dec. 31.
And for Ronald Klutman, MD, a rural family physician from Nebraska, implementation of health IT may be more feasible once he understands how practices will be measured to be eligible for these incentive payments. During a brief question-and-answer segment as part of the session, Dr. Klutman posed the question that many physicians have been wondering: What does "meaningful use" of health IT really mean?
When the HHS releases its definition of meaningful use, Dr. Hunt said physician practices such as Dr. Klutman's will be measured on standards, including reporting requirements on quality measures. For those practices that don't comply, ARRA includes a provision that will reduce Medicare payments, starting at 1 percent. This standard does not take effect until 2015, and there are exceptions for significant hardship cases.
"At the end of the day," Dr. Hunt said, "this is about taking care of our patients."
If you were unable to attend yesterday's session, listen to the archived audio from Dr. Hunt's presentation. Learn more about both the webinar and health IT incentive provisions within ARRA.
Learn about how the AMA Practice Management Center can help you
Stop by the AMA Practice Management Center booth to learn about the AMA's new patient experience online survey resource and the AMA's "Heal the Claims Process"™ campaign.
Located in the exhibit area near the cyber café, the booth contains materials that highlight November as "Heal that Claim"™ month and ways in which the AMA Practice Management Center can help you streamline your practice's claims process.
Pick up complimentary copies of the campaign's interactive "Appeal that claim" and "Take charge of your practice" CD-ROMs, which can help you review your claims, challenge unfair payment practices and implement electronic efficiencies in your practice. You also can register your practice manager for easy access to the AMA Practice Management Center's resources as an AMA member benefit.
Learn more about the AMA Practice Management Center.
Fund fueling women-in-medicine research initiative
Women in medicine have come a long way. Today, women comprise nearly one-third of all U.S. physicians and half of the nation's medical students.
But that's just part of the story. According to a 2004 U.S. Census Bureau report, women physicians earn just 63 cents per $1 that male physicians earn. The report also notes that no other profession in the country exhibits greater salary disparities by gender. When other issues— gender-based promotion disparities, part-time and re-entry barriers, professional hierarchies that exclude women—are factored in, it's clear there's work to be done on this front.
To help further the progress of women in medicine, the AMA Foundation and the AMA Women Physicians Congress (WPC) have established the Fund for the Advancement of Women in Medicine. As the philanthropic arm of the AMA, the AMA Foundation has raised more than $5,000 this year for this important gender-based research initiative, which supports an annual $10,000 grant that is awarded to physicians or researchers through the Joan F. Giambalvo Memorial Scholarship program. The AMA-WPC continued fundraising efforts for this initiative Saturday during its caucus, which celebrated the congress' 30th annual Women in Medicine program.
The Fund for the Advancement of Women in Medicine is just one AMA Foundation initiative that has received support during the Annual Meeting the past few days. Recipients of the AMA Foundation Minority Scholars Award, supported in part by Pfizer Inc., were honored at the AMA Minority Affairs Consortium (MAC) caucus on Friday. The AMA-MAC is leading efforts to raise money for these scholarships.
On Saturday, the AMA International Medical Graduates (IMG) section held its annual Desserts From Around the World event. Donations supported the IMG Honor Fund, which benefits free clinics and the uninsured through the AMA Foundation's Healthy Communities/Healthy America program.
The AMA Foundation thanked its supporters Friday during its donor reception. Visit the AMA Foundation booth in the exhibit area to learn more about the AMA Foundation's programs.
Tuesday's highlights
- House of Delegates Registration, 7 a.m.–6 p.m., Grand Foyer
- House of Delegates Elections, 7:30–8:45 a.m., Columbus K–L
- House of Delegates Business Session, 9 a.m.–3 p.m., Grand Ballroom
- Presidential Inauguration of J. James Rohack, MD, 5 p.m., Crystal Ballroom
- Inaugural Reception and Dance (tickets are not required), 6 p.m., Regency Ballrooms and Foyer
Wednesday's highlights
- House of Delegates Registration, 7 a.m.–adjournment, Grand Foyer
- House of Delegates Business Session, 9 a.m.–noon, Grand Ballroom
