News in brief - June 13, 2005

AMA expands CME credits - JCAHO, NCQA group educates clinical research patients - Survey, study have differing results on Illinois liability crisis - Survey: Access to obstetric care in Illinois continues decline - Mass. medical association elects new leaders - FSMB picks new leadership - Florida wins best medical board award

AMA expands CME credits

Physicians now can get continuing medical education credit for a range of activities beyond journals, live events, Internet activities and committee work. After the completion of a series of pilot programs on aligning CME more closely with how physicians learn the best, the American Medical Association has added to its approved Physician Recognition Award Category 1 Credit online searching and learning, test-item writing, manuscript review and performance improvement activities.

JCAHO, NCQA group educates clinical research patients

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the National Committee for Quality Assurance are actively supporting an effort to educate people considering participating in clinical research trials. Through the Partnership for Human Research Protection, the national campaign centers around a new brochure on the risks and benefits involved.

The brochure, "What You Should Know About Research Studies," provides facts about how clinical trials are conducted and gives people some questions to ask their doctors or the researchers conducting the clinical trial, for example, "Why is this experiment being conducted?" "Can I stop participating in the study if I change my mind?" and, "Who stands to benefit financially from the results of this study?"

The brochure will be distributed to PHRP-accredited organizations via the Web and through JCAHO-accredited hospitals.

The PHRP is a collaboration between JCAHO and NCQA that provides a national set of standards and a voluntary oversight process to protect patients participating in clinical trials and other research activities.

Survey, study have differing results on Illinois liability crisis

A recent survey of physicians by the Illinois State Medical Society paints a picture of an escalating access-to-care problem, while a study conducted by a Duke University law professor found that the state's tort system was not the cause for increases to physicians' liability premiums.

Nearly half of the 1,000 doctors that responded to the ISMS survey reported that they have considered retiring early, have retired already or are moving out of Illinois because of the state's medical liability crisis. About 55% of responding physicians said there is an access-to-care problem in their regions because of liability, and 50% reported having problems recruiting new physicians.

Meanwhile, the study by Duke professor Neil Vidmar found no upward trend in liability claim filings in Cook and DuPage counties, adjusting for population growth, between 1994 and 2004. The study, which was commissioned by the Illinois State Bar Assn., also found no increase in jury trials or in plaintiff win rates between 2001 and 2004.

Survey: Access to obstetric care in Illinois continues decline

The medical liability crisis in Illinois is causing obstetrician-gynecologists to give up high-risk procedures or move out of the state, according to a survey conducted by the Illinois Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

More than 20% of obstetricians stopped practicing their specialty in 2004, according to the survey. Another 10% have announced they will quit by the end of this year, the survey reported.

The survey, which was sent to obstetric department chairs at 121 hospitals across the state, also found that 25% of ob-gyns who left Illinois now practice in other states, notably Wisconsin, Indiana and California.

A second survey, distributed among ob-gyn residency program directors across the state, found that only 24% of those residents who recently graduated stayed to work in Illinois.

"Not only are we losing doctors, but we're finding it increasingly difficult to recruit new ones or even keep those we train locally," said Denise Elser, MD, who chairs the Illinois Section of ACOG. "This does not bode well for the future of [obstetrical] care in Illinois."

Mass. medical association elects new leaders

Anesthesiologist Alan M. Harvey, MD, recently was installed as president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, which announced its 2005-06 leadership at its annual meeting in Boston.

Dr. Harvey is director of quality assurance/quality improvement and patient safety in the department of anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Kenneth R. Peelle, MD, a radiologist at Saints Memorial Medical Center in Lowell, Mass., was picked as president-elect. Dr. Peelle joined the medical society in 1975 and has served as speaker of the house of delegates and vice speaker. B. Dale Magee, MD, a Shrewsbury, Mass., obstetrician-gynecologist, was elected vice president.

FSMB picks new leadership

The Federation of State Medical Boards' house of delegates elected new officers during its annual meeting in May in Dallas, naming anesthesiologist J. William McCord Jr., DO, of Tennessee as chair-elect.

The other officers elected were urologist N. Stacy Lankford, MD, of Indiana, vice chair; and family physician Susan M. Rose, DO, of Michigan, treasurer.

Otolaryngology/facial plastic surgeon Lee E. Smith, MD, of West Virginia was installed as chair.

Florida wins best medical board award

The Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine received the "Best of the Boards Award" at the 2005 Administrators in Medicine annual meeting in Dallas. The Florida board received the award due to its increased accessibility to care for indigent patients.

"I congratulate the board for its national recognition," said Dept. of Health Secretary John O. Agwunobi, MD, MPH. "By diligently working to regulate Florida's medical professionals, the board and Florida's Division of Medical Quality Assurance are setting a national standard of excellence."

AIM is a nonprofit organization that supports medical administrators for licensing and regulatory authorities to advance public safety.